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Axios Latino is the newsletter that summarizes every Tuesday and Thursday the key news for Latino communities in the hemisphere.
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1. The issue to be highlighted: Gloomy prospects for Puerto Rico
Puerto Ricans are struggling to figure out how — or if possible — to rebuild the island again after another disaster.
Current Situation
: More than 30% of homes and businesses are still without power, more than a week after Hurricane Fiona made landfall on the island, according to private grid operator Luma Energy.
Thousands of people also do not have running water.
Some roads remain blocked by landslides and flooding, leaving communities in the south cut off.
News Momentum
: Fiona made landfall as a Category 1, much weaker than Maria and Irma in 2017 (both Category 5s).
But she dealt a blow to recovery efforts from past disasters.
Cayey, after Fiona passed by on September 19. Jose Jimenez / Getty Images
According to local authorities, the damage from Maria was around 100,000 million dollars.
Until August, 28,000 million had been distributed for federal recovery projects.
Many houses destroyed by Maria and the power grid were still in the process of rebuilding when Fiona hit.
In addition, Puerto Rico's economy, which depends heavily on exports and tourism, had also declined in recent years due to the pandemic.
Nearly 40% of the island's population lived in poverty at the end of 2021, according to studies and Census data.
For small business owners,
these natural disasters, coupled with the island's bankruptcy, make the idea of ​​rebuilding their businesses again difficult to bear.
Fiona destroyed Don Carmelo's business in Puerto Rico.
It is the fifth time that she is flooded: "The strength doesn't give me anymore"
Sept.
21, 202202:24
Small businesses make up 13% of the island's economy and generate four out of 10 jobs.
Overview
: A financial oversight committee, dubbed La Junta, was imposed in the bankruptcy process and remains in charge of the island's budget.
He has been criticized by lawmakers, who say austerity measures make recovery difficult.
The Board has agreed to release up to $250,000 for each of the 78 municipalities in Puerto Rico for Fiona's recovery.
This would supplement federal funds available through the White House major disaster declaration.
But there are concerns that the money and the declaration will not be enough on an island with a history of corruption, aid distribution delays and budget mismanagement.
It is also criticized that the local authorities
did not promote more resilience programs in the five years since MarĂa.
"Investment should have been made in designs that were resistant, and it was not done," Martha Quiñones, professor of economics at the University of Puerto Rico, told El Nueva DĂa.
In 2019, Puerto Rican authorities set a goal of transitioning to renewable energy by 2050, which would help more people weather storms by having a power grid that doesn't collapse so easily in winds and rain.
But so far only 3% of electricity comes from renewables, mostly thanks to solar NGOs.
There are also concerns
about high levels of emigration and brain drain, which worsened after Hurricanes Maria and Irma.
The population fell 11.8% in the last decade, according to the Census.
Additionally, many of those who stayed were driven from their homes by real estate and cryptocurrency investors, who bought apartment buildings, sending rents skyrocketing and prompting more Puerto Ricans to leave.
Bottom line
: The island was still years away from fully recovering from Maria and Irma when Fiona struck.
Now reconstruction efforts may take longer, and fear of new disasters may increase.
2. Hispanic wealth is growing, but it is at risk
Latinos' lack of retirement accounts, rising interest rates, and lack of affordable housing put Latinos' chances of building long-term wealth at risk.
Why It Matters
: A new report warns that even as US Latinos have made financial and educational gains in recent decades, they continue to fall behind on critical indicators of economic well-being.
The Big Picture
: The Hispanic Wealth Project, a nonprofit organization that seeks to financially empower Latinos, set a goal in 2014 to triple the wealth of these households by 2024. But new economic realities, such as soaring inflation, may prevent programs like that reach their goal, according to a new report released by the group last week.
By 2024,
according to previous projections by the Hispanic Wealth Project, 37% of Latinos would have retirement accounts and 50% would own a home.
So far, only 25% have retirement accounts.
The homeownership rate reached 48% in the first half of 2022, but is 26 percentage points lower than that of non-Hispanic whites, according to Census data cited in the report.
The group had projected the net worth of Latinos to be $45,000 on average
Between the lines
: The new report, which takes into account differences and inequalities according to region and country of origin, contrasts with more lively forecasts from another report, also published last week, which celebrated that the total production of Latinos in the US. it added 2.8 trillion dollars in 2020, the fifth largest GDP in the world if it were considered as an independent country.
3. Global technology via Guatemala
The Guatemalan founder of Duolingo—the world's most used language-learning app—hopes to help more Latinos see themselves in technology and create a more inclusive industry.
Luis von Ahn, founder and CEO of DuolingoPhoto illustration by Allie Carl/Axios.
Photo by ITU Pictures via Flickr
Why it matters
: Luis von Ahn is one of the few Latinos at the highest levels not only in a relevant technology company but also in a major corporation based in the United States.
Latinos make up a quarter of the workers in the country, but only 8% of those engaged in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
In his own words
: "It's not just about seeing more diversity in executive positions, but about representation at all levels" of a company, Von Ahn told Axios Latino by email. He added that the company has worked hard to build a culture inclusive and that some of its leaders are Hispanic.
A Latino passionate about technology creates two of the most famous and used applications in the world
July 28, 202202:13
The company, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, has also had a nearly equal gender ratio of engineering hires in recent years.
“I hope that this type of representation will help young people to imagine a future within the
tech
industry ,” added Von Ahn.
Von Ahn points to a podcast launched by a Latina product manager on Duolingo to practice Spanish and French.
Duolingo ABC helps children to read, and its manager is Guatemalan.
A Spanish version will be released in the coming months.
Von Ahn also pointed to the company's viral TikTok account, run by a young Gen Z of Muslim origins, who is among the most followed on the social network with irreverent humor.
Von Ahn attributes part of her success
to her mother: "She put all her resources into my education, getting me into private school and English classes."
That motivated him to create Duolingo, which has about 40 million frequent monthly users around the world, so that "money will never be a barrier to obtaining high-quality education", because "teaching languages ​​for free has the power to change the life of the people".
That also led him to establish a foundation in 2021, with which he will distribute three million dollars in aid to Guatemala-based organizations dedicated to environmental protections and creating better opportunities for women and girls.
"I will never forget where I come from, I am proud to be able to return a bit of my success to Guatemalan society," he said.
Notable:
Von Ahn, 44, developed the CAPTCHA system, which prompts users to type a series of letters to prove they are not robots, and reCAPTCHA, which displays images and asks the user to identify which ones correspond to bridges or trucks.
4. Latinos are still obscured on screen
Latinos are underrepresented in US-produced series and movies, despite the fact that they account for a fifth of the population and up to 2.8 billion dollars in annual production.
The data:
A new report from the group Latino Donor Collaborative breaks down representation in Hollywood productions, and points to the studios that invest the least in Latinos despite the fact that they are among the groups that buy the most movie tickets.
"For some reason, the studies haven't done enough," Ana Valdez, the group's president, told Axios reporter Sarah Fischer, "and that doesn't make sense in terms of doing business."
More details
: In 2022, only 3.1% of leading roles in series and 2.1% of the rest have been played by Latinos.
In the movies, only 5% of performers have been Latino this year.
3.5% of screenwriters and 2.6% of directors are Hispanic.
Big Picture:
Hollywood has made strides in accommodating the country's diversity, but Hispanics continue to outperform black and Asian creators and performers.
Black performers make up 16% of the characters in streaming series when the black population is around 13.6%.
11.8% of the roles are for Asian people, a community that makes up 6% of the population.
Latinos make up 19% of the population, but in streaming series they have 9.3% of the roles.
In a few words
: "Other communities and groups have made enormous progress, but Latinos continue to be relegated," said Valdez, "it is not understandable" given the weight of the population and as viewers.
5. Summary of key news in Latin America and the Caribbean
A protest
in Mexico on Tuesday marked the eighth anniversary of the disappearance and death of 43 students from a rural teachers' college in Ayotzinapa.
The families of the 43 from Ayotzinapa ask for justice in the ZĂłcalo of Mexico City
Sept.
27, 202201:33
A report in August revealed how local, state and federal police forces and the army had coordinated with criminal groups to kidnap the students.
The report suggests that they were brutally murdered and that their bodies were hidden in a military base.
Eight years later it is still not clear why.
Previous investigations indicate that the students may have unknowingly used a charter bus where someone had hidden drugs.
Authorities have arrested military personnel and plan dozens more arrests.
But the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador has given more powers to the military in recent weeks, arguing that they are incorruptible.
2. Cubans voted
to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption for gay couples.
The regime says the new family code was backed by 66% of voters, in a turnaround after years of persecuting non-heterosexuals, locked up in labor camps.
Many opponents called for a boycott of the referendum, claiming that there can be no fair votes or popular consultations in a dictatorship.
More than 24,000 affected by torrential rains in Honduras
Sept.
26, 202200:31
3. Thirteen people have died in Honduras
from flooding in recent days, and more rain is expected this week.
In neighboring Guatemala, the rains also caused massive sinkholes.
6. Back in Tenochtitlan
It is now possible to see Aztec monuments as they once existed in Mexico City, thanks to an app that launched this summer.
This application allows you to relive all the splendor of the Aztec empire in Mexico City in 3D
Aug. 8, 202201:24
How it works
: Tenochtitlán XR uses augmented reality to superimpose representations of temples and markets over the downtown area of ​​the Mexican capital.
Those who are not in that city can also take a tour online as if they were navigating a map.
The renderings were made in consultation with the National Institute of Archeology and History, developer Ernesto Aparicio told Noticias Telemundo.
Thanks for following Axios Latino!
We will be back on Thursday.
Want to read any of the previous editions?
The unequal damage of pollution: researchers take a daily photo per neighborhood to hold politicians accountable
Poverty falls among Hispanic children but experts warn that progress is in danger
Latinos drive labor protests and the union movement in the US.
Putting an accent on it (again): Latinos in the United States lost the accent mark in their names, and now they proudly claim it
