AROUND THE WORLD 1: The Latino View of the Attacks

By FEDERICO ARELLANO (Click here to read about the writer)
Scripps Howard Foundation Wire

As enormous efforts were made nationwide to recover both economic and social life, the Latino population in the United States was anxious, but unwilling to take reprisal against the aggressors.

The Mexican Embassy in Washington said Thursday that the Mexican Independence Day celebrations that were going to take place in America on Sept. 15 were cancelled. “It is another sign of respect for the grief of American people,” spokesman Miguel Monterrubio, said.

On the day of the attacks, Mexican president Vicente Fox went on national TV to express his sorrow and also sent a personal letter to President Bush strongly condemning the terrorists. In the New York and Washington areas, authorities were still looking for 11 missing Mexican citizens.

An employee of the Argentinean Embassy in Washington, D.C., who heard the explosion at the Pentagon when he drove to work on Tuesday, said that the terrorists' attacks were “horrible and hard to understand.” Meanwhile, Argentinean society waited anxiously for further news: there were three Argentinean persons still missing at the World Trade Center: one of them worked on the 76th floor, the other on the 104th. and the third was on the 24th floor.

The American Latino population was also concerned and disoriented but not angry. Ana Polanco, assistant director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement in Washington, said “we are going through a lot of stress, finding if all of our members are allright, trying to get to their families and see how they are in terms of helping communities, both in New York and in the D.C. and Virginia area.” The council represents the Latino workers and other national labor organizations.

“We are giving all our support to what the Labor Federation, and the Labor Department is doing nationwide, and of course to the president,” Polanco pointed out. She is a Latino American, and a daughter of Colombian and Dominican parents. Most of all, she added, her sympathies lie with the United States.

“We need to understand what has happened to us, also as a community, and realize that we are not omnipotent. In other countries, this is frequent; it is a shock for us but we should be aware that this is possible,” she said.

As most of their affiliates are immigrants, Polanco said that they been through similar situations. “That is why we understand as a community that we need to investigate and take all the necessary measures,” but she emphasized, “even though I don’t think that the Hispanic community is hungry to take revenge on someone.”

When asked about the media plea for Bush to harden the American position, Polanco said that, “We are confronting a terrorist organization, it is not a country, it is not a specific entity, so it is hard to know which kind of leadership is needed for this situation.” Click here to tell us what you think about this story!

Read AROUND THE WORLD 2: Muslims Living in America