February • 28, - 2001
Page B5
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A Woman Emerges to Offer Peru an Alternative
B ELLA V ISTA . Peru - Elderly
w om en jum ped out o f their rocking
chairs and little girls tugged at their
m others' dresses in excitem ent as
Lourdes Flores' presidential campaign
caravan m oved through the rutted
streets o f this northern jungle town.
Smiling while standing on the back
o f a pickup. Flores sought out groups
o f w om en and gave them the thumbs
up. " 'U p with women! ' ’ she exclaimed
tim e and again. And time and again,
women responded with excited giggles
and. occasionally, clenched fists in the
air.
In her 10 years in Congress, Flores
m ade a career o f sponsoring bills to
toughen penalties against rape and
domestic violence and to promote DN A
testing in paternity cases. She started
torunforpresidentin 1995 but dropped
out when her effort to unseat Alberto
Fujimori failed to pick up traction.
A fter scandals that forced Fujimori
to flee the country late last year. Flores
is quickly moving up in the polls and
running a close second in a crowded
field ofcandidates seven weeks before
balloting on April 8. One poll last week
in d ic a te d th at she co u ld d efe at
Alejandro Toledo, the former busi
ness professor w ho ran a strong race
against Fujimori last year, in a widely
expected second-round runoff.
Presidential Candidate
Lourdes Flores
On political and economic matters.
Flores is one o f the more conserv ativ e
candidates. She is campaigning on a
platform o f tree markets and balanced
budgets. She is also in a coalition, and
some supporters are aligned w ith Opus
Dei. a conservative Roman Catholic
organization.
In a country deeply marked by m a
chismo - where women won the right to
vote in 1956. and w here men. as re
cently as five years ago. could escape
jail terms for rape simply by m arrying
their victims - Flores' candidacy is
revolutionary.
Political experts say the fact that
Flores is a w om an may prove to be tire
" A w om an gov em ing tins country
will mean a deep cultural change."
Flores told municipal workers at the
Bellavista Town Hall. " After the deep
moral and ethical crisis that Peru is
going through, we could use a femi
nine touch with firm ness."
She noted that w omen had led .Ar
gentina. N icaragua and. now. Panama
- though all as w idow s after their hus
bands had been in the office or had led
opposition mov ements.
* 'Now w e're talking about another
kindofw om anpresident.'' said Flores,
who is 41 and single. "A n d if we do it.
itcould be an example forchange for all
ofLatin .America.''
New Cardinals Reflects Changing
Face of The Catholic Church
V A TIC A N C ITY (A P) - To the
cheers o f tens o f thousands o f well-
wishers. +4 new cardinals clim bed the
steps o f St. P eter's Basilica, knelt
before Pope John Paul II and fol
low ed an ancient cerem ony that
m akes them princes o f the church.
T he geographical diversity o f the
group — w hich included m en from
five continents — was also evident:
Som e chose not to w ear the red hat
w ith three ridges custom arily worn
by cardinals, opting instead for their
traditional headgear.
The num ber o f cardinals installed
w as a record, as John Paul raised the
ch u rc h 's profile in sensitive areas o f
the w orld and expanded the group
that w ill choose his successor.
Som e cardinals popped on sun
glasses against the glare as John
Paul, his voice at tim es slurred, read
their nam es.
T he new' cardinals reflected the
clave.
All but 10 have been nam ed by
John Paul and share his conservative
view s, supporting church bans on
abortion, the use o f artificial birth
control and changes in the require
m ent that priests m ust be celibate.
There are exceptions: A m ong the
new cardinals is K arl Lehm ann, w ho
as head o f the G erm an bishops con
ference u n su ccessfu lly sought to
have the V atican lift its ban on di
vorced and rem arried C atholics re
ceiving com m union.
The red color reserved for cardi
nals represents the challenge the pope
presents them before they take their
oath: "B e ready to spill blood if need
be to spread the faith."
“Every Christian knows he is called
to a faithfulness witljout com prom ise,
w hich can require even the extrem e
sacrifice," the pope said in his hom
ily.
p o p e's strategy for the church o f 1
billion adherents in the new m illen
nium.
John Paul beefed up the Latin
A m erican contingent, elevated prel
ates from the M iddle East, w here the
church is struggling to survive, and
installed two Ukrainians, a new battle
ground for the church in those parts
o f eastern Europe traditionally under
the influence o f the O rthodox church.
C ardinals serve as advisers to
popes, but their m ost important jo b is
to elect a successor to the pontiff.
John Paul, now in the 23rd year o f
his papacy, turns 81 in M ay; his frail
physical condition, w ith sym ptom s
o f P arkinson’s disease, is evident.
In nam ing a record num ber o f car
dinals. John Paul ignored the limit set
by a predecessor, Paul VI, on the
num ber ofcardinals under 80 eligible
to vote for a pope. There are now 135
cardinals eligible to vote in a con-
Awaiting Adoption
Behind the unchanging ritual is
the changing face o f the C atholic
church at the start o f its third m illen
nium — less European, and m ore
dev eloping world, w here the faith is
expanding.
Europe still has 96 cardinals, but
m any are not eligible to vote for a new
pope.
The largest num ber after E urope
ans are Latin A m ericans. 33. w ith 27
o f voting age. Latin A m erica has
about 40 percent o f the w orld's C atho-
lics.
"S occer and the church are the
two things that really m ove people in
S o u th A m e ric a ," said th e Rev.
V ladim ir Jaram illo, w ho led a parish
contingent from Cali. Colombia.
A m ong the new Latin A m erican
cardinals is one who some observers
say has a shot at being pontiff: O scar
Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga. 5 8. the
first cardinal from Honduras.
If you are interested in becoming an adoptive parent or would
like to provide foster care to the children under the State of
Oregon custody, please call Judy Orellana at the Services to
Children and Families, 503/731 -3147, ext. 2247.
Se necesitan padres temporales de crianza o padres adoptivos. Si
está interezada en adoptar a cuidar a uno de estos niños, llame a
Judy Orellana al teléfono 503/731 -3147, ext. 2247.
U.S.-Bom Latinos Moving
Rapidly Into Middle Class
Bv C ynthia O rosco
L atin o h o u se h o ld s c o n sid ered
m iddle-class grew 80 percent over
the last two decades — from 1.5 m il
lion to 2.7 m illion, according to a
survey by the T om as Rivera Policy
Institute, based in Clarem ont, Calif.
Its findings contradict long-held ste
reotypes: that Latinos ignore educa
tional opportunities and are poor.
Forty-tw o percent o f native-born
L atino households reached m iddle-
class status in 1998— earning $40,000
o r m ore annually. This increase is
three tim es the rate for non-H ispanic
w hites. W ith growing numbers gradu
ating from college. Latinos generally
achieve econom ic parity by the end
o f the third or fourth generation.
Because o f the im pact o f the arrival
o f recent im m igrants on L atino earn
ings and educational attainm ent, es
pecially am ong M exican-A m ericans,
the s tu d y ’s auth o rs su g g est that
L atino subgroups should be treated
individually in collection o f data.
O f the Latino subgroups surveyed,
those o f C uban origin had the high
est m edian household incom es in
1998, follow ed by those from Central
and South A m erica. W hile incom es
for both native- and foreign-bom
study found. D espite this, an educa
tional, and hence an earnings, gap
persists betw een Latinos and their
w hite counterparts. In 1998. non-
H ispanic w hite men w ith a college
education earned about $15,000'
m ore than native-born Latinos and
about $20,000 more than African-
Am erican men.
H ow ever, earnings for native-
born Latinas with college degrees
are ju st about equal to those o f non-
H ispanic w hite and A frican-A m eri
can wom en. The survey concluded
that as they continue to enter the
w ork force in larger numbers, Larinas
w ill be the impetus for the continued
grow th o f the Latino m iddle class.
This inform ation highlighting the
grow th o f Latino household in
com es and the m iddle class is im por
tant but often overlooked or disre
garded by the m ainstream press,
w hich too frequently paints the en
tire Latino community with one brush
stroke, according to TRPI president
Dr. H arry Pachón. This helps create
a public perception o f Latinos as a
victim ized com m unity. This view
varies from state to state, he said.
Latinos grew on par from 1979 to
1989, incom es for households led by
native-born Latinos rose $4,000 from
1989 to 1998. Incomes for foreign-
bom Latinos, many o f whom arrive
w ith less education and few er m ar
ketable skills, dropped about the same
am ount during that period.
Stephen Trejo, one o f the survey’s
authors, said incomes among the U.S.
C uban com m unity are higher than
the other groups because Cubans
cam e over here with a strong educa
tional foundation and they received
assistance from the federal govern
ment. Trejo, an associate professor
o f econom ics at the U niversity o f
Texas at A ustin, added that Cuban
families also invest m ore m oney in
their child ren 's education
U nlike M exicans and C entral
A m ericans, w ho send billions ofdol-
lars to their countries o f origin annu
ally, Cubans have been restricted from
doing so.
Part o f the grow th o f m iddle-class
U.S. Latino households is due to the
fact that more individuals are pursu
in g e d u c a tio n a l o p p o r tu n itie s .
Latinos spent about the same pro
portion o f their income on education
as non-H ispanic w hites in 1998, the
decisive factor in a campaign domi
nated by daily releases o f v ideotapes
that show the form er spy chief.
Vladimiro Montesinos, bribing and
otherwise intluencmg politicians, busi
ness people and journalists.
Flores is the leading candidate
among women, and polls show that
although she lags behind Toledo
among men. she has the lowest nega
tive rating among the male voters.
"B eing a woman is synonymous
with change, and Penm ans are seek
ing a break from the past.' ’ a pollster.
Giovanna Penaflor. said. "A nd the
image people have o f women is that
they are more honest than m en."
Piénselo. Usted se siente orgulloso de los
hijos que crió. Sus nietos también son
hermosos e inteligentes. La realidad de la
jubilación finalmente ha llegado y ha
resultado mejor de lo que imaginaba.
Pero todo esto no lo hubiera logrado sin
7/
ted tiene una familia que lo respalda
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A.M. Best, tenemos el tipo de estabilidad
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no era eso justamente lo
que tenía en mente? Así
que llame hoy mismo
y hable con uno de
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U.S.-Backed Coca Eradication
BOGOTA,Colombia(AP)— Harm
less w eed killer or A m azon-threaten
ing poison? A s a U.S.-backed drug
w ar escalates in Colombia, so does the
debate over glyphosate, the chemical
herbicide being used in a mass i ve aerial
cam paign to eradicate coca— the leaf
used to make cocaine.
C o lo m b ia n P re sid e n t A n d re s
Pastrana was meeting with President
Bush in W ashington on Tuesday to
discuss U.S. support for drug- fighting
program s in the w orld’s largest co
caine-producing nation. But plans to
continue fumigating are not expected
to be m odified— U .S.andC olom bian
government officials say the herbicide
is harmless to humans and the envi-
Patterson has decided to dispatch a
medical team to Putumayo.
C olom bia’s federal human rights
ombudsm an recently requested the
spraying be halted, citing effects on
food crops and evidence that farmers
who agreed to voluntarily eradicate
their coca crops have had them fumi
gated anyway. W hile the govern
ment insists on continuing the aerial
fumigation, environm entalists are
warning o f ecological damage
U.S. and Colombian officials con
tend glyphosate — produced in the
United States by M onsanto Co. and
sold as the weed-killer Roundup — is
no more harmful than aspirin, table
salt or caffeine
ronment. Since spraying kicked into
high gear in southern Putumayo prov
ince in December, airplanes escorted
by U.S.-provided helicopter gunships
have dumped an estimated 85,000 gal
lons o f the herbicide glyphosate over
tens o f thousands o f acres o f coca.
The private Crimea Marcos in La
Hormiga, a main town in the fumigation
zone, has received 15 patients com
plaining o f laryngitis and minor skin
and respiratory infections since then,
said Ana Patricia Quinteros, a physi
cian. However, it is unclear if the com
plaints are related to the fumigation,
Quinteros said.
To investigate complaints ofhealth
effec ts, U .S. A m b assad o r A nne
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