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September 27, 2000
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Sacred Monkey River
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In 199 2 , w riter and o n e-tim e
whitewater guide Christopher Shaw
stood on a bridge overlooking a high
tributary o f the Usumacinta River, in the
highlands o f Chiapas, Mexico’s south
ernmost state. He realized that from
there he could launch a descent o f the
entire watershed, four hundred miles to
the G ulf o f Mexico, through one o f the
last great wild areas o f Central America,
through rain forests contested by
B \ D iane M c C lellan for T hf P or h and
O bserver
The num berofH ispanic-ow ned
businesses has grow n 232% from
19 8 7 -1997 to approxim ately l .4
m illion businesses in the United
States, according the US Small
B usiness A dm inistration. O ver
the sam e period, revenues grew
417% to $184billion, represent
ing one o f the m ost rapidly grow
ing business segm ents in our na
tion today.
In spite o f the record grow th
o f new businesses in this m arket
segm ent, there is still m uch room
for growth. T he H ispanic popula
tion currently represents alm ost
11% o f US population and own
4.5% o f all businesses. H ow ever,
futurists predict that the H ispanic
population w ill grow to be the
largest ethnic group in this coun
try during this m illennium im
pacting the potential for trem en
dous grow th o f H ispanic busi-
nesses.
In order to understand this m ar
ket better, one m ust exam ine the
term s “ H isp a n ic ” o r “ L atin o ”
term s w hich serve has an um brella
covering a diverse population- a
m osiac o f 22.1 m illion A m eri
cans with ancestral roots in 22
S p a n is h - s p e a k in g c o u n tr ie s
around the w orld. These labels
defy univ ersal ch aracterizatio n
because they apply to people o f
different nationalities, different
races and different dialects w ithin
the Spanish language. By 2010,
according to the U rban Institute,
US H ispanics w ill num ber 39 m il
lion o rl2 .9 % o f the US popula
tion.
Overall, the Hispanic population,
according to the 1990 Census, is
significantly younger than the rest o f
the US population and may figure
more strongly in the country’s popu
lar culture in the years ahead. His
panic women represent more than
53% o f the Hispanic labor pool and
3.8 % o f the total labor pool. This
figure is expected to increase to
7% by 2005, according to gov
ernm ent studies.
W hat does this m ean to m ar
keters? Expansion and grow th o f
H ispanic businesses will increase
jo b s and create higher purchasing
pow er for both ow ners and their
em ployees. Already m any national
and regional firms have created
m arketing divisions w ithin their
com panies solely responsible for
researching trends and develop
ing better strategies to attract the
H ispanic consumer. This is a chal
lenge due to the fact that H is
panic people represent a vast di
verse population and rapidly as
sim ilate into m ainstream A m eri
can culture. H ow ever, sm art com
panies w ill invest tim e and re
sources to heighten their aw are
ness o f the attitu d es, interests
and opinions o f this grow ing m ar
ket o f H ispanic business leaders
and consum ers.
■MA
we on
A Canoe Trip with the
Gods By Christopher
Shaw W.W. Norton &
Company; 2000
M aya rebels in G uatem ala, and past
som e o f the greatest ruins o f their
classical M aya forbears.
His goal w as to “take in the basin
from top to bottom , at canoe speed,
the speed o f the ancients, and gain a
sense o f the step-by-step relations
o f d is ta n c e a n d d ir e c tio n th a t
u n d erg ird a b asic k n o w led g e o f
place.” Early in 1997, Shaw set out
on his canoe trip from the highlands
to the gulf, and recounts his jo u rn ey
in Sacred M onkey River.
By then, the insurgency on the
G uatem ala shore had subsided, but
the Z apatista rebellion in C hiapas,
and crim inal enterprises on both the
M exican and G uatem alan sides o f
the river, had throw n the basin into
turmoil. W ith luck and the assis
tance o f his local guides. Shaw w as
a b le to g a in a c c e s s to th e
U su m a c in ta h e a d w a te rs , in the
Z apatista heartland. He paddled with
rebels and visited their villages, while
sim ultaneously contending w ith the
hazards o f fluctuating river levels
and political forces. Y et he was also
able to discern encouraging signs
for the future am ong the reg io n ’s
people.
The river, its num erous tributar
ies and nearby lakes form ed a kind
o f p re-C o lu m b ian superhighw ay.
S h aw 's route, by raft and canoe, fol
low ed ancient trade routes that sus
ta in e d an d tran sm itte d c la ssic a l
M aya civilization. Shaw argues that
can o ein g n o t o nly su stain ed the
M aya, but played a central role in the
original peopling o f the W estern
H em isphere. For the M aya, how
ever, the river and canoe travel tran
scended m igration or sim ple com
m erce, constituting a “W atery P ath”
at the nexus o f terrestrial geography
and divine cosm ogony.
As Shaw traverses the watershed’s
varied terrain, his chronicle incorpo
rated diverse elements o f adventure
travel, anthropology, geopolitics, natu
ral history and spiritual autobiography.
Knowing Hispanic Market
Translates Into Sales
uponga que esta noche un árbol cae sobre su garaje...
¿QUIÉN LE AYUDARÁ MAÑANA?
Assistant Consulate General Rita Maciel (left) and Consulate General Patricia Soria hosted the recent
Mexico Independence celebration at the Consulate General de Mexico in Portland.
The War on Drugs Rots America
Bv S heldon R ichman
for
T he P ortland
O bserver
President C linton m ay have found
a legacy, and the Republicans in
C o n g re ss are b a c k in g h im . H is
legacy? T aking the United States into
the civil w ar raging in C olom bia by
an injection o f $ 1.3 billion in m oney
and m ilitary equipm ent, including
com bat helicopters, not to m ention
hundreds o f A m erican pilots and
“advisors.” A nd w hy is he doing that?
B ecause, he and his G O P allies say
it is necessary to prosecute our do
m estic W ar on Drugs.
Such is the logic o f the W ar on
D rugs - w hich is really a w ar against
people. It’s another reason to dum p
that policy forthw ith.
Colom bia is the scene o f con
tinuing violence involving the gov
ernm ent, so-called left-w ing gue
rillas, and so-called right w ing m ili
tias. Peasants, m eanw hile, can m ake
a living growing coca, w hich is turned
into cocaine for the A m erican m ar
ket. E ighty p ercen t o f A m erican
cocaine originates in C olom bia. The
U.S. governm ent w ants to stop the
Usted está dentro de su casa, lejos de la amenaza de la gran tormenta. De repente...
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I
peasants from grow ing coca on the
curious ground that the dem and on
A m erican streets w ill dry up if the
C olo m b ian supply vanishes. T he
guerillas protect poor coca grow ers
in return for m oney, w hich finances
their activities, w hich in turn stim u
lates activity by the m ilitias, w hich
profit from drugs through their ties
to w ealthy coca growers. The m ili
tias w ork with the regular arm y,
w hich w ill never w in an aw ard for
respecting individual rights.
A ccording to The Observer, the
"em ergency” pork-barrel-laden bill
passed by Congress also included
m oney to finance the spraying o f
C o lu m b ia’s co ca crops w ith the
deadly herbicide Fusarium EN-4,
w hich the n e w sp a p e r re p o rts is
u se d to m a k e c h e m ic a l w e a p
o n s, w ill h arm p la n ts o th e r th an
c o c a , an d c o u ld e v e n tu a lly
s ic k e n so m e h u m a n b e in g s. Y o u
se e , as th e B o ls h e v ik s u se d to
sa y , y o u c a n ’t m a k e an o m e le t
w ith o u t b re a k in g a few eg g s.
“Colom bia is the heart o f the drug
w ar, and w e ’d better get on w ith it,”
said G O P Sen. Paul C overdell. “ If
we lose in Colom bia, then w e lose
everyw here.”
T h at’s the public line being put
out by the president and his R epub
lican allies. But there is reason for
skepticism because such strategies
have failed countless tim es before.
A nytim e the U nited States has put
pressure on farm ers in one Latin
A m erican country, the drug traders
have sim ply m oved som ew here else.
For that m atter, w asn’t the end o f the
notorious C olom bian drug cartels
hailed ju st a few years ago? 1 guess
th ey ’re back.
N o one should rule out that the
drug w ar is ju st an excuse for the
United States to help the C olom bian
governm ent in its civil war. B ut that
is no business o f ours. Intervening
there is certainly not authorized by
the U.S. Constitution. N o C olom
bian guerilla threatens the United
States.
But som e people w ill cling to the
drug-w ar rationalization. By now,
we should all see through that phony-
baloney justification.
The Painters of Santiago, Cuba
Los Pintores de Santiago de Cuba
For the first tim e in the history o f
the Bush Bam A rt C enter exhibition
program , the Salem Art A ssociation
is bringing a com pletely interna
tional show to the Salem audience,
one in w hich every single participat
ing artist lives and w orks outside
N orth A m erica.
“T he Painters o f Santiago, C uba"
w ill open in the A.N. Bush G allery
through Oct. 29.
T he show is being jointly curated
by G allery D irector Julie Larson
and Jany A m etller From eta, C uban
Specialist in A rts, who has orga
nized several group show s o f paint
ings in her hom etow n o f Santiago de
Cuba. Frometa presented Larson with
over 80 images o f paintings by vari
o u s artists from the region and
Larson selected 36 w orks by 12
artists for the final group.
O n the second floor o f the Bush
Bam Art Center, tw o other exhibi
tions will be on view during “The
Painters o f Santiago, C uba" show.
T h e F o cu s G a lle ry w ill featu re
photo-realist ball point draw ings by
Ivan France, who is currently in resi
dence at M acLaren Y outh C orrec
tional Facility in W oodburn. France
is serving a m andatory six year sen
tence he received as a juvenile. While
in residence at MacLaren, France has
discoveredatalent for drawingand paint
ing. W ithasimple,stateissuedballpoint
pen, he is able to capture meticulous
detail and an enormous range o f tonal
value and gradiations. The Comer Li
brary Gallery will show works by Salem
area artist Felix Oliveras which deal
with issues o f migrant workers.
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