Latin American

The Summit of the Americas is more often a photo opportunity than a forum for bold policy initiatives. When issues of substance are discussed, the meeting of the hemisphere's 34 leaders has generally yielded more clashes than regional pacts. But some saw a chance for a little more action this year when leaders from several Latin American countries came to this weekend's summit in the Colombian seaside city of Cartagena complaining of drug war fatigue. Over the last six months, that weariness has been spreading throughout Latin America.

The civil unrest that devastated Los Angeles in spring 1992 and lighted a fire under the city's police department and political establishment also sounded an alarm to L.A.'s major cultural institutions: They needed to diversify their programming, expand their audiences, and step up their outreach efforts toward a population undergoing rapid demographic change. Over the past 20 years, institutions such as LACMA, the L.A. Phil, the Getty and L.A. Opera have attempted to attract larger audiences, particularly younger ones, from the region's growing Mexican American, Central American, Asian American and other ethnic-minority populations.

As he stood beside the ornate tomb in Seville's massive cathedral in southern Spain, Rubén Martínez didn't know whether to curse or bless the man whose bones lie there. "It's kind of like that classic mestizo dilemma," Martínez said, using the traditional term denoting people of mixed European and indigenous American ancestry. "He's my dad. I'm a bastard kid. I hate him, I love him. " Not every American harbors such complex, passionate feelings for Christopher Columbus: intrepid explorer, opportunistic slave trader, problematic New World progenitor.

The United States cannot afford to keep putting Latin America on the back burner as it focuses the bulk of its attention on Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The Western Hemisphere holds significant strategic interest for the U.S. - as well as enormous promise. Efforts should be focused in four key areas: building a democratic movement, enhancing trade and economic ties, cooperating on energy issues and building and strengthening security alliances. It's no coincidence that increased prosperity has followed in the wake of stronger democratic institutions in Latin America.

Cuarteto Latinoamericano is getting reliable and predictable. Thank goodness. It keeps reminding us what a wealth of repertory there is in Latin American serious music. While it's a shame to pigeonhole these fine musicians from Mexico-- violinists Saul Bitran and Aron Bitran, violist Javier Montiel and cellist Alvaro Bitran (the Bitrans are brothers)--and demand they play only this repertory, inexplicably few others seem to be rallying behind their banner.

The wide grin that seems perpetually attached to the face of Torii Hunter was gone Wednesday morning. The Angels' media-friendly center fielder fumed about how he was portrayed in a USA Today article examining the declining percentage of African American players in baseball in which he was quoted as saying that dark-skinned players from the Dominican Republic are not black but "imposters." "People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they're African American," Hunter said, according to the article, published Wednesday.

As Latin American stock and bond markets continue to plummet, big-money U.S. investors are torn between a belief that bargains are rampant and a fear that the worst is yet to come. So far, fear still has the upper hand in that struggle: Many institutional investors are staying on the sidelines.

Highlights from a May 31 New York auction of Latin American art will be on public view today and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Sotheby's galleries, 9665 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. Among the attractions are paintings by Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo, Roberto Matta and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Information: (310) 274-0340.

August O. Uribe, director of Latin American art for Sotheby's New York auction house, will lecture on "10 Criteria for Collecting Latin American Art" on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Chac Mool Gallery at 125 N. Robertson Blvd. The free lecture will be followed by a cocktail reception and book signing by art historian Sarah M. Lowe, author of "The Diary of Frida Kahlo" and "Tina Modotti." Information and reservations: (310) 550-6792.

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev will visit Mexico and several other Latin American countries next year, Mexican officials said today. The Communist Party general secretary is also expected to visit Argentina, Brazil and possibly Peru and Cuba, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. They said the visit to Mexico will be in "strict reciprocity" for visits to Moscow by two past Mexican presidents, Luis Echeverria and Jose Lopez Portillo.

Stadium politics Re "Chavez Ravine's wealth of land in play," April 17 In the 1960s, civics teachers (including me) had the duty of explaining the logic of redevelopment and the condemnation of private land for a "higher public use. " Fast-forward five decades and we find that the land taken from residents of Chavez Ravine before Dodger Stadium was built is now the plaything of developers who have billions to throw around....

The Summit of the Americas is more often a photo opportunity than a forum for bold policy initiatives. When issues of substance are discussed, the meeting of the hemisphere's 34 leaders has generally yielded more clashes than regional pacts. But some saw a chance for a little more action this year when leaders from several Latin American countries came to this weekend's summit in the Colombian seaside city of Cartagena complaining of drug war fatigue. Over the last six months, that weariness has been spreading throughout Latin America.

CARTAGENA, Colombia - President Obama will highlight trade and business opportunities in Latin America at a regional summit in Colombia this weekend, but other leaders may upstage him by pushing to legalize marijuana and other illicit drugs in a bid to stem rampant trafficking. Obama, who opposes decriminalization, is expected to face a rocky reception in this Caribbean resort city, which otherwise forms a friendly backdrop for a U.S. president courting Latino voters in an election year.

  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has undertaken an unusual campaign of sorts: warning migrants of the dangers of crossing the U.S. border illegally. As The Times reported Monday, agents have reached out to Mexican and Central American media to detail the dangers that face those who attempt to enter illegally, especially along the Arizona-Mexico border. Just how much of an impact the outreach campaign is having, however, is unclear. The number of people attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally has dropped dramatically in recent years.

Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, Helen Iris Torres responded to questions about her identity by telling people she was Puerto Rican. It didn't matter that schoolbooks referred to her as Hispanic. Now, as head of an organization that supports women of Latin American heritage, Torres still says she's a "proud Puerto Rican" but prefers the term Latina, which she says encompasses the larger community of Spanish speakers in the country. Torres' quandary is reflected in a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center, which suggests that the majority of people of Latin American descent choose to identify themselves by their countries of origin, over either Latino or Hispanic.

Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Mexico on Friday, urging this nation's Catholics to resist the temptations of violent drug traffickers and calling for change in Cuba. This is Benedict's first voyage to the Spanish-speaking Americas; after three days in Mexico, he continues to Cuba, the first papal visit to the island nation since John Paul II's historic trip to Havana in 1998. Landing on a sun-drenched afternoon in Mexico's conservative and traditionally Catholic midsection, Benedict was greeted by President Felipe Calderon.

On a wide but quiet strip of Vermont Avenue in South Los Angeles, in the run-down Casa Honduras dance hall, the ska kids are waiting for the next band to start. Couples are making out in the corners of the venue, attached to a Honduran restaurant. They sport dreadlocks, Afros and spiky punk 'dos and are dressed in everything from camouflage and combat boots to Chucks and suspenders. A sound check ensues with a band called Blanco y Negro. Once its members get going, blasting the room with a frenetic Latin-punk sound sung both in English and Spanish, the young crowd forms a circle and begins to skank.

It's only natural, given their proximity to Mexico and rapidly growing Latino constituencies, that California art museums would be engaged with Latin American material. But the robust lineup of exhibitions, exchanges and educational programs indicates that the days of focusing on historic "treasures" or romanticized figures such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are over. Museum directors and curators are talking about examining fresh topics and weaving Latin American art into a global fabric — in projects that require inter-departmental collaboration, international networking and community outreach.