May 5, 2004: Headlines: President Bush: Peace Corps Directors - Vasquez: Hispanic Issues: Seattle Post Intelligencer: President Bush was introduced to the packed East Room crowd as "a friend of Latinos" by Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez, who said Latinos "will continue to play a key role in shaping America's future."

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Headlines: May 2004 Peace Corps Headline: May 5, 2004: Headlines: President Bush: Peace Corps Directors - Vasquez: Hispanic Issues: Seattle Post Intelligencer: President Bush was introduced to the packed East Room crowd as "a friend of Latinos" by Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez, who said Latinos "will continue to play a key role in shaping America's future."

By Admin1 (admin) (151.196.44.226) on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 4:55 pm: Edit Post

President Bush was introduced to the packed East Room crowd as "a friend of Latinos" by Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez, who said Latinos "will continue to play a key role in shaping America's future."

President Bush was introduced to the packed East Room crowd as a friend of Latinos by Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez, who said Latinos will continue to play a key role in shaping America's future.

President Bush was introduced to the packed East Room crowd as "a friend of Latinos" by Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez, who said Latinos "will continue to play a key role in shaping America's future."

Bush has Cinco de Mayo celebration

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Caption: Sitting with the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza, President George W. Bush and Laura Bush applaud the performances during a White House ceremony honoring Cinco de Mayo in the East room Wednesday, May 5, 2004. "The great triumph of Mexican forces on May the 5th, 1862, has inspired liberty-loving people everywhere, and it's helped shape the character of modern Mexico," said the President remarked on the history of the date. "Against great odds, a small and under-equipped army defeated the skilled army of a European power. We've had that experience in America, too."

President Bush delivers remarks during a Cinco de Mayo celebration in the East Room of the White House Wednesday, May 5, 2004. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

WASHINGTON -- After skipping the celebration a year ago amid Mexico's opposition to the war in Iraq, President Bush once again took special note of Cinco de Mayo, one of Mexico's most important national holidays.

People of Mexican ancestry living in the United States constitute almost 10 percent of the population "and America is better off for it," the president told a friendly audience Wednesday in the East Room of the White House. The holiday celebrates Mexican troops' defeat of a French army on May 5, 1862.

The White House is eager to court Hispanic voters, the nation's fastest-growing voting bloc. The president was introduced to the packed East Room crowd as "a friend of Latinos" by Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez, who said Latinos "will continue to play a key role in shaping America's future."

Bush received 35 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2000, more than any previous Republican presidential candidate.

Although the White House denied it at the time, news reports in Mexico a year ago speculated that the White House had canceled its Cinco de Mayo event because of unhappiness with Mexican President Vicente Fox's opposition to the war. The White House, which had held such events the previous two years, said the war had forced the president to curtail many public appearances.




Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Seattle Post Intelligencer

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; President Bush; Peace Corps Directors - Vasquez; Hispanic Issues

PCOL11308
57

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: