By Marina E. Franco and Russell Contreras
Welcome to Axios Latino
, a newsletter designed to tell you every Thursday the stories that have a special impact on the Latino communities in the United States and in Latin America.
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Every week we will publish the
newsletter
on Noticias Telemundo also in Spanish for those who prefer it in this language.
1 topic to highlight: Duel in Mexico prior to AMLO's meeting with Kamala Harris
The joint effort to curb migration
to the United States through Mexico will be the main topic on the agenda of tomorrow's meeting between US Vice President Kamala Harris and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The general situation
: US governments have turned to their neighbor to the south time and again to prevent migrants from reaching the border, usually with threats like those of former President Trump to impose tariffs.
The Biden Administration seems ready to give and take to collaborate on the many other issues of relevance to the bilateral relationship (those that are often left behind by the focus on immigration).
Mexico, for example, has long been asking the US to do something to stop the illegal flow of weapons across the border, as weapons often end up in the hands of the cartels.
More details:
The White House also wants to promote a regional anti-corruption campaign that helps address the root causes of migration.
Corruption is at the center of the debate just this week in Mexico, after the tragic collapse of an elevated section of the capital's metro.
The collapse on line 12 has left at least 25 dead, including children, and more than 40 people remain hospitalized, while the whereabouts of nine others are unknown.
An aerial view of the accident on the Mexico City subway track at dawn on Tuesday.
Hector Vivas / Getty Images
The background
: Metro line 12 has had problems since its inception;
An investigation by the Mexican Congress and international reviews concluded that there were serious failures since the planning of the work.
The tracks and trains were bought from different companies and were not initially compatible, which caused a lot of wear and tear from the first trips.
Several officers are now in prison on charges of fraud over the overpricing of contracts.
Neighbors in the area of the collapsed section had reported cracks and lack of maintenance since the 2017 earthquake.
The Mexican government has promised
that there will be an independent investigation into the collapse, and the White House has offered to help with the reconstruction.
2. San Juan in mourning and protesting femicides, again
The murders of two Puerto Ricans
in recent days have once again made clear the scale of violence against women on the island.
Femicide in Puerto Rico worsens: about 67 cases were registered in 2020
May 5, 202103: 32
Why it matters
: Twenty women and girls have been victims of femicide so far this year alone, according to a Puerto Rico citizen observatory.
The deaths of Andrea Ruiz and Keishla Rodríguez number in the hundreds around Latin America, where sexist violence has exploded during confinement due to the pandemic.
Ruiz had denounced his ex-partner and asked for a restraining order, which he was denied;
the man confessed to having murdered her and is in preventive detention.
Rodríguez, who was pregnant, was allegedly kidnapped, doped and drowned by her partner, boxer Félix Verdejo, who also turned himself in to authorities.
What's behind it:
The governor, Pedro Pierluisi, declared a state of emergency over gender-based violence in January, and requested $ 7 million to train 911 officers and operators.
The Board, the group that oversees the island's finances, responded in April that spending on the issue could not exceed $ 200,000.
But this Wednesday he rectified and offered full financing.
And while:
An investigation by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU, in English) found since 2011 that members of the Puerto Rican police itself have very high incidents of domestic violence.
3. The Impact of Lack of Latinos in Alzheimer's Clinical Trials
Sarah Grillo / Axios
Alzheimer's disease among Latinos in the U.S. is
projected to grow 600% between now and 2050, a figure that could even be higher because this minority is not being properly recruited for medical studies on the disease, according to data from the National Institutes. of Health (NIH).
The
Big Picture
:
American Latinos are more likely to develop Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia than non-Hispanic white seniors, according to the organization UsAgainstAlzheimer's.
NIH data further indicates that there are virtually no research centers close to Latino communities where there are high rates of the disease.
What's behind it:
The greater likelihood that Latinos will develop Alzheimer's also has consequences on the finances of Hispanic families, as problems accessing medical care means that family members - especially women - are forced to leave their jobs to become caregivers.
4. An unknown story behind Cinco de Mayo
The date that is practically not celebrated in Mexico, but in which many Americans drink margaritas
and Latinos in the United States celebrate their ancestry has an anti-slavery origin.
It began to be celebrated largely in the United States after the Latino population of California saw a message of hope at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, when many Mexicans of indigenous descent helped defeat the French army.
Right in the middle of the American Civil War.
Read more about the forgotten history amid tacos and tequila
Biden celebrated Cinco de Mayo with tacos and the owner of the taqueria reveals details of his visit
May 6, 202103: 36
5. The world turns to see the bloodshed in the protests in Colombia
A protester returns a tear gas canister to police during clashes in Bogotá, Colombia, on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. AP / AP
Colombian law enforcement agencies
are committing abuses in the use of force and using live ammunition to repress the protesters who have been marching in the streets for a week, according to testimonies from citizens and the UN, during protests against the Government that have grown well beyond the initial slogan of rejection of a tax reform.
Why it matters
: At least 24 people have died and more than 800 have been injured, according to the ombudsman's office, as tens of thousands of Colombians take to the streets of major cities enraged by the government's response to the pandemic, the economic situation and police repression.
The tax reform would have increased the cost of basic consumer products and public services, in addition to imposing taxes on funeral expenses, as well as more taxes on companies and Colombians who earn more than $ 600 a month.
President Iván Duque withdrew the reform three days after the protests began, and the finance minister resigned.
The general situation:
But people have not stopped protesting, with anger at the socioeconomic inequalities, the murders of community leaders, and in rejection of the violation of rights by ESMAD anti-riot agents.
Chaos in Colombia after eight days of protests: protesters denounce that they are being massacred
May 5, 202102: 01
6. An abandoned danger for which no one has been held responsible
An orphan well outside of Bakersfield, California David Walter Banks for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Tens of thousands of abandoned oil wells
are polluting Latino and Native American communities across the US A Latina legislator wants to finally see something done about it.
Why it matters:
So-called orphan wells release methane that would be polluting groundwater around areas with high Latino populations.
But no one has taken over cleaning these abandoned wells.
New Mexico, the state with the highest population density of Latinos, has the majority of these.
In detail
: Newly elected Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández, representative for New Mexico, has a legislative proposal to allocate $ 8 billion to clean up more than 50,000 forgotten wells on native lands, as well as private, state and federal lands. .
With his proposal, jobs would be created in these places, which are usually mostly isolated areas, as well as the main benefit of cleaning up the water pollution caused by toxic substances that come out of the wells, Leger Fernández told Axios.
7. Inequality in access to PPP aid
How to apply for the government's Payroll Protection Program (PPP)
March 29, 202101: 25
An analysis of more than 5 million of the loans
that were granted with the Payroll Protection Program (PPP, for its acronym in English) found strong inequalities in the distribution of funds for areas with a high population of Latino, black and Asian descent .
Areas with high Hispanic populations in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and San Diego received just half the average loans that non-Hispanic white areas obtained in the same cities, research by Reveal News and The LA Times shows. .
Why it matters:
Thousands of minority-owned businesses had to close in 2020 because of the pandemic, something that PPP funds for rent, services and employee pay were intended to prevent.
The uneven distribution stems in part from a long history of poor bank financing to non-white businesses.
Since before the pandemic, only 51% of bank loan applications made by Latino businesses were approved, compared to 77% of non-Hispanic white business applications, according to a Stanford University study.
And now what's next:
The second round of PPP grants remains open for applications until May 30 and seeks to remedy the problems of the initial round by making it easier for small businesses to apply for funds through smaller lenders with a community presence.
It is also now possible for non-citizens to get federal aid, if they have an ITIN, or Personal Taxpayer Identification Number.
8. To the rescue of the Mexican burrito
Planet Earth: Two Mexicans fight to avoid the extinction of the donkey
April 30, 202102: 27
Donkeys are key
in many areas of Mexico, where they are used as pack animals, but the population of this species has decreased substantially in the last two decades: from more than one million, only less than 300,000 remain.
What they are doing about it:
A group works so that Mexican burritos do not disappear through a sanctuary, called Burrolandia, in the State of Mexico.
There, 13 new donkeys have already been born.
One of the owners, Germán Flores, travels through Mexico to rescue old or abandoned donkeys, which he says happens because they have been replaced by machinery on farms and because it is believed that having a donkey is a sign of "economic backwardness."
Thanks for reading,
until next week.
Do you want to read the previous editions?
- A controversial count that does not favor Hispanics
- Plant trees as a migratory proposal
- An incentive from Mexico to migrate
- Children in the migratory maelstrom
- The cry for justice in Mexico
- What is behind the emergency at the border
