Politics

Yesterday, as major news outlets reported that New Jersey senator Bob Menendez (D) was being indicted for federal corruption charges, the Department of Justice also publicly shared the 68-page indictment: Menendez and Melgen Indictment The Department of Justice also shared a press release, part of which stated the following: Robert Menendez, a U.S. Senator, and […]

After facing intense critcism for a series of questions he made towards Chicago mayoral candidate Chuy García Tuesday night during a “Chicago Tonight” candidates debate, WTTW Phil Ponce admitted to columnist John Kass of The Chicago Tribune the he messed up. Here is the lengthy quote Kass published in his column today from a phone […]

On October 31, 1950, a barber looked out the window and saw 40 policemen and National Guard soldiers surrounding his barbershop. “Ay coño,” said the barber, and started to prepare himself. He dimmed the lights in his shop. He pulled some weapons from a hidden stash, and distributed them around the shop. He prayed to a […]

UPDATE, April 2, 8:30am ET: Ponce told The Chicago Tribune’s John Kass that he messed up big time. In case you missed this last night from Chicago, here is what WTTW’s Phil Ponce asked Chicago mayoral candidate Chuy García during a “Chicago Tonight” debate. Ponce’s questions even got Mayor Rahm Emanuel to step in and […]

César Chávez, the biopic of the Chicano labor leader and civil rights activist directed by Mexican director/actor Diego Luna, hit theaters nationwide last year to a mixed reception of acclaim and criticism. While some critics pointed out the historical inaccuracies that exist throughout the film, most focused on Luna’s near-omission of Filipino farmworkers, and the peripheral […]

Last week, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, based in Denver, Colorado, took the extraordinary step of initiating disciplinary actions against an immigration lawyer for… being a terrible immigration lawyer. In the legal world, what the panel did is called a benchslap. Writing for the court —which also […]

Central America is in trouble. Correction: Central America has been in trouble. The region—south of Mexico, north of Colombia—has withstood blood-thirsty conquistadores bearing rifles and disease, rapacious business interests which ruled over banana republics, and the occasional invasion, civil war or golpe. In the past few years alone, at least 50,000 people were killed in the […]

Originally published at Drug Policy Alliance. As I walked to the Mexican Consulate on a blustery winter day in New York City last week to join a protest calling for justice for the 43 missing university students of Ayotzinapa, Mexico, I began to think of warmer days that did not require layers and gloves. For […]

Editor’s Note: You can read Part I here. The following diagram provides a map of the Ponce Massacre tragedy. With tommy gunners at the top of the photo, 15 armed cops at the bottom and nowhere to turn for safety, hundreds of unarmed Puerto Ricans were trapped in an intentional crossfire —a classic killing zone— […]

The Ponce Massacre was a complete horror. Over 200 unarmed Puerto Ricans were seriously wounded. Dozens were maimed for life. Seventeen were killed, including a woman and a seven-year-old girl. 78 years later, many people have seen the famous photo of this slaughter. But few people know the antecedents, the sequence of events and the […]

Editor’s Note: You can read Part I here and Part II here. JM: What are your thoughts on the immigration issue in the United States and how it pertains to Latinos? ND: The immigration debate is important, and it must be continued until everyone —Latinos and other groups— receive the same consideration that was extended […]

Editor’s Note: You can read Part I of the intreview with Nelson Denis here. Part III is here. JM: Do you feel the close ties between the Puerto Rican independence movement and Castro has hurt the cause? ND: Anything that enabled J. Edgar Hoover and Gov. Muñoz Marín to characterize the Nationalist movement as part of […]

This one comes from TIME. The same week Texas senator Ted Cruz launched his presidential campaign for 2016, his campaign also released a Spanish-language campaign that loudly screams his family’s immigrant background and plays up his Cuban and Latino roots. This is coming from the guy who thinks bilingual education creates a “language ghetto.” What […]

Recently, I had the great pleasure of speaking with Nelson Denis, author of War Against All Puerto Ricans. I have long had an interest in the subject of Puerto Rico’s 1950 Revolution and whether you are familiar with this largely suppressed moment in our history or not, Denis offers sharp and exciting insights on mid-century […]

UPDATE, March 27: A few days after this interview, local press reported that Lúgaro’s office was one of several companies raided by the FBI in an ongoing investigation surrounding fraud in the Department of Education. Lúgaro has already said that her copmpany has not committed any fraud, and many on the island feel that the […]

Earlier this month in Virginia, Richmond School Superintendent Dr. Dana T. Bedden issued an apology for a February 2013 incident involving the bag searches of Latino students. The students reported that the school staff threatened deportation. While the apology was long overdue and accepted by the students, it was an admission to guilt of the […]

UPDATE, March 20, 2015: Last night, the White House Petition News’ Facebook page stated the following: The petition “take out Alejandro García-Padilla from the governorship of Puerto Rico: Now!” has reached 100k signatures and will soon receive a response from the White House concerning possible inquires into the territorial economy of Puerto Rico in relation […]

An economic lunacy is gripping Puerto Rico. Wall Street has demoted the island’s debt to “junk bond” status. The government is teetering on bankruptcy and raising taxes in every direction. The latest proposals include a 16% “Value Added” tax and a tax on every obese child. In fact, despite the claim that Puerto Ricans “pay no […]

Those who ignore history are doomed to look ridiculous. First, I’d like to give props to the Associated Press’ Matt Lee for showing how journalists can still serve the indispensable role of keeping a society, if not free, then at least accurate. When State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told him something blatantly untrue during a […]

On the morning of February 11, in a park in the city of Santiago, Dominican Republic, a Haitian man was found hanging from a tree. Bound hand and foot, the corpse of Jean Baptiste Harry has prompted special investigations, incited fiery protests on both sides of Hispañola and become the flashpoint in an international debate […]

Max Villatoro, a long time Iowa resident, is currently at the brink of deportation. The Mennonite pastor, and father of four U.S. citizen children, was picked up by ICE last week as he headed to work early in the morning. Since then, the Iowa community has rallied behind Max and his family, ensuring that every […]