By Marina E. Franco and Russell Contreras
Welcome to Axios Latino, a newsletter designed to tell you every week the stories that have a special impact on the Latino communities in the United States and in Latin America.
If you are interested in subscribing and receiving it in your mail in English, you can do so by clicking here.
Every week we will publish the
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on Noticias Telemundo in Spanish for those who prefer it.
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1 topic to highlight: How dangerous migration by sea has grown
Migrant smuggling
by sea is on the rise in California and Florida, and the deadly consequences recently became clear with the sinking of two vessels near San Diego and Key West.
Why it matters:
Experts say that border restrictions have not discouraged immigration, but have forced immigrants to travel increasingly dangerous roads.
The Coast Guard has reported a 50% increase in people attempting to cross at sea, with more than 7,500 people detained during fiscal year 2020.
And immigration officials indicate that arrests in the Caribbean have risen 80% and those in the Pacific have risen 92%.
Smugglers, or sea coyotes, use old ships and move around at night to avoid patrols;
At that time there is greater swell and migrants are not offered drinking water or safety equipment such as life jackets.
Four migrants
were killed in May in separate incidents off the coast of San Diego when the boats they were traveling in capsized;
and two Cubans were killed near Florida late last month in a similar incident.
Ten more could not be rescued and are believed to have disappeared at sea.
Shoshana Gordon / Axios
The background
: Migrant families go into debt to pay coyotes up to $ 16,000 for boat trips, according to Noticias Telemundo reports.
Usually stops are made in Panama and / or the Bahamas, where several people have been lost.
Those trying to cross the Pacific usually set sail from uninhabited islands near Tijuana in Mexico.
The overall situation
: There is concern that border crossings in general are heading into an especially deadly year, especially after a record number of deaths of people who crossed the border on foot in 2020.
Attempting to migrate legally is increasingly complex, with wait times ranging from two to 24 years on average.
And the positive result of the procedure is not guaranteed.
Applying for asylum has also become more complicated, especially since victims of domestic and gang violence were declared ineligible by the previous government and despite the fact that there are very clear signs of the trauma they experience, according to a report by doctors from UCLA and Physicians for Human. Rights.
2. Plans after Harris's visit: an anti-corruption task force
Kamala Harris arrived at the National Palace on Tuesday to witness, together with López Obrador, the signing of a memorandum between the governments of both countries on migration cooperation.
Vice President Kamala Harris' visit
to Guatemala and Mexico concluded this week with promises to create new units to fight corruption in the Northern Triangle and to renew efforts to stop human trafficking and smuggling.
More details
: US prosecutors will mentor their regional peers, and together they will investigate cases involving links to or actions on US soil.
The purpose is to reduce migration in the long term by improving governance and accountability.
Various US agencies will also invest $ 48 million in various housing, agribusiness, and entrepreneurship projects (especially for young women) in high-migration areas.
A bilateral plan with Mexico specifically promises to work together to help resolve the more than 82,000 cases of missing persons in the country.
The
Mexican and US
police agencies will
also collaborate more, according to the agreements, to combat human traffickers, and will exchange more information to combat transnational criminal organizations.
In Context:
Harris was criticized in the US for traveling first to migrant places of origin rather than to the border, where both adults and unaccompanied minors continue to arrive.
US politicians such as Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized Harris for asking that they "not come" to people in Central America during his visit to Guatemala.
AOC's argument is that this seems to ignore that going to the US to seek asylum is still legal and that many people have to flee their countries because of ungovernable conditions that could be worsened by US support for restrictive regimes.
3. A neighborhood carnival with the arrival of
In The Heights
in theaters
A scene from "In The Heights" (called "En el barrio" in Latin America), which has actors and characters of various Latino and Hispanic roots. Warner Bros.
The film adaptation
of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical about the lives of residents of Washington Heights, New York, hits theaters and HBO Max after a decade of the studios not wanting to record it.
And it opens with very good reviews.
In his own words
: "People who are on the fringes of other people's stories so often in the typical Hollywood or the typical Broadway here are front and center," Miranda tells NBC Latino.
"It's a love letter" to the community, he tells Noticias Telemundo.
The
Big Picture
:
As movie chains hope to bounce back with summer movies, there is a lot of hype about the box office for
In The Heights
and whether it can pave the way for more diversity and inclusion in the industry.
How 'In The Heights', by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is dedicated to immigrants and Latino culture in the United States.
June 9, 202104: 32
Based on the Tony-winning musical, the story tells the dreams, aspirations, and communal love of characters of various ancestry, without stereotyping them in traditionally Latino roles.
It's directed by John Chu, who turned
Crazy Rich Asians
a hit
.
In figures
: On average, only 4.5% of the roles that have dialogues or whose character has a name are Latino, and 3% of the actors tend to have leading or leading roles, according to a study by the University of Southern California that analyzed 1,200 released films throughout a decade.
In contrast, Latinos are the most frequent American subpopulation that goes to the movies, according to reports from film groups.
4. They seek to exalt stories of pride
Sylvia Rivera, in yellow, was one of the prominent figures in the 2020 march, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Lev Radin / Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty Images.
In commemoration
of LGBTQ pride month, activists want to highlight the contributions of Latinos to the protests that gave rise to the movement for community rights in the United States.
Why It Matters
: Mexican-Americans and Puerto Ricans played an important role in the mobilizations and uprisings that culminated in the Stonewall riots in 1969.
Ten years before that, Mexican-born writer John Rechy was involved in other riots at a donut shop in Los Angeles that police tried to shut down because it was a place where LGBT people hung out.
Sylvia Rivera, of Puerto Rican and Venezuelan roots, participated in Stonewall and later co-founded the group STAR to help young transgender people who were left homeless.
Read more about these characters and their contributions
4. The Latino population still suffers from problems with HIV prevention
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Axios Visuals
The incidence of
human immunodeficiency virus
infections
has dropped 73% in the United States since the first cases were reported in June 1981, but it continues to affect Latino and black people very hard.
In numbers:
The Latino community is four times more vulnerable to contracting HIV than non-Hispanic whites, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Latinos who are gay and heterosexual Latinas are the second and sixth most affected subpopulations, based on data from newly diagnosed individuals.
HIV incidence among Latino men ages 25 to 34 has risen 10% since 2014.
Bottom line
: Viral suppression, when the amount of HIV is at manageable levels, is lower among Hispanics and Latinos compared to the entire general HIV-positive population in the United States.
That means they do not receive the necessary care, or the antiretroviral or prevention treatments with PrEP pills like Truvada.
6. More news to be aware of
Presidential candidate Pedro Castillo of Peru Libre greets supporters from the balcony of his party's headquarters in Lima on June 8, 2021. Gian Masko / AFP via Getty Images
Peruvian
Pedro Castillo
proclaimed himself the winner of the second presidential round on Saturday, and his rival, Keiko Fujimori, is denouncing alleged fraud and asking to annul ballots, when the official count has not even finished.
In El Salvador,
Nayib Bukele
made the country the first to have bitcoin as its legal currency, even though it is the second worst country in internet connectivity in the hemisphere.
The Daniel Ortega regime
in Nicaragua has just received more US sanctions after being branded a "dictator" for ordering the arrest of four opposition candidates who could have challenged him in the November elections.
The ruling party of Mexico
, Morena, lost its comfortable majority in Congress and will have to ally to be able to reform the Constitution on energy and labor matters, as it intended.
7. Music with international recognition, from an 8-year-old boy
An 8-year-old Mexican boy wins first prize in an international classical guitar competition
May 19, 202101: 53
Mexican Axel Bastian Rosales
is only 8 years old, but his musical prowess on classical guitar, flamenco guitar, and piano are attracting world attention.
The young musician won a classical guitar competition in Ukraine this spring and received an honorable mention at the Latin American Piano Competition in December.
He says that now his big plans are to be able to record music albums and play concerts.
Thanks for reading, until next week.
Do you want to read any of the previous editions?
- The pandemic does not give truce, but football continues
- What worries Hispanics most in the US
- The effects of trying to study when there is COVID-19
- Mexico in mourning;
Colombia and Puerto Rico demand justice
- A controversial count that does not favor Hispanics
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