St. Petersburg Times' journalist Paul de la Garza, 44 dies

There are conversations that stay with you for a long time. My first one with Paul de la Garza certainly has.
I met Paul in Bogota about seven years ago when he was The Chicago Tribune’s guy in MexCity. It was at a gathering of local and foreign journalists in the home of Maria Ines Carrizosa who had, arguably, the best “salon” in the city.
Paul was sitting next to my great pal Tod Robberson, at the time the Dallas Morning News’ Lat Am correspondent. The two had known each other since Tod’s days with the Washington Post in Mexico.
As I came into the room, Tod motioned to me to join them. I took some ribbing from Tod for the shirt I was wearing – an oversized blue and white striped jersey that had belonged to my brother Mark.
“Gimme a break,” I said. “It’s comfortable,” and comforting, I might have added…
I sat down next to Paul and we soon began what turned out to be a long and poignant conversation.
Robberson was talking about his dog, Buster (who, according to Tod, was an extraordinarily gifted beast, something that led many of us to suspect that Buster was not only his research assistant but possibly even his ghost writer.) Paul mentioned that his own dog had just died. “Sorry,” I said.
Turns out that the dog had belonged to Paul’s brother, who had died a few years before. “Oh, I understand—my brother died last year,” I said, as I tugged at my jersey (and glared at Robberson.)
“Yeah, well, it’s a bit different,” Tod said, somewhat hesitantly.
But Paul didn’t hesitate. He looked at me and said gently, “My brother was murdered.”
After my brother died I discovered that mentioning the death of a beloved younger sibling was either an icebreaker or a great way to “freeze” a conversation. Paul’s frankness awoke compassion as much as curiosity in me. He was more than ready not only to talk about his brother, but also about the circumstances of his brother’s death.
Paul told me that his brother was murdered when he went out one evening to buy soft drinks for himself and his parents. He was carjacked, –probably for the new car he drove, Paul said– placed in the trunk and taken for a joy ride before his killers shot him and threw his body in the ocean.
The following morning a couple walking on the beach spotted the body and called the police.
When the police went to inform the parents that their son was dead, Paul’s father suffered a heart attack.
From what I remember, the killers were soon caught, probably because they were driving the stolen car.
At the time of the murder, Paul, a native of south Texas, was living in Chicago, working for the AP. He took a leave of absence to be with his family while the accused killers were tried for the murder. Paul attended the trial every day, wheeling his infirm father into the courtroom and parking the wheelchair up front, in full view of the jury.
The two men were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Paul called in the story of the verdict to the AP. That last bit made a lot of sense to me. It was the last thing that was going to be done for his brother, and Paul wanted to make sure it was done well.
I asked Paul why he, the youngest of all the children (there were six in the family) was so involved in the case and the trial. “I’m the only one with an education,” he replied. He had studied at the University of Texas; none of the other kids in the family had gone on to university.
We got to talking about our backgrounds and families. His dad was a shrimper, his mom a waitress or chambermaid, if I remember. Good, hardworking people, as he described them.
One of Paul’s jobs was as a cops reporter, a job in which he often interviewed victims of violence and family members of murder victims. He told me about covering the unveiling of a monument for murder victims and how he approached a woman to interview afterwards. She tried to brush him off, saying, “You wouldn’t understand,” to which Paul replied, “Actually, I would.”
Our conversation moved on to other things when Paul pointed to my belly – I was five months pregnant. “You’re first?” he asked. My second, I said. “You got kids?” I asked. He told me that he and his wife were in the process of adopting in Mexico.
We talked a while longer and I dropped him off at his hotel. We exchanged cards, said we’d keep in touch, but only exchanged a few emails from time to time. I heard more about him than from him over the years. He and his wife adopted two kids, moved to DC (where he worked for the St. Petersburg Times) and then to Tampa.
I had not seen Paul in years until, as luck would have it, we ran into each other this past June when I was on a panel at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention. (My panel was on at the same time as one on Roberto Clemente. I had secretly hoped no one would show up for my panel so I could go to that panel instead.)
I saw Paul at the back of the room, and when the panel was over I waved to him. I was delighted to see him. He introduced me to Georgia, his wife, and showed me photos of his two children, Monica and Carlos. I told him we’d go visit them “one of these days.”
On Sunday, Paul died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 44. He will be remembered for his talent and for his compassion.
And I will always remember, and cherish, that first conversation.

MiamiHerald.com | TELEVISA'S EARNINGS SOAR IN 3RD QUARTER

Grupo Televisa, the world's largest Spanish-language broadcaster, reported its biggest third-quarter profit in at least nine years after World Cup finals boosted ad sales and satellite television subscriptions.

Mexico City-based Televisa had net income of 2.49 billion pesos ($226.4 million), compared with 1.7 billion pesos a year earlier before adjusting for inflation, the company said. Revenue in the quarter rose to 9.22 billion pesos.

Presidential elections falling in the same year as the World Cup has buoyed Televisa profit, said Rogelio Gallegos, a fund manager with Mexico City-based Actinver, which handles about $3 billion in stocks and bonds. In coming quarters, Chief Executive Emilio Azcarraga will enter new businesses such as telephone services and entertainment distribution, he said.

MiamiHerald.com 10/27/2006 International business briefs

Saban Speaks about Univision with Henry Cisneros

This morning, during the sixth annual Wall Street convention of the New America Alliance, a conversation was organized between Haim Saban (Who leads the group of investors that won the recent bid for Univision) and the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Hispanic Community Leader Henry Cisneros, who has previously served as the company's President.

Saban began by clarifying that the FCC has not yet authorized the transaction and for that reason he does not have the “house keys” just yet.

Saban's participation was entertaining and focused on what things can be done for Univisión to have more pro-active impact on the community, such as educating low salary workers in the community about the tax deductions they are entitled to, but don’t know about or have no way to carry out.

Bill Clinton has a great relationship with Saban and announced that they’ve discussed his involvement in his foundation in order to make its campaigns available to the community.

“We have been doing business with Televisa for 20 years. Our relationship with them has always been friendly. The company’s (Univision) differences with them (Televisa) and theirs with the company have ended in legal issues” But he added: “I don’t see why a reasonable agreement can’t be reached. Televisa is an important partner and their leaders, Emilio, Alfonso are reasonable people with whom one can have a good time.”

Saban, who used to talk to his grandmother in Ladin – a Spanish-Jewish language –, exchanged a few words with Cisneros in Spanish saying Latinos are the heart and soul of this country.

On the topic of corporate government and the possibility of inclusiveness, Saban observed: “There will be Latinos on our board. We’re not foolish as to believe that a group of Americans can decide what the Hispanic community wants ...”

Time to get Back in the Game

Almost daily, I hear someone complain to me about the government. Whether it's mismanagement at city hall, runaway business taxes resulting from laws enacted by the state legislature or court decisions eroding our constitutional heritage, I hear it all the time. We Hispanics love to complain.

But let's be honest, voter turnout in the Hispanic community is unacceptably low. In fact, 64 percent of U.S . citizens age 18 and over voted in the 2004 presidential election, compared to 47 percent for Hispanics according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For all the complaining we do, we don't back it up. It is unquestionable that to make a change, we must be in the game. Voting gets us in the game.

When you look back on how far we have come, you learn that other Americans died to preserve the right to vote. Thousands shed their blood on foreign battlefields. When Black, Latino, and Indian GIs returned from the battlefields of WWII (and later Korea), they demanded that all American citizens should have the right to vote regardless of race. They had fought and died for democracy abroad, yet they could not vote at home due to restrictive voting laws meant to deliberately keep us away from the voting booths (One out of every eight American GIs was an African-American; Hispanic or Native-American.) And so, former GIs and community activists led efforts against the laws and the men denying them the vote.

In March 1965, Civil rights activists led by Dr. King and others took to the streets in a peaceful protest for voting rights for African-Americans. They were met with hatred, anger and clubs. The murder of voting-rights activists in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and other acts of violence and terrorism during the turbulent 50's and 60's set the stage for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Today, many of us don't even bother to register. How did we become so negligent, ungrateful and indefferent so fast?

On November 7, Americans will once again elect leaders who will be making decisions that impact our families, our public institutions, local infrastructure projects, and our well being. They will directly impact our schools, our taxes, our roads, and the lives of everyone in our community.I encourage every Hispanic citizen who made the effort to register to get involved and serve your community. Making an educated and informed vote on critical local, state and Federal races will mark the direction our nation takes on issues such as national security, the institution of traditional marriage, the war on terror, and immigration reform. Because you care about your family, your community and the values you hold dear, vote November 7th. Encourage your friends and family, who possess like values, to go to the polls November 7th and vote for candidates who will stand up for what you believe is right. If you don't think your vote matters, think again. Everyone is waiting to see how we vote, for whom we vote and how much we vote.

Daniel Garza, President and CEO of CONFiA
http://www.confianow.com/

Thanks to the Democrats, George Allen is Bigger than Ever!

President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said "I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made." If I were to apply this principle to U.S. Senator George Allen, then I contend the Democrats have unintentionally elevated him as the primary contender for the Republican Party's 2008 Presidential nomination. You see, if the liberals are attacking Senator Allen that hard, then according to Roosevelt's adage, the Republican base is persuaded to think he must be a helluva conservative.

It should come as no surprise to anyone, except the Democrats, that the most recent polls show Senator Allen is not weakening as a result of several racially-based hits against him, but is actually drawing strength. In fact, he enjoys a 5-point lead and now appears to be distancing himself from his opponent, Democrat Jim Webb.

Unfettered and unrestrained, Allen's foes greedily unleashed on the Virginia Senator because I'm convinced they, well, they feared him. I mean, honest to goodness, to the core and way down deep, they were threatened by him. For some time now, Democrat party strategists worried the likable senator had the credentials and qualities to make a serious run at retaining the Nation's highest office under Republican control for another four years.

So when he stumbled, they pounced.

Smelling blood in the water, the Democrats poured it on in the hopes they would finish him off. Droves of giddy partisan scalawags and energized political hacks frothing at the mouth were unyielding in their efforts to push a story that should have lost its momentum weeks ago. The evidently remorseful and repentant Senator had to answer recriminations for making what many people considered a racially-motivated slight that was caught on videotape during a campaign rally against his opponent's campaign staffer.

In spite of his repeated apologies, the regrettable statements from the junior senator of Virginia were roundly considered to have been a major setback to his Senate re-election and a mortal blow to any Presidential aspirations he may have been harboring. But it now seems the opposition may have over-satiated on the blood and made a tactical mistake in attacking him with such fierceness and ferocity hoping he would crumble and be cast into the dust heap of political could-have-beens.

Although none of the faithful defended his statements (mainly because they were indefensible), the Republican supporters instinctively sensed that Senator Allen was a good man who spoke inappropriately, but that he did not deserve the bruising over-reaction. After all, who amongst us has not stuck his foot in his mouth at one point or another?

Few were aware of Allen's resiliency before all this started, and today he is now known by the party faithful as the man who walked through the opposition's fire and survived; the man who showed admirable grace and stoicism in the face of ardent charges of racial indifference; and as the man who didn't break under adversity. These are venerable leadership qualities people! And now many are starting to notice. Another inadvertent result of the Democrat's fervent obsession with destroying Senator Allen's reputation is that his appearances on the Nation's largest television networks showing him contrite as he offers sincere apologies have provided him valuable national exposure and enviable name recognition.

In the end, the Democrat's eagerness to take advantage of a political opportunity and deal a knockout blow to a potential Republican presidential candidate caused them to overplay their hand. I submit the Democrats have affirmed yet another famous American truism, "A beggar mounted will ride his horse to death".