El Magonista | June 9, 2022 | Vol. 10, No. 23 | CMSC Congratulates Group 1 Of Summer 2022 Study Abroad Program!

By Kevin Liptak | CNN | JUN. 8, 2022 | Photo from CNN

Is the U.S. losing sway in Latin America?

LOS ANGELES — In the lead up to the Summit of the Americas, the Biden administration scrambled to avoid the embarrassment of a boycott by key leaders — only to find its overtures rejected.

American officials spent weeks negotiating with the Mexican government, trying to find a way to entice President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the meeting in Los Angeles. Vice President Kamala Harris called the leader of Honduras to persuade her to come. Top aides were dispatched to try to convince the leaders of El Salvador and Guatemala.

Nothing worked. The heads of state in all four countries have refused to attend the meeting, a blow to Mr. Biden at a moment when he sought to project unity and common purpose across the Western Hemisphere.

The Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, would not even get on the phone with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, according to four people familiar with the outreach who were not authorized to speak publicly.

The absences have cast doubt on the relevance of a summit that was meant to demonstrate cooperation among neighbors, but has instead loudly broadcast rifts in a region that is increasingly willing to defy American leadership.

“It shows the deep divisions in the continent,” said Martha Bárcena, the former Mexican ambassador to the United States. The leaders who decided against attending, Ms. Bárcena said, are “challenging U.S. influence, because U.S. influence has been diminishing in the continent... READ MORE

LOS ANGELES — When Ana Diaz, a Salvadoran immigrant who lives in Van Nuys, found out she would be mixing cocktails for world leaders at the ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, she got excited.

“I could probably serve Mrs. Kamala Harris or Mr. Biden,” the 48-year-old said she thought to herself.

Diaz is scheduled to work as one of the bartenders at the closing ceremony Friday evening at the Los Angeles Convention Center — the nerve center of the summit, which brings together political leaders, civil society organizations and business executives from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. 

Diaz believes that some “good change” could come from the leaders talking about important issues, particularly immigration — a cornerstone of the summit. Diaz just wishes she had more of a say... READ MORE

The incumbent will face challenger Robert Luna in the November general election.

Modelos and margaritas flowed. Dance music thumped. Bruschetta and cheeseburgers disappeared. The party at Cities Restaurant in East Los Angeles was popping — again.

In 2018, this two-story bar off East Cesar E. Chavez Avenue had hosted history. That November on election night, Alex Villanueva became Los Angeles County sheriff after he beat Jim McDonnell — the first time a challenger had defeated a living incumbent in over a century.

Four years later, over 200 people filed into Cities expecting another historic night. What else could the outcome be? The Left was on the retreat in deep-blue California, they thought.

In San Francisco, voters overwhelmingly recalled progressive Dist. Atty. Chesa Boudin. In Los Angeles, Dulce Vasquez and Eunisses Hernandez, young Latinas who preached a defund-the-police message during their city council runs, were losing. The recall campaign against Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascónwas in a good spot to get the required number of signatures to qualify.

When Villanueva finally arrived at his victory fiesta through a back door, the crowd roared. Everyone looked dressed as if they were attending a reunion for the class of 1987 at Schurr High in Montebello — Tommy Bahama shirts and checkered long-sleeved shirts for men, modest dresses and skirt-and-top combos for women. Everyone was scarfing up strawberry cake topped with white frosting and green and white sprinkles... READ MORE

After 10 months of working behind closed doors, the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol will start putting its cards on the table at a series of televised hearings this month. 

The first session is scheduled for Thursday at 5 p.m. Pacific time — notably, during prime time on the East Coast. 

There have been plenty of revelations over the past year about the events leading up to the Jan. 6 attack. But most of the news coming out of the committee has been about its battles to get documents and depose witnesses, especially people in or close to the Trump administration.

Those legal fights are important, but they also seem like inside baseball to folks outside the Beltway. The hearings that start this week — the first held by the committee in more than 10 months — will be much more substantive, showcasing witnesses and records that are key to understanding what happened on Jan. 6 and why.

“We will present the evidence we have gathered through both live testimony and a variety of media, so as to be both highly engaging and deeply informative,” Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), a member of the committee, said in a statement. “Ultimately, through these hearings and our final report, we will set out the full story about how the tragedy on January 6 came about — an important step to ensuring such an attack on our democracy never happens again.”

To help you get up to speed in time for Thursday’s hearing, here is a summary of the key issues, the committee’s aims and the reasons these proceedings will be far less raucous than President Trump’s two impeachments... READ MORE

Vaccinations could begin later in June if shots from Moderna and Pfizer are authorized by FDA.

The White House has announced a highly anticipated Covid-19 vaccine rollout plan for children under 5.

The administration "has made 10 million vaccine doses available for states, Tribes, territories, community health centers, federal pharmacy partners, and others to pre-order," according to a White House fact sheet shared with CNN Wednesday. It is partnering with those entities to ship and distribute vaccines across the country following next week's meeting of the US Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisers -- who will review data on these vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna -- and expected authorization from the full FDA.

The first vaccinations could start "as early as the week of June 20 —with the program ramping up over time as more doses are delivered and more appointments become available," according to the fact sheet. CNN previously reported Covid-19 vaccination shots for the youngest Americans could begin as soon as June 21.

FDA vaccine advisers are scheduled to meet next week to discuss authorizing emergency use of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine for children 6 months through 5 years of age and Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine for children 6 months through 4 years of age, and pending those decisions, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make final recommendations about the vaccines.

The administration estimates that 85% of children under the age of 5 live within five miles of a potential vaccination site at this time, though they're anticipating most parents seeking a vaccination for young children will do so at their pediatrician's or primary care provider's office.

According to a senior administration official, however, additional vaccine clinics and sites will be set up at easy-to-access locations for parents, including pharmacies, schools, children's hospitals, diaper banks, community health centers, clinics, museums, libraries and organizations serving minority communities across the country... READ MORE

The coronavirus pandemic has eaten away at the Latino edge in life expectancy in staggering fashion, and taken a disproportionate toll on older members of the community compared with whites.

LOS ANGELES – In December 2020, about 10 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Javier Perez-Torres boarded a bus from Los Angeles to Tijuana, Mexico, to buy a bracelet for the upcoming birthday of one of the five granddaughters who lived with him and his wife. Perez-Torres, 68, a Mexican immigrant, liked the selection of inexpensive jewelry available in the city just south of the U.S. border, so he made the trek, which lasted more than four hours round-trip.

Perez-Torres wore a mask on the bus. But shortly after he returned to his family’s apartment in the working-class neighborhood of Boyle Heights, just east of downtown Los Angeles, he fell ill with COVID-19. He suffered from a high fever, a hacking cough and body aches. His wife, Alicia Miron, and their five granddaughters also contracted COVID-19, but none became as ill as the patriarch, who ended up at nearby White Memorial hospital.

For more than a month, Miron went to the hospital to see her husband, who’d been intubated. But nurses – following COVID-19 safety protocols – wouldn’t let her in. She’d sit on a bench outside the hospital for hours, then go home, and repeat the process... READ MORE