Miss Universe

The beautiful Lateena from Venezuela wins it again. Stefania Fernandez captured her second win for the Miss Universe competition. A well deserved title, we congratulate Miss Fernandez on her win.

Chita Rivera- Our "agent of change"

Today Chita Rivera received the Medal of Freedom from the President of the United States for her efforts in breaking the color line for Lateenas in the theatre of arts. Taken from the speech given today for her award, I couldnt word it any better;
"From stage to screen, Chita Rivera has captured America's imagination with her magnetic presence and radiant voice. Over a career that has spanned a half-century, she has received numerous accolades for her performances, including two Tony Awards, six additional Tony nominations, and the Kennedy Center Honors Award. As fearless as Anita in "West Side Story," and as self-reliant as Aurora in "Kiss of the Spider Woman," she has broken barriers under Broadway's lights and inspired a generation of women to follow in her remarkable footsteps. The United States honors Chita Rivera for her lifetime of achievement as one of America's great artists."
We congratulate Chita Rivera on her well deserved Medal of Freedom and are proud to hear that another one of our wonderful talents has been recognized by the Obama Administration and viewed as an "agent of change." Con mucho amor, God bless....

Justice Sotomayor

Today is a wonderful day for all Lateenos, today we celebrate the successful confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor into the U.S. Supreme Court. She will be the 111th person, the 3rd female justice and the 1st Lateena sworn in to the high court. Though Sonia Sotomayor met much opposition during her initial nomination and in depth questioning from all aspects of her life and career, she was able to maintain that she was the right person for the job. I believe that we are beginning to reap the rewards for so many years of service and dedication to our United States, and as doors of equality and opportunity open up for us we will then fill the positions that we have rightfully earned. We wish Ms. Sotomayor nothing less then our best wishes and give our full support. May God bless her, her family and her career as the new Supreme Court Justice.

El Salvador del Mundo

Every August 1st through August 7th, El Salvador celebrates a joyous week-long festival in recognition of the Nations Patron Saint. Every year the festivities start in the capital, San Salvador and go on for 7 days. I was able to visit El Salvador a couple of years back and I must confess the festival is a truly great celebration and well worth the experience. If any of you are fortunate enough to make it down to El Salvador for the celebration believe me you will not regret it, to all my Salvadorian gente and those that toured us around when we visited, gracias and God bless.

The "SIGN" on the house

I have to keep reminding myself that Lateenos aren't always seen as the people that have helped build this great nation into what it is today. There are those who either choose to forget or decide on blocking that out completely. I was watching this clip on the news about some fellow Americans who decided to place a sign on the front of their home that stated "HISPANICS KEEP OUT". The home is located in a little town called Azle, Texas just north of Fort Worth. They didn't specify exactly why they had posted the sign, saying only that it was their right as Americans to do so and being considered a form of free speech, the home owners were not forced to take it down. It still amazes me how much certain beliefs still exist, and how isolating ones self from the majority just allows us to become even more bitter as time goes by. In my opinion the sign was pointless and somewhat sad, it shows that even though America has evolved there are those few who still choose to remain in the past. Life is much too short to spend justifying old ways that never seemed to work for more then one race. To the people that put up that sign in Azle, Texas- you may have the right to hang it up but you really dont have the time to waste going in circles over it. Today is already here and tomorrow is just another day coming to pass but we will never ever be able to return to the past. Mi gente prepare yourselves for what is to come, keep God in your thoughts and stop looking back or WE may be the ones putting up signs against those we blindly judge.

Colombia's Independence day (July 20th)

We would like to celebrate Colombia's Independence Day tomorrow July 20th. The Battle for Colombia's Independence began in 1796 and was fought for well beyond its date of record, July 20th 1810. Though it was another nine more years past this celebrated date before the Spaniards ultimately withdrew from Colombia, Colombia recognizes July 20th for its significance(Bogota's established Junta). Written in Colombia's history is Simon Bolivar' Battle for Boyaca where the Spanish rule over Colombia and the entire South America's diminished and new Independence throughout Latin America reigned. We want to celebrate our gentes Independence Day and wish them another 100 years of freedom. Con mucho amor, God Bless....

US Independence with Lateeno support

I hope that we are all celebrating this 4th of July, some of our gente believe that this is an American Independence Day but if we look back we would see Lateeno names in support of the American colonies fighting for freedom. Whether directly or indirectly involved, we have been a part of every major conflict that the US has been in from the beginning. The American Revolution had Lateeno names written into its history, names like Gen. Bernardo de Galvez, Francisco de Miranda, Capt. Jorge Farragut and many unnamed Cubana lateenas who helped raise funds for support of the French to assist the Americans in the siege of Yorktown, Virginia. Today is our celebration as well, we have shed our blood and made major sacrifices throughout history. We have earned the right and privilege to call ourselves Lateeno Americans, so Lateenos, take out your flags and fly them side by side with the American flag with honor and pride, know that we helped build this great nation and its representation of freedom. For the last 200 plus years we have been keeping watch and showing our patriotism, and have answered every call. Con mucho amor God bless, and to all my brothers in arms we love you...

"El Flaco Explosivo"

I could not believe the news about Alexis Arguello but sadly it was true. Alex Arguello was one of the greatest boxers of our time, a three time World Champion and a Boxing Hall of Famer, etched in our memories forever the battle that took place November 12th 1982. Alexis Arguello fought Aaron Pryor and had what seemed a turning point in the fight but the waves turned against Arguello and the fight was ended in the 14th round. There was a lot of speculation about Aaron Pryor being given illegal substances in his water bottle by his trainer. The native Nicaraguan came from poor means and slowly made his mark in this world by becoming a Three Time boxing Champion, and giving us his greatest moments. A true fighter and thinker while in the midst of punches, Arguello was like a surgeon picking apart his opponents. We want to celebrate his life as a great boxer and leave you with the Alexis Arguello we know and love, God bless.....

Fathers Day weekend

We hope all the Fathers out there had a wonderful Fathers Day weekend. Its absolutely important for our children to know that we love them and support them in every way. As Lateenos we are all usually tight knit anyhow so celebrating Fathers Day is just a topping. I myself grew up without my Father in my life and that taught me something very important, that we should do everything we can to be there for them whether we are a family or not. Lateeno Fathers are important for our future, we are models for our young men, and if you have daughters, we form the foundations in their hearts for the type of men that they are most likely to seek as they mature. Dads are key to the success of our future, and they are strong fronts of what we call family. Yesterday we were blessed with a day to call our own, and a day for our children to give us the extra hugs and kisses. Today lets keep doing what we have been blessed to do and thats lead our children and families to better days. I hope you all enjoyed yesterday as much as we did, God bless.

Master John Ozuna

Master John Ozuna is a Lateeno in the Martial Arts, trained in the art of Bok-Fu-Do(the System of the White Tiger) for almost 30 years. This man is truly remarkable, last year my family and I witnessed John Ozuna break not just one but two Guinness World Records. The first record that was broken by John was the most amount of punches in one minute, he had a confirmed 713 punches. The second record that he broke was the fastest punch, he set a new record of 43.3 mph. And what is even more amazing Master John Ozuna broke both records on the very same day. This man has really set a new precedence in the Martial Arts, we've found countless youtube videos on him and his Art as well as the founder of Bok-Fu-Do, Grandmaster Richard Lee (East West Kung Fu). Master Ozuna, in between record breaking, building his school, and preparing his students for world tournaments he prepares an annual "Fright Night" show every Halloween to support his KO CAREs program. It stands for Child Assault/Abduction Response Efforts. This program teaches children about safety and defense. Master John Ozuna is a humble, good hearted person and I am honored to blog about him. Recently John Ozuna had aired a Commercial promoting his school but it was only broadcasted in the Bay Area, so we decided to share the commercial with all of you. I believe that we were all given gifts and if tapped we all can achieve anything within that spectrum. Con mucho amor a todos, God Bless.

In Hermosillo, Mexico

Our hearts go out to the 40 children that lost their lives in the fire in Mexico. We are also praying for the children that are in California and those still in hospitals recovering from this challenging time. We hope that Mexico's officials will oversee the everhauling of the 1500 other centers that care for children, and make sure that this type of tragedy does not happen again. Lets keep all those children in our prayers and wish them a healthy recovery, God Bless...

A fresh start and a new direction

As El Salvador prepares to seat its new Leftist President, with the backing of the U.S. and talks with Cuba about migration and mail, we see that our South and Central Americas are of an importance to President Obama and his administration. I am remaining hopeful for El Salvador because they need a new direction for the betterment of their future. Much of our Latin America's have taken heavy economical hits during this U.S. recession, some worse then others due to lower wages and a number of other issues. We are expecting great things from President Mauricio Funes, from economical improvement to Government reform that better supports and protects its people. This could very well be the fresh start that El Salvador has been waiting for all along. And a long over due negotiation meeting with Cuba, now this is an old senario but times have changed and 1956 is long gone. We all know that Communism cannot survive this new era that we live in, nor has it been able to convince other countries that it is the most beneficial to convert to in place of Democracy. It has been many years since the United States has placed an embargo on Cuba, but recently the U.S. has been slowly opening doors to resume talks with Cuba to take steps in establishing mail and hopefully one day lifting the embargo. I believe in my lifetime we will see Cuba become democratic, and we will see the United States reestablish business connections with Cuba. There is a time for everything, a new season for change, and Cuba's season is growing near whether the Castro Family agree with it or not. So keep watch because tomorrow is near and what it brings none of us know for certain. god bless.