Azteca America Chairman Luis J. Echarte Participates in CHCI Conference Summit on Spanish-Language Media and the 2008 Elections

Azteca America Network and Fundacion Azteca America congratulate Chairman Luis J. Echarte on his successful participation in the Corporate America summit hosted by Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Chairman and Congressman Joe Baca as part of the organization’s Public Policy Conference this week. The panel was entitled Spanish-Language Media Companies: A New Source of Latino Empowerment During the 2008 Presidential Elections.
“In contrast to other media companies, we are a grass roots organization built from the bottom up with local businesspeople across the nation to achieve network coverage,” said Mr. Echarte.
Highlights of the participation included the activities of Fundacion Azteca America in support of the Latino community. A brief video outlined the work that Fundacion Azteca America has done to promote political engagement, including partnerships with Voto Latino and a special community leader news segment called Issues: Caras y Voces, with guests including Arizona Senator and Presidential Candidate John McCain, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Congressman Xavier Becerra and Senator Harry Reid.
Also highlighted was the foundation’s public service announcement campaign in favor of political engagement, featuring state governors, members of Congress, community leaders and on-screen personalities. And through its website, Fundacion Azteca America has given the community the opportunity to register to vote online.
“The step that the Latino community is lacking is the ability to convert street demonstrations into political action. The problem in some of the cases is that many of the demonstrators were not registered or eligible to vote,” said Mr. Echarte. “Our goal is to convert demonstrators to voters.”
During the spring of 2008, Fundacion Azteca America organized a State of Latinos issues forum: the Agenda Latina 2008, in the city of Denver. The event consisted of a successful town hall meeting with the participation of Governor Bill Ritter, U.S. Senator Ken Salazar and representatives from Voto Latino, National Association Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, Republican National Hispanic Assembly, NDN, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, National Council of La Raza and Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.
The goal of the town hall was to discuss issues of importance to the Latino community such as the economy, health, education and immigrant rights. The underlying current throughout the program was the importance of the Latino vote and the need to exercise that vote.
Phase two of this forum will take place in Washington D.C. on Sept. 23 with the release of the findings and action steps from the Denver town hall in a white paper created by the University of Denver.
The CHCI summit also included participation by Univision CEO Joe Uva, Telemundo President Don Browne, Azteca America Washington Correspondent Armando Guzman, National Council of La Raza President Janet Murguia, Comcast Foundation Vice President Susan Gonzales, Telemundo Co-Anchor Jose Diaz Balart and Univision Anchor Maria Elena Salinas.
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