Quepasa.com and Latinas Illustrated Launch International Swimsuit Model Search

Quepasa.com, one of the world’s largest bilingual, Latino online communities, and Latinas Illustrated today announced an exclusive partnership to launch an international search for the top 12 most beautiful Latinas in the U.S. and Latin America. The partnership includes a fully interactive online community and international model search contest with the winners to be featured in the Latinas Illustrated 2009 swimsuit calendar edition.

“We are excited about providing Latinas from all over the U.S. and Latin America this great opportunity to showcase their talent and realize their modeling dreams,” Quepasa CEO John C. Abbott stated. “Through the online community we are providing a unique outlet for aspiring Latina models to gain international recognition.”

The Latinas Illustrated community and contest will launch on Quepasa.com on May 5th and will feature a vibrant, multimedia, interactive viral community, including exclusive videos, model profiles, pictures, user-generated content, and behind-the-scenes clips from past calendar shoots from all over Latin America.

“This is one of the many projects we are launching to drive traffic to Quepasa to enhance our social networking community for Latinos here and in Latin America,” commented Jeff Valdez, Quepasa’s recently installed co-chairman. “We are happy to be working with Latinas Illustrated to offer our members a richer online experience.”

The community will center around the model search contest to find 12 gorgeous Latina models to feature in the 2009 Latinas Illustrated Swimsuit Calendar, which will be available for sale on Quepasa.com and other outlets. Entrants can sign up at quepasa.com/community/latinasillustrated.html and upload five photos from which the Quepasa.com community will vote on and determine who the finalists will be.

“The calendar has proven to be a great success for over six years,” said Latina Illustrated Founder Jorge Cano Jr. “We are excited to be working with Quepasa to give Latinas a platform to advance their modeling careers.”

Top contestants will be invited to participate in casting calls at the hottest venues in Los Angeles, Miami, and Mexico City and will culminate with a bikini contest and fashion show in Los Angeles where a panel of judges will decide which 12 women will be a part of the 2009 edition of the Latinas Illustrated Swimsuit Calendar. “*

• Ricardo Salinas Breaks Ground for What Will Be the Most Modern Television Studio in Latin America – Mexico City
• Brazil replaces Mexico as China’s top market in Latin America and boosts its surplus as well.
• The mayor of a wealthy suburb (San Pedro Garza Garcia) of Monterrey said Monday that he has sent his family to the United States for their own safety as he pursues his campaign against extortion and kidnapping gangs.
• Expert: Juárez violence a ‘terrorist war’
• Mexican Mennonites Impacted by Drug Violence
• Mexican farmers reeling from worst drought in decades
• Mexico City’s famed dance-for-peso halls fading
• Americans Running South: Why We are Flocking to Mexico for Work
• On the mayor’s agenda: ‘Civilize’ Mexico City – Marcelo Ebrard
• Bilingual ballots may be coming to Hall – Growing Latino population could require voting material be available in Spanish – Gainesville, Georgia
• A federal judge dismissed dozens of immigration charges Thursday against the former manager of a kosher slaughterhouse, at the request of prosecutors who had already won a conviction on multiple counts of financial fraud. – Postville news
• Juárez violence: Drug-war brutality persists despite presence of military
• Mexican doctors pointed to parents as the reason Mexico leads the world in child obesity, a problem made worse in this country by the lack of sports training.
• LatAm Immigrants Are Changing Spain, Sociologist Says
• Mexico’s top domestic security official said Friday that sectors of the general public have cooperated with drug cartels in the violent border city of Ciudad Juarez, and the government is about to launch new social programs there to combat gangs.
• Susana Iglesias, writing from the streets – Mexico City native is winner of the first-ever Aura Estrada Prize, an international competition for young women writing literature in Spanish.
• Mexican authorities predict fewer Mexican immigrants will be back home for Christmas
• Mapping Out Mexico – Navigating your way through Mexico can be tricky business sometimes – MexicoMaps.com
• Mexico City Noir and the Six Word Story
• The current global crisis will cause the number of poor people in Latin America to rise by 9 million to 189 million this year, the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said in a report presented on Thursday.