Sunday, May 5, 2013

Puerto Rican Nationalism and Statehood - by Arienna Grody - July 27, 2009


NiLP FYI: Puerto Rican Nationalism and Statehood


Note: The Natural Resources Committee approved the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009 on the future political status of Puerto Rico last week. This bill was submitted by the island’s resident commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, who is a member of the pro-statehood New Progressive Paty (PNP). The other three Stateside Puerto Ricans in Congress have not endorsed this bill.
According to this proposal, voters would choose between keeping the island’s commonwealth status, adopted in 1952, or to opt for something different. In the latter case, a second plebiscite would let them decide whether they wanted statehood, independence or independence with a loose association to the United States.
Two of the island’s main parties oppose the proposal as having a pro-statehood bias, and a similar bill that the committee approved in October 2007 has since died. Last week’s committee debate marked the 68th time that the House has debated a bill related to Puerto Rico’s status. Puerto Ricans voted to maintain the island’s current status and rejected statehood in nonbinding referendums in 1967, 1993 and 1998.
Residents of the U.S. Caribbean commonwealth are barred from voting in presidential elections, and their Congressional delegate cannot vote.
We have reprinted below an interesting analysis supporting the statehood position that we thought would be helpful in promoting further debate on this status issue. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of NiLP on this subject and we will seek disseminate commentaries on the other status options.
—Angelo Falcón

Puerto Rican Nationalism and the Drift Towards Statehood
by Arienna Grody, Research Associate
Council on Hemispheric Affairs (July 27, 2009)

Is Puerto Rico Joining The Pot Legalization Parade Too? - by Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director - April 25, 2013


  • by Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive DirectorApril 25, 2013
    With little media attention stateside, Senator Miguel Pereira has introduced legislation that would legalize marijuana in the US territory of Puerto Rico. Also, activists for marijuana law reform took to the streets of San Juan this past 4/20 weekend to show public support–one of the first public rallies ever in Puerto Rico for marijuana law reform.
    Dozens of people marched Saturday through Puerto Rico’s capital amid growing support for a recent bill filed by a former police chief that aims to legalize marijuana for personal use, unleashing an unprecedented debate in this conservative U.S. territory.
    The crowd marched to the seaside Capitol building, where Sen. Miguel Pereira filed a bill this week stating it should be legal for those 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana. The former federal prosecutor and corrections secretary said possession cases are costing the government money, noting that 80% of inmates are serving time for non-violent crimes.
    His comments have polarized the island, with some legislators demanding his resignation.
    “It’s outrageous that someone who was elected by the people tries to use his position to cause addiction, sicken and destroy Puerto Rican society,” Sen. Itzamar Pena said.
    Critics say the proposal would further fuel violence on an island of 3.7 million people that reported a record 1,117 killings in 2011, with police saying that 70% of killings are drug-related. Others expressed concern that police, teachers and doctors would smoke while working.
    “This measure has to be studied extremely carefully,” Sen. José Perez Rosa said. “It’s not like alcohol, where acceptable levels (of use) exist.”
    Currently, those charged with marijuana possession can face up to three years in jail and a $5,000 fine.
    Justice Secretary Luis Sánchez Betances did not say whether he favored Pereira’s measure, but he said the government should find alternatives to the current law.
    “This opens a public debate,” he said.
    Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla echoed a similar sentiment in a press conference this week.
    “I don’t have a problem with an open debate about the possibilities, benefits or drawbacks of such a measure,” he said, adding that the issue is not a priority for his administration.
    Last year, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize marijuana for those over 21. The law, however, bans the public use of marijuana.
    Puerto Rico joins a handful of other Caribbean islands, including Jamaica and St. Lucia, where there has been a push to legalize marijuana use.
    In Jamaica, government officials previously reviewed recommendations to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. The proposal has the backing of several church leaders, but it has not gained traction on an island that remains the Caribbean’s largest pot exporter to the U.S.
    In St. Lucia, supporters also have spent more than a decade lobbying the government without success to endorse a commercial hemp project.

Obama and Peña Nieto Reaffirm Joint Cooperation - LAHT

Obama and Peña Nieto Reaffirm Joint Cooperation

May 3,2013

Obama said at a joint press conference after his meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto that the two leaders agreed to continue the countries’ tight security coordination

MEXICO CITY – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he supports the Mexican government’s efforts to reduce violence in this country and emphasized that the bilateral relationship is “dynamic.”

Obama said at a joint press conference after his meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto that the two leaders agreed to continue the countries’ tight security coordination.

He also promised “strong cooperation” from the U.S. as Mexico moves to reduce internal violence, particularly as it relates to organized crime, adding that Washington will work to “meet our responsibilities to reduce the demand for illegal drugs and reduce the southbound flow of guns and cash.”

For his part, Peña Nieto said that “the new strategy in the area of security in our country has a clear intent: fighting organized crime of whatever kind,” whether it be drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion or anything else.

He also said that he had agreed with Obama to take joint measures to create a “more secure border,” albeit one that facilitates the passage of persons and goods.

Obama thanked Peña Nieto and the Mexican people in Spanish for their hospitality and he went on to express his support for the reforms undertaken by the Mexican leader’s government.

“What I have been impressed with is the president’s boldness in his reform agenda,” Obama said. “He’s tackling big issues, and that’s what the times demand. We live in a world that’s changing rapidly. ... We can’t be flat-footed as the world advances.”

If Mexico is successful in that effort, that will be good for the United States, the U.S. leader emphasized.

Obama and Peña Nieto, in a joint statement issued after their meeting, announced the creation of a high-level economic dialogue – the first meeting of which will take place this year – to promote competitiveness, productivity and connectivity, along with fostering economic growth and innovation.

“As Mexico works to become more competitive, you’ve got a strong partner in the United States because our success is shared,” Obama said, noting that annual bilateral trade now exceeds $500 billion.

The United States is Mexico’s largest customer and Mexico is the second-largest market for U.S. exports.

The two presidents also reconfirmed their commitment to concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.

With regard to immigration reform, Obama said that he is “optimistic” that the U.S. Congress will pass a comprehensive reform package. “If we’re going to get that done, now is the time to do it,” he said.

The majority of foreign-born immigrants in the United States are Mexicans, and many of them are undocumented.

The two leaders also spoke about the importance of working together with Canada with an eye toward making North America the world’s most dynamic and competitive region.

Obama and Peña Nieto also concluded agreements in the educational area and reaffirmed their commitment to act as jointly responsible partners in the area of public safety.

Obama arrived in Mexico on Thursday on an official visit that will focus on economic issues.

After his meeting with Peña Nieto, he returned to a hotel in the exclusive Polanco neighborhood, where he is scheduled to meet with local U.S. Embassy personnel and on Thursday evening Obama will attend a dinner in his honor hosted by the Mexican president. EFE

Immigration Overhaul Tests Mexican Partnership By COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON - WSJ


  • The Wall Street Journal

U.S. image

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
US President Barack Obama delivering a speech at the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City Friday.
MEXICO CITY—President Barack Obama directly addressed the Mexican people on Friday in a televised speech, but on the issue of immigration, he appealed to distinct audiences in two different countries.
The president walked a careful line as he sketched his ideas for an immigration overhaul. He told his Mexican audience that legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship, but underscored that many in the U.S. want to see immigration laws aggressively enforced.
"We are a nation of laws, but we're also a nation of immigrants. Like every nation we have a responsibility to ensure that our laws are upheld," Mr. Obama said. "But we also know that, as a nation of immigrants, the immigration system we have in the United States right now doesn't reflect our values."
Mr. Obama's three-day trip to Mexico and Costa Rica, lasting through Saturday, could have implications for his domestic agenda. While administration officials have tried to elevate economic issues this week, immigration has remained prominently in the foreground.
On Friday, the president worked to build good will across the border, crediting Americans from Mexico and those of Mexican descent with helping to elect him and reminding listeners of his efforts to allow immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to stay in the country.
Mr. Obama drew cheers as he predicted that new immigration laws would be enacted.
Back home, though, Mr. Obama will return to a divided Congress where an immigration bill still faces uncertain prospects and has limited support among Republicans. A bipartisan group of eight senators collaborated on legislation, but not all of the architects of the plan are confident it can win approval.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), a key conservative voice, wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Friday that the proposal he helped craft still can be improved, opening the door to even more-stringent border-security measures and a tougher road for those who immigrated illegally, among other possible changes.
image
In Costa Rica on Friday night, Mr. Obama reiterated his support for an amendment granting equal immigration benefits to same-sex couples. But he also said at a news conference that he wasn't likely to get everything he wants in the legislation. He added that additional changes could be made later date.
Before Mr. Obama's trip to Mexico, administration officials noted the caution necessary in discussing new immigration laws while in Mexico, and said they expected Mexican officials to leave the issue to U.S. leaders to resolve.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto appeared to hew to that guidance at a news conference on Thursday, offering few words on immigration.
Still, Mr. Obama came to Mexico seeking cooperation on securing the border, while saying that the long-term solution to illegal immigration is a growing and prosperous Mexico where more people can work.
In Mexico, pressure to emigrate to the U.S. has eased, in part due to a tough labor market in the U.S. and steady growth in Mexico. More than 11 million Mexicans already live in the U.S.
"The pull factors stimulating emigration to the U.S. have changed," said Tony Payan, a visiting scholar at Rice University in Houston, who also credits improved border security for reducing emigration.
Immigration from Mexico, the home country of a majority of newcomers to the U.S., declined 3% in January from the previous year, the Inter-American Development Bank reported in a recent study.
Mexico's statistics agency also has documented the steady decline. Immigration from Mexico during the fourth quarter of last year was 29.4 people per 10,000 inhabitants, compared with 78.5 in the fourth quarter of 2006.
The recent dip in Mexican emigration to the U.S. may be only temporary.
"Structurally, Mexico still has high levels of insecurity," Mr. Payan said.
Many middle-class Mexicans see greater professional opportunities and better quality of life in the U.S. An improving job outlook in the U.S. could also boost emigration in the near future, said Jorge Bustamante, a sociologist and co-founder of the Tijuana-based think tank El Colegio de la Frontera Norte.
—Laurence Iliff and Juan Montes contributed to this article.
Write to Colleen McCain Nelson at colleen.nelson@wsj.com
A version of this article appeared May 4, 2013, on page A8 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: U.S. Immigration Overhaul Tests Mexican Partnership.

NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - Top investment firms such as Franklin Templeton and Oppenheimer have funds that still hold significant amounts of high-yielding Puerto Rican municipal bonds, despite risks inherent in the Caribbean island's economy.


Fri May 3, 2013 2:36pm EDT
By Sam Forgione
    NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - Top investment firms such as
Franklin Templeton and Oppenheimer have funds that still hold
significant amounts of high-yielding Puerto Rican municipal
bonds, despite risks inherent in the Caribbean island's economy.
    The Franklin Double Tax-Free Income Fund had 66
percent of its assets invested in Puerto Rican municipal bonds
according to an April 30 analysis by Lipper, a Thomson Reuters
company. Five of Oppenheimer's Rochester muni funds had over 20
percent exposure to the debt.
    Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, pays the highest rates of any
major tax-free borrower in the $3.7 trillion U.S. municipal
market, given fiscal challenges such as the commonwealth's large
structural budget gap, unemployment rate of 14.2 percent, and
underfunded public pension system.
    All three major credit ratings firms have recently
downgraded Puerto Rico's bond ratings to just above junk-bond
status in the wake of a six-year recession that ended in 2012.
    "Despite the credit risk, demand for yield has been pretty
strong, helping to drive prices higher on Puerto Rico's general
obligation municipal debt," said Domenic Vonella, analyst at
Municipal Market Data.
    Yields, which move inversely to prices, on Puerto Rico's
10-year general obligation municipal bonds have fallen from 5.04
percent on April 10 to 4.81 percent as of Thursday, according to
MMD data. 
    Those patently higher yields, combined with the price gains
since April, have made them more compelling to some investors
than their triple-A rated U.S. counterparts. The U.S. bonds
offer a lower yield of 1.66 percent as of Thursday, and have
seen less price gains since yielding 1.74 percent on April 10.
    While municipal debt is generally free from federal income
taxes, Puerto Rico's municipal bonds are also exempt from state
and local taxes in all 50 states on their interest payouts,
which is an added perk for investors.
    The Franklin Templeton fund, for example, has earned a
return of 2.45 percent so far this year, above the 1.56 percent
return on the Barclays Municipal Bond Index, according to
Lipper. The fund had $692 million in assets at the end of March.
    The fund's managers were not immediately available to
comment. 
    Even with those advantages, the risks of holding Puerto
Rican municipal debt may outweigh the rewards.
    "This is a good time to get out of Puerto Rico's municipal
debt," said Jeff Tjornehoj, head of Americas research at Lipper,
in light of the island's tepid economic recovery and the recent
price gains.
    The following are the top 20 mutual funds and
exchange-traded funds that invest in Puerto Rican municipal
bonds, according to Lipper:

200,000 Trees Reported Felled in Valuable Puerto Rico Forest 05/05/13 13:25 from Latin American Herald Tribune | Latino Unemployment Rates Hit Record Low, But This Might Not Necessarily Be ... - Huffington Post | Publicist: Rappers Wisin & Yandel not breaking up 05/05/13 12:12 from MiamiHerald.com: Home Page

» 200,000 Trees Reported Felled in Valuable Puerto Rico Forest
05/05/13 13:25 from Latin American Herald Tribune
An environmental organization reported the cutting of close to 200,000 trees on Monte Barinas, an area on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico whose subtropical dry forest is of great ecological value for its now-endangered native vegetation ..

» Latino Unemployment Rates Hit Record Low, But This Might Not Necessarily Be ... - Huffington Post
05/05/13 12:23 from latino - Google News
Latino Unemployment Rates Hit Record Low, But This Might Not Necessarily Be ... Huffington Post The U.S. employment report released Friday shows the Latino unemployment rate in April dropped to 9.0 percent, down from 9.2 in March. The late..


» Publicist: Rappers Wisin & Yandel not breaking up
05/05/13 12:12 from MiamiHerald.com: Home Page
The publicist for Puerto Rican reggaeton stars Wisin & Yandel says the Grammy-winning duo has no intention of breaking up, dismissing comments made by another performer that the pair were splitting. 


Emboldened, Mexican Cartels Put Down Roots in U.S. Heartland - By Maria Peña - LAHT

May 4,2013

Emboldened, Mexican Cartels Put Down Roots in U.S. Heartland

By Maria Peña

WASHINGTON – The Mexican cartels that are the principal source of illicit drugs coming into the United States have managed to extend their tentacles to the U.S. heartland, where they represent a significant threat to public safety, a senior Drug Enforcement Administration agent told Efe on Friday.

The battle against drug traffickers and organized crime was a major theme of President Barack Obama’s just-concluded visit to Mexico.

Mexican cartels have a presence in more than 1,000 U.S. cities, according to the Justice Department.

“Obviously those numbers present some issues ... in some sense, certainly that’s going to provide some security issues in places where they probably haven’t had to think about it yet, but on the strong side of that ... we’re in a much better position to share information and intelligence,” Jack Riley, the head of DEA operations in Chicago, told Efe.

“We’ve been able to attack those criminal Mexican organizations, stopping the way they operate here (Chicago) and that, in a very distinct way, has really made a difference in terms of the violence of the street gangs,” he said in a telephone interview.

The success, Riley said, is largely due “to great intelligence and information originating from the border region and in some cases from Mexico.”

Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel, led by fugitive Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, boasts such a strong presence in the Windy City that the Chicago Crime Commission has labeled him “Public Enemy No. 1,” an epithet first bestowed on Al Capone.

During a joint press conference Thursday with the visiting Obama, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announced some changes in the mechanics of bilateral cooperation on crime.

“Everybody’s still waiting to see how that will play out,” Riley said Friday. “I’m personally very optimistic that we will be able to continue that great relationship we’ve developed” with Mexican authorities.

“The fundamental relationships that I think have evolved during the last years I think are going to be there and I’m optimistic we’re gonna continue to do the work that we’ve been doing,” the DEA veteran told Efe. EFE

COURTS BESET BY MONEY WOES ARE PUTTING PARADISE ON HOLD - sftimes.com

COURTS BESET BY MONEY WOES ARE PUTTING PARADISE ON HOLDPDFPrintE-mail
Written by DAVID MCFADDEN — Associated Press   
Thursday, 02 May 2013
jamaica-flag-1-web.jpgKINGSTON, Jamaica – Claudette Johnson still has a hard time sleeping at night a decade after her son was fatally shot in a confrontation with Jamaican police and 15 years after her taxi driver husband was murdered by gunmen.
Year after year, both cases have collected dust in the island’s gridlocked court system, leaving her in limbo. Meanwhile, she’s grimly tracked the men she believes are responsible for the killings of her loved ones, even as witnesses have vanished and memories have grown murky.
“Lord, it hurts. You can wait forever for justice here,” Johnson said in an outdoor Kingston market where she ekes out a living selling second hand clothing from a sun-baked wooden stall.
Johnson’s exasperation with the sluggish pace of Jamaican justice reflects what many say is a regional crisis.
Homicide rates
While the Caribbean is known to most visitors as a vacation paradise, the backlog in overburdened courts has soared as crime statistics show homicide rates nearly doubling in several countries since 1995.
At the same time, underfunded and inefficient courts have failed to keep up with the punishing caseloads, stalling lives and even acting as a disincentive for foreign investment.
In some countries, thousands of defendants have languished in decrepit lockups for years without trial.
Perhaps nowhere is the problem more marked than in Jamaica, which is struggling to whittle down a crushing number of old criminal cases. With even basic statistical data on the flow of cases lacking, most officials have long put the court backlog at over 400,000 in a country of 2.7 million people, although some justice officials now say the number is closer to 200,000.
 Whatever the full tally, authorities uniformly agree that the sprawling backlog is a big problem, with opposition leader and former Prime Minister Andrew Holness likening it to a “cancer in the core of the nation.”
Dire consequences
The consequences are dire. In its 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, the U.S. State Department said Jamaica’s sluggish criminal justice system contributes to “impunity for many of the worst criminal offenders and gangs, an abnormally high rate of violent crimes” and other social costs.
The conviction rate for murders is five percent. As a result, Jamaicans believe killers routinely go unpunished in a country with some of the world’s highest murder rates and deadly vigilante justice against people suspected in crimes is a fairly regular occurrence.
In countries such as Haiti and the Dominican Republic, prisons are filled with inmates who have not been convicted of a crime, often waiting years for their trials to start or be dismissed.
In Haiti, dismal facilities have no toilets or proper plumbing and holding cells are so crowded that many inmates take turns sleeping at night because of lack of space.
Chronic delays
The delays have hit justice systems in even relatively wealthy Caribbean nations such as the Bahamas and Barbados. Experts say postponements are often granted by judges for the flimsiest of reasons and there’s no shortage of defense lawyers who benefit. Officials complain that a culture of delay has become chronic in courtrooms. 
Wayne Munroe, a prominent attorney and former head of the Bahamas Bar Association, said some Bahamians have spent a decade waiting for trials and he estimated the criminal case backlog at around 10,000, with up to 500 open murder cases.
``There is an impact on lawlessness. A lot of people go out and think they will not be caught and if they are caught they won’t face trial,’’ Munroe said.
In Trinidad & Tobago, homicides grew by 488 percent between 1999 and 2008, the U.N. Development Program says. And, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, the murder rate in Jamaica was 52.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2012, compared to 4.8 per 100,000 in the United States.
Violence has also rocked Puerto Rico, where the National Guard was activated in 2010 to fight soaring violent crime rates.
Narco-trafficking
Since the 1980s, drug traffickers have helped drive up crime by introducing narcotics with a street value exceeding the size of the Caribbean’s legal economy.
Even with drug seizures diminishing by 71 percent between 1997 and 2009, as contraband shifted to Central American routes, lethal violence increased, partly due to frenzied competition for turf in a diminished illicit market.
Exacerbating the problem are court systems that already barely functioned before they were hit by the drug cases.
Judges and prosecutors blame staff shortages and underfinanced courts, while citizens cite incompetence, corruption, tardy forensic and ballistic reports and archaic courts relying on paper and ink instead of computers.
Even impaneling juries can be a challenge in Jamaica, where many people will feign illness to avoid jury duty and the paltry daily subsistence allowances that come with it.
Complicating matters further, a large number of randomly selected jurors never even get their summons to appear, in the first place. The Jamaican police unit responsible for serving the notices says it has only one car to do its work.
Seeking solutions
Officials in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago are trying to speed up justice by pushing for legislative amendments to eliminate preliminary inquiries, which determine if the state has enough evidence to justify a trial, and reduce the number of matters that require trial by jury, a hallmark of British common law and the basis for many countries’ justice systems.
For Johnson, government pledges to improve the system ring hollow. Like many other impoverished Jamaicans, she’s convinced that the system is rigged against her.
“In this country,” she said, holding a photo of her slain 21-year-old son, “justice is never for the poor.”
AP writers Trenton Daniel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Jeff Todd in Nassau, Bahamas, contributed to this report.

349 results for "puerto rico" - MH

349 results for "puerto rico" - MH 


The workout artists - MH - AP


The Miami Herald

The workout artists

 

Paddleboards are lined up on the beach in Rincon, Puerto Rico, for use by guests at a stand-up paddleboard and yoga retreat.
Liz Sidoti / AP
Paddleboards are lined up on the beach in Rincon, Puerto Rico, for use by guests at a stand-up paddleboard and yoga retreat.
Several years ago, I found myself needing a certain type of vacation — one that would help me reset life and that combined my passions: fitness and sports, the outdoors and travel, healthy food and new people.I wanted much of the planning done for me. I also wanted the ability to break from any itinerary. And I wanted to go alone without feeling lonely. A reasonable cost, a variety of activities and a warm location also were important.
So I started searching online for “active vacations” and “fitness trips” and “wellness retreats.” It was frustrating. The pricey and posh Canyon Ranch popped up. Several intensive yoga-only weekend workshops surfaced. So did a number of sites advertising weight-loss cruises.
None fit.
Finally, I stumbled on something called Bikini Bootcamp at an eco-friendly resort in Tulum, Mexico. I cringed at the name — and still do — but I looked past it and found the type of trip I sought.
It promised rustic beach cottages, certified trainers leading fitness sessions, healthy food, excursions like biking through Mayan ruins, spa services, and enough down time to make my vacation my own.
For the most part, that’s what I got.
I was immediately hooked on the model, and, in the years since, I have gone to several others, including Pura Vida Adventures, a surf and yoga camp in Malpais, Costa Rica, that was founded by Tierza Eichner, and, most recently, a SUP (stand-up paddleboard) and yoga retreat in Rincon, Puerto Rico, created by Jessica Bellofatto of KamaDeva Yoga and Gina Bradley of Paddle Diva, two companies based in New York’s tony Hamptons beach area.
Don’t misunderstand: these aren’t fat camps. These are vacations tailored to people who value healthy lifestyles, active travel and trying new things, seeing new places and meeting new people.
The formula is generally the same.
All are run by strong, independent, entrepreneurial, outgoing women with interesting life stories, and a true zest for living fully.
The trips either are geared toward or attract mostly women, though the men who do go seem to easily fit in. The demographic tends to skew toward female professionals in their 30s and 40s from all over the country and, sometimes, the world, though everyone from stay-at-home moms to almost-retired grandmas attend. Many people come alone; some come with friends and relatives. The programs attract both extroverts and introverts.
All are bound by an up-for-anything, adventurous attitude and a shared desire to have an active life with nutritious food and vigorous exercise.
So it’s easy to see why bonding usually occurs shortly after arrival, and why it quickly seems as though everyone is looking out for — and rooting for — one another. Many seek to push the bounds both mentally and physically, and they do things they typically wouldn’t, like trail-running through the steep and slippery jungle or jumping off rock ledges into crystal blue water below.
“Expand your comfort zone,” was the daily positive mantra of paddle instructor Shari Hymes during the January retreat in Puerto Rico.
Many leave these trips with great memories and lasting relationships, and the vacations have their own touches reflective of their founders.
Bikini Bootcamp, run by Melissa Perlman, offers an African dance session, a tribal drumming lesson and a traditional Mayan clay treatment on the beach with an eyebrow-raising component: swimsuit tops optional.
The Pura Vida instructors become informal tour guides, taking clients to favorite surf spots in a Scooby Doo-like van that’s been known to stop for cold ones at shacks run by Ticos — or Costa Rican locals — after a long day on the water.
Bradley’s organizational expertise, culinary skills and local connections shape the entire Rincon trip. Bellofatto goes well beyond traditional yoga, teaching the willing one of her specialty skills: downward dog, headstands and other poses while on paddleboards floating atop the water.
All serve meals with local ingredients, focusing on nutritious fuel for active bodies. In Tulum, low-fat soups were a staple. In Malpais, traditional lizano salsa was on the table. And in Rincon, no meal was complete without avocados, tropical fruits and greens from roadside stands.
The venues are breathtaking.
Bikini Bootcamp’s home, Amansala, is a shabby-chic Tulum resort with open-air bungalows, a large fitness pavilion, and a swath of white beach with orange lounge chairs strewn about. Pura Vida is nestled in the jungle that abuts the beach of Malpais, with gorgeous beachfront cottages, a yoga platform, a soaking pool and hammocks strung between palm trees. And the Puerto Rican retreat is based at Casa Azul, Bradley’s private, four-floor house in the Rincon hills, with balconies that offer stunning views of the ocean, beaches and town below.
The prices depend on the trip’s duration and number of people per room. They cost anywhere from $1,400 for four nights in a shared room with a shared bath in Rincon to $3,200 for six nights in Tulum or Malpais for a private room with a private bath. At a minimum, the price typically includes: accommodations, at least two meals a day and daily lessons or sessions. Some also include massages. Transportation never is included, nor is gratuity for the staff. So make sure to bring cash.
One restaurant dinner is typical, and you’re responsible for covering your part of the check. And if you want booze during the trip, you’ve got to pay for it. There’s also no shortage of optional — with fee — activities, such as snorkeling into underground freshwater swimming holes called cenotes in Mexico, zip lining in Costa Rica and climbing waterfalls in Puerto Rico.
When you sign up for any of these three trips, expect a detailed email that usually includes a what-to-pack list, a roster of possible add-on activities, details on the best way to travel, and a typical daily, subject-to-change schedule.
No matter which place you choose, your days usually start with a group walk or run just after sunrise, followed by a breakfast of yogurt, fruit, granola and eggs. Next generally comes a morning session of some kind depending on the trip: a cardio-and-weights class in Mexico, a surfing lesson in Costa Rica, a paddleboard session in Puerto Rico.
At lunchtime, expect to eat your way through heaping mounds of locally grown produce and protein. Beyond that, afternoons typically are kept free for any number of activities, from more surf, paddle or workout sessions, to touring local attractions, to taking a siesta under the sun. Nothing is mandatory; this is, after all, YOUR vacation.
Yoga sessions always are a staple, but they never dominate the trips. Usually, there are one or two sessions a day, in the morning or late afternoon. Like the other lessons, they’re always taught by instructors mindful of the need to tailor their practices toward beginners and veterans alike.
Like the other meals, dinner is communal, with mounds of nutritious grub and even healthy dessert, and it often stretches for hours, with people talking about our lives back home and adventures of the day.
It’s certainly not all perfect; all three trips have room for improvement.
For example, each relies heavily on relationships with local vendors — and subcontractors — to operate, and that can make for inconsistencies and hiccups. Yet, all seek — and get — feedback and tweak their programs to ensure an even better experience for the next batch of campers looking for the perfect mix of adventure, fitness and fun.


Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/04/v-print/3374711/the-workout-artists.html#storylink=cpy

Leadership posts filled in UPR shakeup - Issued: May 3, 2013 - CB

Leadership posts filled in UPR shakeup
Issued: May 3, 2013
The top two posts at the University of Puerto Rico have been filled after a deep shakeup in leadership of the 11-campus public system.

‘Latino Americans,’ New PBS Documentary Series, Is First On US Latino History

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‘Latino Americans,’ New PBS Documentary Series, Is First On US Latino History

By David Iaconangelo, May 03, 2013 04:51 PM EDT
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(PHOTO CREDIT: Creative Commons) The series will be aired on PBS this fall.
This fall, PBS will begin airing a three-part, six-hour documentary series on the evolution of "Latino American" identity, tracing its origins from the arrival of the Spanish to the Americas in the 1500s into the present day. The series will be narrated by actor Benjamin Bratt and feature interviews with almost 100 Latinos noted for their influence in politics, business and culture as well as chronicles of Latinos who lived through key points in American history.
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The filmmaking team responsible for the project will include Emmy Award-winning Series Producer Adriana Bosch, Imagen Award-winning John Valadez, the ALMA Award-winning Ray Telles, the Peabody Award-winning Dan McCabe and the Emmy Award-winning Nina Alvarez. The broadcast will also be available in Spanish and be released in conjunction with a book by PBS senior correspondent Ray Suarez. 
"Latino American history is American history," Suarez told WETA Televison. "Through the paths of many individuals and communities we have come to a collective shared America, and in the 'Latino Americans' series and my companion book, we work against every notion of treating this great story as anything separate or apart from U.S. history. PBS is the essential home for sharing this important project with the nation."
Benjamin Bratt, the narrator, is of partial Peruvian descent (on his mother's side). In 2001, Bratt starred in the film "Piñero" as the Nuyorican poet and playwright Miguel Piñero, who co-founded the famed Nuyorican Poets' Café in New York. 
The documentaries will take a stab at a comprehensive history of Latino cultures in all of their diversity of backgrounds, countries, socioeconomic strata, educational levels and political agendas. It will also handle the creation of the "Latino American" identity through the arrival to the U.S. of immigrants from Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and countries in Central and South America.  
Ray Telles, who produced one of the six parts of the series, said in an interview that the idea for the series had been floated for the first time nearly 20 years ago. He and a team of producers had little luck in raising funding for it during a push in the mid-1990s. A second attempt at funding it, "about four or five years ago", was more successful.
Telles said the first show will cover the 1500s to the 1880s -- from the Spanish explorers' landing in North America up through the Mexican-American War. 
Lila Downs, a singer-songwriter born in Oaxaca, Mexico, will be the featured musical artist for the series and perform the closing song.

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http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=15122&MediaType=1&Category=26
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http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=15122&MediaType=1&Category=26