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Under an elevated subway track in Queens, Victor José Hernández was whipping up the pepitos that he had perfected at a street cart in Caracas, Venezuela. Just steps away, an Ecuadorean restaurant now displays a big Venezuelan flag and offers karaoke with Venezuelan love songs. And the line for arepas and cachapas (sweet corn cakes) spills out the door of a Venezuelan cafe. Though New York City was built on immigrant neighborhoods — Chinatown, Curry Hill, Little Italy and Little Haiti, among many others — it has never had a Venezuelan neighborhood. Historically, the city’s Venezuelan population was tiny and overshadowed by much larger Hispanic groups, including Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, immigration experts said.

Persons: Victor José Hernández Organizations: New, Puerto Ricans Locations: Queens, Caracas, Venezuela, Roosevelt, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, Venezuelan, Little Venezuela, New York City, Curry Hill, Little Italy, Little Haiti

☆ An American Puzzle: Fitting Race in a Box
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( K.K. Rebecca Lai | Jennifer Medina | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +18 min

1790 1850 1890 1950An American Puzzle: Fitting Race in a Box Census categories for race and ethnicity have shaped how the nation sees itself. Ever since the census began measuring the U.S. population, race has been central to the counting. Closer look at one of the pages from the 1790 census, with the race categories circled in red. Historically, some edits to census race boxes reflected changes in policy or public sentiment. 1790 census All other free persons Free white males Free white females Slaves All other free persons Free white females Free white males Slaves All other free persons Free white males Free white females Slaves Source: 1790 United States Federal Census: New YorkThe census counted each enslaved worker as three-fifths of a person, reflecting a compromise that granted enslavers more political representation.

Persons: —, Biden, ”, Roberto Ramirez, Mark X, Barack Obama, Naomi Mezey, enslavers, “, Ms, Mezey, Jeffrey S, Evan Shepard Organizations: U.S, Community, U.S . Census, Georgetown University, United, . Census, Census Bureau, Pacific Islanders, Puerto Ricans, Geographic, Pew Research Center, Latinos, Saudi Arabian, Biden administration’s, Management, Budget, Advocacy Foundation Locations: United States, America, China, Puerto Rican, U.S, Spanish, Kansas, Kenya, York, American, “, Alaska, Massachusetts, Japan, Korea, Asia, Hawaii, Mexico, Panama, Chile, Mexican, Southwest, Puerto, Northeast, Florida, Eastern, Algerian, Kurdish, Kuwaiti, Lebanese, Moroccan, North, Palestinian, Saudi, Somali, Sudanese, Syrian

The United States had 3.5 million residents who identify as Middle Eastern or North African, Venezuelans were the fastest-growing Hispanic group last decade and Chinese and Asian Indians were the two largest Asian groups, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. MIDDLE EASTERN OR NORTH AFRICAN POPULATIONThe 2020 census was the first to allow respondents to identify themselves as coming from a Middle Eastern or North African country, otherwise known as MENA. ASIAN POPULATIONMore than 5.2 million people identified as Chinese, the largest group among respondents who were Asian alone or in combination with another group. The Nepalese population was the fastest growing Asian group, growing from almost 52,000 people in 2010 to almost 206,000 people in 2020. Some 1.9 million respondents who picked “some other race” identified as multiracial or multi-ethnic, and more than a half million said they were Brazilian.

Persons: Biden, ”, Maya Berry, it’s, Nicolás Maduro’s, Ernesto Ackerman, Mike Schneider Organizations: . Census, Bureau, Survey, Arab American Institute, Independent Venezuelan American Citizens, Puerto Ricans Locations: States, U.S, Jordanian, Moroccan, Washington, California, Michigan, New York, Venezuela, Miami, Puerto, American, U.S . New York, Texas

☆ Opinion | A Legacy of Colonialism Set the Stage for the Maui Wildfires
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Yarimar Bonilla | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Hawaii residents, like Puerto Ricans, who faced disasters before them, are not asking to be saved. They ask only to be allowed to help themselves in the face of failing emergency services and federal aid. But the entrenched vulnerabilities produced by colonialism are not so easily overcome. For example, some residents have been begging tourists to stay away as the community recovers. It will only worsen if weeks of absent federal aid turn into months of bureaucratic labyrinths and endless red tape, as has happened so often.

Persons: Hurricane Maria Organizations: Puerto Ricans, Hurricane, FEMA Locations: Hawaii, Puerto, The State

☆ Spirit Airlines 'sincerely apologizes' after refusing to let a Puerto Rican family on a domestic US flight without a passport
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Spirit Airlines apologized to a Puerto Rican family after refusing to let them fly, CBS News reported. A Puerto Rican family traveling from Los Angeles to Puerto Rico was stopped from boarding a Spirit Airlines flight because the parents' child did not have a US passport. You learn that Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S.A. in the 3rd Grade," one Twitter user wrote. Those born in Puerto Rico are US citizens, although Puerto Ricans cannot vote in US presidential elections. Rights groups have urged for more equal protections for residents of Puerto Rico under the US Constitution.

☆ Hertz apologizes after refusing rental to Puerto Rican
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Maria Santana | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Hertz has apologized to a Puerto Rican customer after one of its employees refused to rent him a car he had paid for in advance because he did not show her his passport. Humberto Marchand said that he traveled to New Orleans last Wednesday and presented his Puerto Rican driver’s license at the Hertz counter at the Louie Armstrong International Airport. Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States, and anyone born on the island is by law a US citizen. In a statement to CNN, Hertz (HTZ) said that the company accepts Puerto Rican driver’s licenses from customers renting in the United States without requiring a valid passport. It is not clear if Hertz took any disciplinary action against the employee, however, the company said that this employee, like all their employees, has been reminded of their longstanding policy related to Puerto Rican driver’s licenses.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The government of Puerto Rico is a step closer to privatizing power generation on the island despite widespread skepticism among consumers, who crave a reliable source of electricity after decades of random power outages. The contract needs to be approved by the governing board of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and signed by Gov. Power generation units in Puerto Rico are on average about 45 years old, twice those of the U.S. mainland. The system was previously managed by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. The privatization process follows ongoing issues around Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority's bankruptcy.

☆ Top DAZN exec reveals how the streamer is gearing up to super-serve fans in 2023, moving beyond boxing, and betting big on women's sports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

We've also invested heavily in women's boxing. You are starting to see real, meaningful growth in women's sport now and that comes in different forms. The professionalism of the production in women's sport, we've been central to driving that forward. In the US, boxing fans in this country are disproportionately Hispanic relative to the wider population. The real business for us is the ongoing monthly subscription relationship that we have with boxing fans in this country, or soccer fans in Germany or Italy, and baseball fans in Japan.

☆ Roberto Clemente remains Latino legend 50 years after death
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

When Puerto Ricans belt the name Roberto Clemente in song, they want the world to understand their pride, unity and culture. “We are Roberto Clemente, so you know who we are. Half a century after he played, many of today’s Latino baseball players credit him for paving the way. “The name Roberto Clemente is something that fills us with passion and admiration,” said Miami Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara, who was born in the Dominican Republic. The Roberto Clemente Award is given each year to a player for charitable work in the community.

He voted against the Puerto Rico Status Act on the floor last week, calling for "letting a full and robust legislative process take place." One of the bill’s main negotiators, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress, is confident about more congressional hearings on Puerto Rico's territorial status in the new year. That’s intentional, said Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, a Republican nonvoting member of Congress representing Puerto Rico who favors statehood and helped negotiate the Puerto Rico Status Act. What’s next for Puerto Rico’s territorial status? Excluding Puerto Rico’s territorial status also gives Wicker and others pause.

They have found that in Puerto Rico, people have a higher propensity for Alzheimer's and part of the reason could be a genetic variant they have uncovered. While, in the U.S., 10.7% of the population age 65 and older has Alzheimer's, in Puerto Rico the number is 12.5%. In the U.S., it's the fifth-leading cause of death in those over 65 but in Puerto Rico, it ranks fourth in the same age group. It was more than three decades ago when Alzheimer’s genetic research pioneer Margaret Pericak-Vance was at Duke University that she began trying to involve more diverse populations in research. A variant only found among Hispanic CaribbeansDr. Katrina Celis, Director of Research Support Larry Adams, and Dr. Parker Bussies prepare to see Alzheimer’s patients and their families in Puerto Rico for Puerto Rico Alzheimers Disease Initiative, known as PRADI.

It would assign over $17.6 billion in Medicaid funds to Puerto Rico over the next five years. That temporarily changed after the pandemic, when Congress passed legislation increasing Medicaid funding by 6% to states and U.S. territories. The current bill seeks to increase the federal government’s share of Medicaid costs paid to Puerto Rico to 76 cents. The bill's failure would also trigger a significant decrease in the allotment Puerto Rico gets to fund its Medicaid program. Since the start of the pandemic, Puerto Rico has received roughly $3 billion annually for its Medicaid program based on an interpretation of the Medicaid funding cap provision from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

As the new network comedy "Lopez vs. Lopez" airs its midseason episode Friday, Afro Latina actor Selenis Leyva said she's excited about a TV series that wants to change the way Americans see Latinos. “Specifically during these times, we’re always talking about Latino representation.”“Lopez vs. Lopez,” which airs on NBC (NBC News and NBC are part of NBCUniversal), focuses on the generational tension between Mayan Lopez and her estranged father George Lopez — who's also her father in real life. “That connects with a lot of people.”Matt Shively, Selenis Leyva, Brice Gonzalez and Mayan Lopez in "Lopez vs. She believes that “Lopez vs. Lopez” will do the same for other Latinos in TV and film. It feels like I’m representing a group of people that you don’t necessarily see in roles like this.”The midseason episode will feature cameos from the original cast of the "George Lopez" show.

The House voted Thursday in favor of the Puerto Rico Status Act, which seeks to resolve the U.S. territory's status and its relationship to the United States through a binding plebiscite. The Puerto Rico Status Act also lays out terms for a November 2023 binding plebiscite including all three nonterritorial status options. Lawmakers from both sides debated the merits of the Puerto Rico Status Act on the House floor Thursday. While Democrats insisted the legislation is a significant step toward Puerto Rico's decolonization, Republicans worried over the economic implications of changing Puerto Rico's status. Venator- Santiago, who has been tracking Puerto Rico legislation in Congress for years, said this is the first time since 2010 that the House votes in favor of legislation dealing with changes to Puerto Rico’s territorial status.

☆ House Passes Bill to Set Up Puerto Rico Vote on Statehood, Independence or Sovereignty
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Eliza Collins | Arian Campo-Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The House passed legislation Thursday that would allow Puerto Ricans to vote on three options for their future: independence, to become the 51st state or a third approach called sovereignty in free association with the U.S. The legislation passed 233-191, with Democrats joined by some Republicans, and now moves to the Senate. It isn’t known if it will be brought up for a vote in the Senate, which has limited time before breaking for the holidays and a new term beginning next month. The bill would need significant bipartisan support in the evenly divided Senate, where 60 votes are required to advance the legislation. The Biden administration said Thursday it supports the bill.

☆ Puerto Rican independence bill goes to U.S. House vote on Thursday
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Moira Warburton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A House committee approved the Puerto Rico Status Act on Wednesday, paving the way for the full House vote. Puerto Rico, which has about 3.3 million people and high rates of poverty, became a U.S. territory in 1898. If the bill passes the House, it will need 60 votes in the closely divided Senate and Democratic President Joe Biden's signature to become law. The legislation has the support of lawmakers of both parties and Puerto Rican officials. A new Congress with a Republican-controlled House will be sworn in on Jan. 3, at which point any legislative process would have to start over.

Luma Energy secured an extension on its temporary contract Wednesday following a 4-1 vote by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s board. Government officials promised Luma Energy and the partial privatization of the power grid would improve electric services. On other occasions, Luma Energy blamed outages on bad weather and sargassum, a type of seaweed. Still unresolved is the bankruptcy proceeding for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, which owes nearly $9 billion, the largest debt of any government agency. As soon as a federal judge approves a debt restructuring plan for the power authority, Luma Energy's contract will become permanent for 15 years.

☆ Federal control board supervising Puerto Rico’s finances has a new director
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal control board that supervises Puerto Rico’s finances announced a new executive director on Thursday after its last one stepped down in April following a historic debt restructuring for the U.S. territory. Robert Mujica, budget director for New York state, is expected to assume his new role in January. In 2017, Puerto Rico filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. So far, auditors are still reviewing Puerto Rico’s 2019 budget. Critics also have noted that the ongoing bankruptcy process has cost Puerto Rico around $1 billion in consultants, lawyers and other expenses, and that the board’s director earns $625,000 a year.

MIAMI — Florida Democrats are reeling and coming to terms with devastating Election Day losses, particularly among Latino voters who turned out solidly for Republicans in statewide contests. Most Republicans running in the state won by large margins, turning Florida into a solid red state. “Republicans became the real spokespeople for this community,” said Gamarra, referring to the governor, senators, and South Florida members of Congress. DeSantis always hammers down the message that Florida is a “free state.” Over 80,000 people have died of Covid in Florida. Meanwhile, the number of Democratic Latino registered voters decreased from 947,853 in 2020 to 901,481 in 2022.

Forum, founded in 1948 to ensure that Mexican American World War II veterans could access their government benefits. “Latinos have a long and honorable tradition of military service,” he said, “only somehow it is not as well-known as that of other groups. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are nearly 1.3 million Latino veterans, or about 8 percent of the veteran population. Issues for Latino veterans, Vazquez-Contes noted, range from accessing medical care through the Veterans Administration system to homelessness to suicide. “The promotion rates for the top enlisted ranks, and the top officer ranks, are just basically void of Hispanic names.”Ricardo Aponte of the Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance.

Share this -Link copiedWisconsin Senate race too close to call Wisconsin's Senate race between GOP Sen. Ron Johnson and Democrat Mandela Barnes is too close to call, NBC News says. Vance wins Ohio Senate race, defeating Democrat Tim Ryan, NBC News projects COLUMBUS, Ohio — J.D. Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance is leading The Senate race in Ohio is too early to call, NBC News says, but Republican candidate J.D. Share this -Link copiedGeorgia Senate race too close to call Georgia's Senate race is too close to call about three hours after polls closed at 7 p.m.

The prosecutor assigned to investigate the killing of gay Puerto Rican rapper Kevin Fret in 2019 said this week that she was instructed to stop her probe and was never given an explanation. Betzaida Quiñones Rodríguez made the allegations in multiple local media outlets in Puerto Rico. She said the investigation was shut down just three months after Fret's death by order of Olga Castellón, who was the chief prosecutor at the Puerto Rico Justice Department at the time. Vázquez was Puerto Rico’s secretary of justice from 2017 to 2019, but later became the governor of Puerto Rico after embattled Gov. Quiñones Rodríguez is still the prosecutor in charge of investigating Fret's death as of Friday.

Under no circumstances is it safe at this time, or responsible, to have anyone other than us touching the power lines." A child rides a scooter past downed electricity lines in Salinas, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 20. Many such former employees worked fixing power lines before Luma took over the island's electric transmission and distribution last year. In Villalba, the brigade dubbed "Villalba Power" started unhooking power lines tangled in ravaged trees. Hernandez said he is confident Puerto Rico will be fully energized in less than a month.

☆ Puerto Rican municipal workers pitch in as power outages persist
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Ivelisse Rivera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Cars drive under a downed power pole in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico September 21, 2022. She pointed to hurdles such as storm-damaged roads and factors beyond LUMA's control, such as the generation capacity of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). POWER CRUNCHThe widespread outages have led to a cascade of energy problems for Puerto Rico. Health officials in Puerto Rico attributed 12 deaths to the storm in Puerto Rico. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Ivelisse Rivera in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

☆ About 746,000 still without power in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterCars drive under a downed power pole in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico September 21, 2022. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo/File PhotoSept 26 (Reuters) - An estimated 746,000 homes and businesses were still without power in Puerto Rico on Monday morning after Hurricane Fiona caused an island-wide power outage for its roughly 3.3 million residents. Fiona, which was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone by the U.S. National Hurricane Center on Saturday, battered Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean a week ago, killing at least eight people. The storm reminded many Puerto Ricans of the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria five years ago, which knocked out power for almost all 1.5 million customers for a week. The widespread power outages have led to cascading energy problems for Puerto Rico, where fuel distribution limitations and surging demand for fuel to run backup generators has left many gas stations dry.

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