The year 2008 is finished, and for the Hispanic community it is not stimulant at all to realize a balance of the happened throughout these twelve months. The facts related to antiimmigrant measurements in the metropolitan area of Washington, DC, overcame all the forecasts. A real record was reached in the number and the proportion of raids, which affected thousands of undocumented workpeople to national scale. The impact of the mortgage sequestrations has been a wrecker and there are hundreds of thousands of families of Latin origin the affected ones, with his logical consequence of loss of housings and work places, increasing impoverishment of entire communities and school abandonment in very high percentage.

Nevertheless, when we prepare to initiate the year 2009, we think that over everything it should give priority to the positivism and the optimism. In abundance we know how the members of the community managed to carry the problems in their own fatherlands, and went out forward after facing dramatic, such facts as galloping inflations, pernicious dictatorships or unfortunate civil wars, between others.

Now when million Hispanic immigrants have sheltered throughout many years in this big nation, we believe that it is the moment to show to the remaining communities this tempering, this indomitable will and this ingenuity with those who could conquer these obstacles.

Fortunately, everything points to that our community will have a valid speaker with the new administration of mister Barack Obama. There are already breathed encouraging signs, like the appointment of three secretaries (the ministers) in strategic sectors of the new government that settles next January 20.

We think, for it, that the fortitude and the sense of expectancy of the people for this news must pass to the positivism – that breaks the negative defeatism - and to the increase of the faith and the fortitude of the whole people who longs for the arrival of better times. The nation like that waits for it. Happy Year 2009 for all.