Tuskegee University was awarded the U.S Army Air Corps contract to help train America’s first military aviators because it has already invested in the development of an airfield. Moton Airfield is named for the university’s second president Dr. Robert R. Moton, who served with distinction from 1915-1935. The airmen were deployed during the presidential administration of Dr. Fredrick Douglas Patterson (1935-1953)

The all black, 332^nd Fighter Group consisted originally of four fighter squadrons, the 99^th, the 100^th, the 301^st, and the 302^nd. From 1941-1946, some1000 black pilots were trained at Tuskegee. One such airman was B-25 bomber pilot Jerry Hodges of the 477th Bomber Group.

CPress: Where were you born?

JH: I was born and raised in Heth Arkansas.

CPress: How did you get selected to be an air cadet?

JH: I was a student at Hampton Institute, in Hampton Virginia.  My major was drafting.

When Tuskegee opened, I was interested. I volunteered for flight training in 1944 and was in one of the final graduating classes. Each class had a quota of 47-48 cadets.

CPress: What was life like at the airbase?

JH: If you stayed on the base it was OK. Once you left the base you could see and feel the racism. The town’s people didn’t care if you had on a military uniform, you were still a Negro. On occasions we did get respect.

CPress: After graduation from Tuskegee did you go overseas?

JH: No. I didn’t leave the U.S. The war came to an abrupt end in August of 1945 due to the two atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan. (I cried when told the war was over), I knew that I won’t fly again. I was placed into an independent unit and was commissioned into the 617 Bomber Squadron, as a squadron leader in Columbus OH. I was 20 years-old at that time.

CPress: After your tour of duty was up, what did you do next?

JH: I was accepted to attend USC.

CPress: Did you get to fly again?

JH: No! The major commercial airlines didn’t hire black pilots. Just the cargo airlines did hire a few of us.

CPress: If you were flying in the military today, what plane would you think of flying?

JH: I would love to fly the Stealth B-2 Bomber, it’s so advanced and is a beautiful airplane.

While we sat in the Tuskegee Room surrounded with many photos of the airmen along the walls. Jerry kept looking up at the photos. He pointed at General Daniel “Chappie” James photo. Jerry said, “He was one heck of a card player”. He also spoke about General Ben Davis. “He was by the book”.  said Hodges. There is an intriguing photo of the late Lena Horne standing in front of the propeller of a P-51 fighter surrounded by several airmen who just admired her in a long evening dress. Hodges said that during the war most service men had their favorite pin up girl. “The white servicemen loved the shapely legs of Betty Grable she was their pin up girl. We had Lena as ours. All the men loved her”. Jerry said that he is proud to be a Tuskegee Airman. We have opened doors for many black pilots that are flying military and commercial planes today. He did speak of a black woman pilot who is currently flying the U-2 Spy plane which is flying several missions over North Korea.

Jerry is now 85 years-old, and is serving as chairman of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc. Board of Governors Scholarship Fund.

For more information about the Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship program log onto their website at www.taisf.org.

Part two of Tales of the Red Tails will be in our next issue.

Part two on Caribpress.com

Part 2 of Tales of the Red Tails is told by Tuskegee Airman, Farrell J. Chiles. He talks about his experience of being a Tuskegee Airmen.  He gave an exclusive interview to  CaribPress, at the beautiful photo gallery of the Tuskegee Room in the Proud Bird Restaurant on Aviation Blvd. adjacent to LAX.

I was drafted into the Army in 1942, and was assigned to Ft. MacArthur, in San Pedro, CA. The Army gave aptitude test to the recruits in his unit. “Three of us passed the exam.” said Chiles. We went by train from LA to Tuskegee,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Alabama. Chiles talks about the racism he experience there.

At the base movie theater, blacks still had to sit in the balcony. Most of us had to travel long distances for liberty. I was assigned to the PT 100 Fighter Group, which had merged into the 332^nd Fighter Group. Farrell had all the qualifications to be a fighter pilot. He had a problem with his eyes. He was near sighted. This prevented him from flying, but he stayed on as an Intelligence Officer of Ground Support. He went overseas with his squadron and served in Italy. Chiles said, “For every airplane, it took ten ground crew men to prepare the plane for flight. In overseas air combat, 450 pilots were deployed to Europe. 66 lost their lives in combat missions, 32 pilots were downed or captured as POWs. When asked why they were called the “Red Tails?” Mr. Farrell stated, “We wanted to be known up there. We looked for the brightest red paint we could find, and painted our tails red on the P-51 Mustang. Not only did the bomber squadrons we were escorting know who we were, but also the German Luftwaffe pilots knew who we were. We even shot down one of Germany’s most advance plane, the twin jet Messerschmitt 262’.

At the close of WWll, Ferrell remained in the military. He had advance to the rank of captain and did 28 years of loyal service. He joined the reserves and made rank of Lt. Colonel. Peering up at the photos that lined the walls in the Tuskegee Room, Farrell said “I’m proud to be a Tuskegee Airman. I give thanks to the Proud Bird Restaurant for dedicating the Tuskegee Room so everyone can see who we are.”

Mr. Chiles is now 90 years-old, and is serving as chairman of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc. Board of Governors Scholarship Fund. He said that education is the key to anyone’s success. We opened doors for other black pilots who are flying missions over Iraq, and Afghanistan, in all types of aircraft.

At the close of our conversation, I asked Ferrell about the movie that stared Lawrence Fishburne, “The Tuskegee Airman.” Chiles said, “It was a fair account of what life was like, but the movie did gloss over several important times at the base.” He did say that President Roosevelt’s wife did go up with a black pilot which helped more blacks get the opportunity to fly.

For more information about the Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship program, log onto their website at www.taisf.org.

She studied journalism at the University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru and worked at the now-defunct newspaper La Prensa de Lima. During that time she met her second husband, Juan Lázaro, who was also a journalist. According to friends of the couple, Peláez and Lázaro met on assignment. They got married 18 years ago and had a son, Juan José Lázaro, who is now 17.

Peláez started working in television in the 1980s. At the beginning of the decade, she gained national popularity, thanks to her aggressive style as a reporter for the 90-second newscast on Channel 2. On Dec. 8, 1984, she was kidnapped by the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, along with her cameraman.

During her kidnapping, Peláez interviewed the leader of the leftist group, Víctor Poloy. According to reports, the terrorists asked the television news station to air a subversive message in exchange for the lives of Peláez and her colleague. The interview was not broadcast, but it appeared in the leftist newspaper Marka the following year. The kidnapping only lasted for several hours.

In 1987 Peláez moved to New York, together with her husband Lázaro and their older son. She left Peru during the APRA regime, during which “Alan García didn’t stop calling the channel to complain about the aggressiveness of their reporting,” according to an online report.

In 1988, Peláez started working as a reporter for El Diario/La Prensa, where she worked as an assignment editor, and editor of the countries and supplements section. Since 2000, she has written a weekly column, in which she openly criticized international and U.S. policies. A collection of her columns was published under the title “Desde las Entrañas.”

Peláez and Lázaro lived in various apartments and a small house before moving to the house where they lived when they were arrested on Clifton Avenue in the wealthy neighborhood of Yonkers.

Peláez took care of two Schnauzers, saw friends frequently, and spent time painting and reading when she wasn’t at work. She also attended her younger son’s piano recitals.

Peláez’s older son, Waldo Mariscal, recalled this week the last time his mother was in the public spotlight, when he was 12 years old and she was kidnapped by Tupac Amarú. “I was a kid. Those were terrible weeks, but it went by very fast – one day after the next, but this problem that we have has been going on for 48 hours.”

In an interview form Peru, Peláez’s mother, Angélica Ocampo, denounced the charges as “falseness, lies.”

John Rodríguez, attorney for Vicky Peláez, said Thursday afternoon that he would get a hearing to set bail so she can be released. “She is innocent. She didn’t use a false name,” he said.

On Thursday, Judge Ronald Ellis set Peláez’s bail at $250,000, although she will remain under supervised house arrest with electronic monitoring.

The judge said that, “unlike the other suspects, she didn’t appear to be trained [as an agent]. She is an American citizen. There is no indication that she has false identities.”

However, he added, she did not appear to be innocent, adding that there is evidence that she knew about the operations described in the court documents.

Peláez’s husband, 65-year-old Juan Lázaro, was thought to have been a Peruvian citizen born in Uruguay. He is described as a journalist who was a reporter and cameraman in Lima, Peru and the United States. He studied political science at the New School for Social Research and Gonzaga University in Washington state and was hired as an adjunct professor at Baruch College for the 2008-2009 academic year.

There, he taught a course on Latin American and Caribbean politics for a semester. The director of Baruch told a local newspaper that Lázaro’s contract was not renewed because his course was “substandard.” Some of Lázaro’s students complained about the extremely anti-American opinions of their professor.

According to an AP report published in El Diario/La Prensa, authorities said in a court filing Thursday that Pelaez’s husband had confessed that he worked for Moscow’s secret service, that Juan Lazaro was not his real name, that he was not in fact born in Uruguay, and that his wife had passed letters to Russian intelligence.

News Report, Annie Correal and Cristina Lobogerrero, Compiled and Translated by Elena Shore

We are used to discussing immigration in this country through a political lens, and here in San Jose, it has become a heated debate. The emotions tied to the immigration issue were on display at a recent City Council meeting where dozens of pro- and anti-immigration activists fiercely argued their positions on Arizona’s new law SB 1070. It seems that every aspect of society is touched by immigration, and that includes sports. Just by taking a look at the rosters of most teams that are participating in the World Cup, we can see the reflection of immigration at a global level.

At the first World Cup to be played on African soil, South Africa 2010, we see Arab, Turkish, Hispanic and Polish names on the German team, Brazilian names on the Mexican team, Slavic names on Scandinavian teams, Africans in European teams, and so on.

Here are just a few examples of the shifting national identities of players: Mark González, who plays for Chile, was born in South Africa. On the German team, Mario Gómez’s father is Spanish, Jerome Boateng’s parents are from Ghana, Sami Khedira’s father is Tunisian, and the rising German star Mesut Özil is of Turkish descent. Argentine-born Lucas Barrios defends the Paraguayan colors, the land of his mother. And on the Mexican team, head coach Javier Aguirre is one of thousands born in Mexico of Spanish parents who left Spain during the Franco dictatorship. Most teams have at least two or three immigrant players. Even the North Koreans have players who were born in Japan and South Korea.

These are the sons of immigrants, or immigrants themselves, representing the country that gave their parents a new opportunity in life. Some were professional soccer players who moved abroad to play professionally. Some migrated for the more common story – traveling to a new country in search of better economic opportunities, escaping war or a dictatorship, or just personal choice rather than necessity.

The U.S. team, however, is perhaps one of the strongest examples of this: Fifteen of its 23 players have at least one parent who is an immigrant — from Haiti, Nigeria, Brazil and Austria, and one from Scotland. Four players are Mexican American: Jonathan Bornstein, Carlos Bocanegra, Hercules Gómez, and Francisco “el Gringo” Torres.

Gómez and Torres have similar stories. They both faced discrimination after they migrated south of the border — the same discrimination that thousands of Mexican Americans face when they visit their parents’ home country. Both of them had the opportunity to represent Mexico, but chose to play for the land where they were born. For “Gringo” Torres, that was not an easy decision.

His Mexican father migrated to Texas in search of better economic opportunities. There he met and married Torres’s mother, even though neither of them spoke the other’s language. El Gringo was born in the small town of Longview, Texas, and as soon as he learned to walk, he started kicking a soccer ball, the influence of his Latino side of the family, especially one of his uncles.

During his teenage years, a scout from the Mexican team Pachuca (it is becoming more common for professional teams from south of the border to send scouts to the United States), “discovered” el Gringo, and brought him to play for Mexico’s oldest professional team. El Gringo left amidst tears of joy and sadness on the part of his mother and family.

Once he arrived in Mexico, he began to deal with insults commonly and viciously launched at “pochos,” a derogatory term for Chicanos in Mexico.

“They used to tell me, ‘Why are you here? You don’t know how to play futbol?,’” said El Gringo during an interview with ESPN.

But he fought hard until he was in the starting lineup each weekend for Pachuca. He became such a good player that his skillful left foot was in demand by both the Mexican and the American teams.

Two years ago at the age of 20, he faced a pivotal decision over the country he would represent on the largest sport stage in the world — the FIFA World Cup. The moment a player participates in an official FIFA match, he cannot change jerseys ever again. He chose to play for the United States.

Some Mexicans scorned him for being a traitor to his father’s land. But the fact that he played for the United States in the World Cup does not mean he betrayed his roots. He chose to play for the land that gave his father new opportunities, the land where he was born. He has always been proud of his Mexican background; he carries both lands in his heart, despite only wearing one official uniform.

Gómez, born in Los Angeles, Calif. and raised in Las Vegas, Nev., began his professional career in the Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States. However, like Torres, he moved south of the border to join what is considered to be a more competitive league, which eventually can become a springboard to Europe, the dream of most soccer players.

Gómez soon won a scoring championship while playing for Puebla in Mexico’s top flight, and for the remainder of 2010, he will join Torres at Pachuca.

Both Torres and Gómez, along with the 13 other sons of immigrants, set an example that hard work and fighting adversity will lead you to achieve your dreams. They both saw action during the United States’ surprising run in South Africa. They both had their “American dream” come true, even at a time when laws are attempting to separate young people like them from their families, and to remove their citizenship rights if their parents are undocumented.

Gerardo Fernandez is a contributing writer for Alianza News.
Collage image by Fernando Perez. This story originally appeared at www.sjbeez.org, a hyperlocal ethnic media collaborative project of New America Media, based in San Jose, Calif.

There was once a Garrison Don named Christopher Coke.
Some called him “Dudus” and that was no joke.
Others called him the “President”
But it was quite evident
That this was not a man to provoke.

Dudus and his Shower Posse ruled Tivoli
With political largesse from the JLP
But why wait every 5 years to get paid
When there is money from drug smuggling to be made?
Pork barrel politics paled in comparison to this new entity!

Unable to stop the illicit drug appetite within its borders,
The US sent the Jamaican government an extradition order.
“Please serve Dudus this warrant
As to DEA it seems quite apparent
That his activities will lead to more murders.”

Prime Minister Bruce Golding was astonished.
How could President Barack Obama admonish
A friend of America,
This beautiful island of Jamaica?
Was this payback for Usain Bolt’s first place finish?

“Where is the evidence?” Attorney General Lightbourne asked.
“Confidential informant Constable “John Doe” must be unmasked.
If illegal wiretaps were the source
Under Jamaican law you know of course
These charges won’t past muster or last.”

Scared for his political life, Golding panicked
A special envoy to the US was handpicked
Senator Ronald Robinson went and met
With lawyers Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, but yet
Was told that the charges would stick.

The PNP got wind of the scheme.
Peter Phillips stood up in parliament and gleaned.
The documents in his possession
Were worthy of a JLP confession
But bare-faced Golding fought back and screamed.

“The government has nothing to hide
And we will always abide.”
So said Golding with thunder
But his lies proved to be a blunder
When Manatt did not go along for the ride.

Not surprising, Golding apologized to the nation.
He claimed the party had over-stepped its intentions.
Jamaicans were to believe his new set of lies.
No wonder this man is despised
By even those who voted for him in the last election.

The government decided to honor the extradition request.
Not before tipping off Dudus at his nest.
While Dudus did flee,
The government to his lawyers did plea,
“Could you please bring him in without duress?”

The people of Tivoli were in an uproar
“Leave our Robin Hood alone!” they implored.
“Tivoli is one of the safest communities…..
Well if you are not PNP.
We are willing to die to settle the score!”

Dudus didn’t show up at the police station,
So a State of Emergency was declared in West Kingston.
The government declared: “We’ll send the police and the military
To rid our communities of home-grown thuggery
Sadly it took international embarrassment to get this determination.

The Chief Architect of Garrisons finally weighed in.
Edward Seaga was quite chagrined
Golding’s lack of political savvy
Had irreparably damaged his credibility.
“Let my people go!” he chimed in.

UWI had definitely lowered its stock,
By giving Mass Eddie a Fellow’s frock.
He had caused the nation so much pain.
What would be his final refrain?
To teach “How to be a Don Block by Block?”

The police and soldiers did engage the Tivoli gunmen.
They were willing to die for Dudus by the dozens
With roadblocks rigged with propane tanks
The security forces were temporarily out-flanked.
When it was over 73 citizens perished in the end.

Still there was no Dudus to be found.
He had given them the slip and gone underground.
But other criminals turned themselves in
Giving the security forces a minor win.
Downtown at night, there was nary a sound.

After one month of searching the break finally came.
Intermediary extraordinaire Reverend Al Miller was in the game.
He claimed to be dropping Dudus at the US Embassy
As the “President” had concerns about his safety.
Dudus in drag……what a shame!

Unlike his father’s, Dudus’ extradition did not end in death
JLP politicians now a fret!
PNP’s Portia Simpson told her comrades not to gloat
As her party uses these same kinds of people to turn out the vote.
We surely have not heard the end of this, I bet.

This shameful episode in Jamaica’s politics is a sad commentary
But could be turned into a moral victory.
If we really love our nation,
Then let’s summon the inclination
To kick out these lying, corrupt politicians and put them in the penitentiary.

Please view past articles at: http://themcintyrereport.com

Writers note: A very dear friend of mine, Andrene Bonner, has published her first book entitled Olympic Gardens.  For those who are nostalgic about Jamaica in the 1960s or just curious about another culture, this award-winning book will make you laugh and cry.  Please contact Ms. Bonner at: Andrene Bonner 32 North 7^th Avenue Suite 1N Mount Vernon, NY 10550 Tel.:  914-668-5836 Email:  abwrites2@aol.com Blog:  http://andrenebonner.wordpress.com

Nominated by President Barack Obama, Birotte is the first black U.S. Attorney to the post, which makes him the top federal attorney in the Central District of the U.S. Department of Justice, an area that includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Birotte, the 43-year-old – son of Haitian immigrants, had this to say after the swearing-in, “Becoming U.S. Attorney was the opportunity of a lifetime, an incredible gift that comes with awesome responsibility.”

In his remarks – the newly appointed U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte highlighted several priorities for the office, including white-collar crime, public corruption, violent crime and terrorism.  And above all, the office must focus on being “justice drive”.

“Justice driven means that we must maintain the highest standards of integrity, fairness and excellence that comes with working for the Department of Justice,” Birotte said.  “Justice driven is not negotiable, do the right thing, the right way all the time,” he added.

U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter, Jr. administered the oath of office to Birotte, and California Court of Appeal Justice Nora M. Manella, a former U.S. Attorney who hired Birotte as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 1995, spoke at the event.

Birotte, who worked for the Los Angeles Police Commission – five civilians who oversee the operations of the agency – had been inspector general since 2003 and served as assistant inspector general from 2001 to 2003.

From 1995 to 1999, he was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office he now heads.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which currently employs 275 attorneys, serves more than 18 million residents in Southern California. It is the nation’s largest federal prosecutors’ office after the District of Columbia, which handles both federal and non-federal crimes in Washington.

Birotte graduated from Tufts University in 1987 and the Pepperdine University School of Law 1991. He started his legal career as a deputy public defender for Los Angeles County, a job he held from 1991 to 1995.

The Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission aims to oversee every rebuilding dollar that comes to Haiti through next year. The hope is that it will ensure transparency and encourage investment, helping transform a dysfunctional, cripplingly poor country crushed by the Jan. 12 earthquake into a self-sustaining nation with a prosperous middle class.

“The prime minister and I have made a commitment to the people of Haiti and the people of the world to make this process both transparent and accountable,” Clinton told reporters before the meeting.

Outside the cracked, upscale hotel where it met in a convention room, a better future seems a long way off. More than five months after Port-au-Prince shook, collapsed buildings line the streets and families live under leaky tarps at risk from floods, hunger and disease. Rebuilding has been hampered by organizational problems, government disfunction and the scale of the disaster itself.

Long-term money has also been slow to arrive. Some $3 billion has been committed for humanitarian aid such as immediate post-disaster rescue, medical care, emergency shelter and food, according to the United Nations.

But despite international pledges of some $5.3 billion over two years at the United Nations donors’ conference for Haiti in March, only a fraction has actually been delivered _ just $40 million from Brazil. Though other pledges are expected to be delivered soon, much of that to be held in a Multi-Donor Trust Fund administered by the World Bank, Haitians are growing restless.

Enter the commission. The 26-member body was empowered under an 18-month emergency declaration by Parliament passed shortly before most members’ terms expired and the body essentially dissolved last month.

Half its voting members are Haitian officials, the rest representatives of each donor pledging at least $100 million or $200 million of debt relief: the United States, Canada, Brazil, Spain, France, Norway, Venezuela, Japan, European Union, Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank. President Rene Preval has a veto.

The concept is that the commission will oversee the spending of every donation above $500,000 to Haiti. Organizations will present their projects to the fund, needing its approval to get government and other support to move forward. The process will be tracked on the commission’s website.

On Thursday, Clinton and Bellerive announced the commission’s first approved spending projects:

_ $45 million from Brazil and Norway in direct funds for the Haitian government, closing a quarter of its estimated $170 million budget shortfall.

_ $1 million from the Clinton Foundation for buildings that can be used as storm shelters in the quake-ravaged towns of Leogane and Jacmel, which are often in the path of Atlantic hurricanes.

_ A $20 million fund to provide loans to small- and medium-sized Haitian businesses, provided by Mexican communications magnate Carlos Slim and Canadian mining investor Frank Guistra.

Cataline Isand in the Immigration Storm

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher flew by helicopter here earlier this month to confront a Mexican official who was handing out identity cards that nationals use in the U.S. to open bank accounts and cash checks. The GOP congressman said the IDs only help illegal immigrants establish a foothold in the U.S.

Many island residents saw his visit as grandstanding, portraying their community as a haven for illegal immigrants and unnecessarily drawing them into a raging immigration debate that could harm their tourist-dependent economy.

“Are there illegals on Catalina? Yes, there are illegals everywhere in the country. I don’t think we’re different than any other community,” said Wayne Griffin, president of the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau.

“Don’t grandstand on our island and somehow make us part of the problem,” he said.

Business leaders say they’ve received e-mails since the visit from people upset about the IDs and threatening to take their business elsewhere because the Mexican consulate event was held on the island 22 miles from the mainland.

The controversy erupted as the island’s businesses hoped to draw attention to a $13 million facelift, with new attractions including a zip line that carries riders from 600 feet above sea level to the beach.

Rohrabacher acknowledged their concerns, agreeing that immigration was a federal responsibility, not theirs.

His visit was the latest episode in a long-running debate over the IDs. Mexico has issued more than 7.2 million cards in the U.S. since 2002 through a network of 50 consulates that includes outposts in Boise, Idaho, Juneau, Alaska and Little Rock, Ark.

Mexican officials say the IDs, valid for five years, are also used by Mexicans who are in the U.S. legally.

“The main objective is to provide our citizens with an ID card here, whatever they need it for,” said Ricardo Alday, spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington. “It’s better for everyone to know who they are and where they live.”

The Orange County congressman, who is seeking a 12th term in a safely Republican district, said the IDs made it easier for illegal immigrants to live in the U.S. and the program contradicted long-term strategy to combat illegal immigration.

“The idea that we are making it more comfortable for illegals to be here … it’s wrong,” he said.

Rohrabacher said he learned about the Los Angeles consulate’s June 3 visit a day or two before from constituents.

Flyers posted in Avalon, a town of about 4,000 people, advertised the consular event scheduled to be held at the Catalina Visitors Country Club, where the consulate held the same event in 2008 without controversy.

Brad Wilson, chief marketing officer for Santa Catalina Island Co., owner of the country club, got a call from a Rohrabacher aide the day before the event asking if he knew he was aiding and abetting illegal immigrants.

The congressman then sent a letter that suggested Mexico needed State Department clearance and that the city and country club were “unwitting participants” in a program to help illegal immigrants.

Taken aback, Wilson withdrew the invitation just as consular officials were unloading computers and printers from a ferry boat. The city’s Catholic church offered a room to rescue the event.

Rohrabacher later conceded that State Department approval was unnecessary, saying his staff didn’t have time to research the question before the event.

After his helicopter landed, he expounded on illegal immigration over breakfast with city officials and then walked a few blocks to church to confront Juan Carlos Mendoza, Mexico’s deputy consul general in Los Angeles, face to face.

“We agreed that this would be decided between Mexico City and Washington,” Mendoza said.

Consular officials said they issued 44 ID cards and 60 passports before they left.

The episode has left a bitter aftertaste on the island, where some Mexican families trace their ancestors’ arrival to the era of William Wrigley Jr., the chewing gum magnate who bought the island in 1919 and brought his Chicago Cubs for spring training.

Today, Avalon is a sleepy town where there’s a large supermarket, post office and movie theater. On many mornings, about a dozen Mexican day laborers gather outside a market looking for work.

Locals say there was a big influx of illegal immigrants more than 20 years ago when cruise ships transformed the island from a summer to a year-round economy.

Mayor Bob Kennedy estimates about half the population is Latino _ up to 70 percent in the public school _ but there are few signs of division. Latinos and whites live on the same narrow streets.

“Really, this whole community acts as one,” said Kennedy, a scuba-shop owner who backed the consular visit. “That’s why we support this. They’re providing services to this city. Legal or not, they’re residing in our community.”

US Money to Step Up Security in the Caribbean Region

“We all know well that addressing transnational security challenges in the twenty-first century requires a comprehensive approach. CBSI means working together not only to strengthen national security forces and anti-trafficking efforts, but also focusing on broader citizen safety partnerships and social inclusion,” Secretary Clinton told leaders of Caribbean states at a CARICOM ministerial meeting today in Bridgetown, Barbados.

“For all of us, the safety of our people must be our highest priority. That’s why today we are committing ourselves to CBSI…. We’ve worked with Congress to identify over $45 million in funding for this effort this year. And we’ve asked for $79 million in next year’s budget – a $124 million commitment to CBSI over two years.”

This partnership continues to draw upon and help develop the capacity of the Caribbean to address common and related challenges.

Key objectives of the CBSI Partnership include: substantially reducing illicit trafficking, increasing public safety and security, and promoting social justice.

CBSI funds will:

• Combat the growing threat of transnational crime in the region, specifically the illicit trafficking in drugs and small arms
• Develop and strengthen the capacity of regional defense, law enforcement, and justice sector institutions to detect, interdict, and successfully prosecute criminal elements operating in the Caribbean
• Reduce the opportunity for crime and violence to thrive in the Caribbean Region by increasing the skills and educational opportunities for populations vulnerable to recruitment by criminal organizations and fostering community and law enforcement cooperation
• Provide alternatives to at-risk youth, such as formal and informal education initiatives, and through the establishment of effective training and employment opportunities

CBSI will also serve as a coordinating venue to attract and incorporate support from non-Caribbean allies in pursuit of its key objectives.

U.S. and Caribbean government representatives have met four times in recent months to jointly define and develop the goals and scope of the Initiative.

The Inaugural Caribbean-U.S. Security Cooperation Dialogue took place in Washington, D.C. on May 27, 2010 and was attended by all members of CARICOM, the Dominican Republic, and partner nation observers. Participants worked toward a declaration of principles, a framework for engagement, and a broad plan of action.

CBSI partnership activities complement other regional efforts, such as the Merida Initiative and the Central America Regional Security Initiative. They also will mitigate any “balloon effect” – criminal spillover resulting from successful reductions in drug trafficking and transnational crime elsewhere in the region.

USAID Cash Prizes To Haiti

The project is different from the foundation’s more common approach, which would be to ask for proposals, make grants and then hope for good results. This time the foundation _ and its partner, the U.S. Agency for International Development _ wants to see the results first and then hand out some cash.

USAID is adding another $5 million to the project for help with technical assistance.

In addition to death and destruction, the January earthquake devastated Haiti’s financial system, destroying automatic teller machines, preventing some people from getting cash and making a possession of cash unsafe when nearly everyone was sleeping on the street, said Priya Jaisinghani, senior adviser to USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah.

“If successful, this could be a transformative measure for Haiti,” she said.

In the past four years, the Gates Foundation has committed nearly $500 million toward helping the poor get mobile access to financial services, mostly in Africa. The foundation has also given $2 million toward relief efforts in Haiti, including shelter, food, sanitation and health.

In Kenya, for example, the M-PESA mobile money service allows 9 million people to pay for everything from clothing to school fees using their mobile phones, said Amolo Ngweno, deputy director of the foundation’s financial services for the poor program.

The transactions are easier and safer than carrying cash, save the cost of traveling to and from actual bank branches, and have allowed them to increase their savings and their earnings by between 5 and 30 percent, according to early results of a recent study by the University of Edinburgh.

In Haiti, the foundation hopes to encourage existing cell phone companies, banks or technology companies to give people easy access to financial aid and let them spend money for necessities now, and improve the ability of Haitians to save money for the future, Ngweno said.

“We saw this as an opportunity to intervene, not just for the short term but also for the longer term, to help people have a mobile financial existence,” she said.

Before the earthquake, fewer than 10 percent of Haitians had ever used a commercial bank, according to USAID.

The foundation is offering a prize of $2.5 million to the first company to launch a mobile money service in the next six months that meets certain criteria, which include being a broad service that has the potential for scaling up across the whole country.

“What we don’t want to encourage is short-term or small operators to get into the market just to earn the award,” Ngweno said.

The second successful operator within the first 12 months will get $1.5 million. Another $6 million will be distributed after the first 5 million transactions take place and will be divided among those companies that enabled the transactions.

“We set up this fund to harness the power of the market,” Ngweno said. “They should be actively seeking the right solutions for Haiti.”

Haiti has three cell phone companies and at least two were already looking into the possibility of mobile banking, Jaisinghani said.