Southern California's dual citizens see little conflict

Salvador Gomez Gochez was 25 when he first came to Los Angeles with $3 in his pocket and painful memories of his Salvadoran homeland torn apart by repression and war, reports Teresa Watanabe.

Working his way up from a parking lot attendant to a manager, he learned English, bought a home, volunteered for a Salvadoran community organization and became a U.S. citizen, grateful to the country he says saved his life.

But Gomez Gochez, now 54, also retained his Salvadoran citizenship. Now, as a dual citizen, he has made the dramatic decision to return to his impoverished hometown in El Salvador and run for mayor after nearly three decades away. His hope: to revive his town's agricultural base with his U.S. contacts and empower the villagers with U.S. practices of participatory democracy.

As international business, travel and communications explode, a growing number of nations are allowing dual citizenship, and more immigrants are claiming it. Some, like Gomez Gochez, aim to use their bilingual and bicultural experiences to infuse their homelands with U.S. values and strengthen bonds between both countries.

But the trend is also stirring some unease.

Read more about Americans with dual citizenship here.

Image: Mario Fuentes poses at outside of Trinity Episcopal Church that hosts his L.A.-based community organization. Fuentes, an immigrant from El Salvador, is a middle-class homeowner, fluent English speaker and labor and community organizer. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival to begin Sept. 12

In the film "Paraíso Travel,” a young immigrant named Marlon finds himself lost and broke shortly after arriving in New York and being separated from his girlfriend, the cunning and sexy Reina, played by Angélica Blandón. He meets an older man, a fixer for new arrivals, who helps him find shelter and asks the naive illegal what else he might need, writes Agustin Gurza.

"How do I get rid of this fear?" asks Marlon, somewhat overplayed by Aldemar Correa.

Of course, the old man can't help him with the dread that haunts strangers in a strange land, except to say that in time it goes away. That small, intimate moment in this occasionally overwrought drama offers a glimpse into the emotional and mental toll of the immigrant experience, which is often seen through ideological eyes.

"Paraíso," the year's biggest box office hit in Colombia, will have its West Coast premiere during the 12th annual Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, which begins Friday. It's one of 132 films that will screen at the festival, co-founded by Edward James Olmos, Marlene Dermer and the late George Hernández to spotlight Latino films. Ironically, the festival has suffered from the very success it has sought as top Latino filmmakers now find themselves courted by other festivals. Still, many consider the festival (which counts The Times as a sponsor) as a special opportunity to show their work in the U.S.

Read more about the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival here.

For more on film on La Plaza, click here.

Image: The film, featuring Aldemar Correa and Angélica Blandón, middle, is one of seven from Colombia that is screening at the festival. Camilo George Jimeno / Grand Illusions Entertainment

Paraguay's new president alleges plot

Paraguay's president has warned of a possible coup plot against his new government, saying that rival politicians summoned a key military figure to gauge support for their political ambitions, reports the Associated Press.

Two alleged participants responded that the meeting never happened. But President Fernando Lugo said all Paraguayans need to be alert for coup attempts by ''antidemocratic and retrograde'' elements.

''We will not allow attacks on the freedom of our people,'' Lugo told reporters summoned to his offices Monday. "Those who intend to pursue conspiratorial projects will be met with all the tools the constitution gives me.''

Lugo accused retired Gen. Lino Cesar Oviedo, a former political rival who placed third in April's presidential election, of holding the meeting in his home on Sunday.

Read more about Lugo's allegations here.

For more about the Paraguayan president and his country, click here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: President Lugo. Credit: BBC

In Paraguay, Fernando Lugo sworn in as president; Hugo Chavez basks in his glory

Former Roman Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo, whose election broke a six-decade legacy of dictatorship and one-party rule, was sworn in Friday as president of this poor, landlocked nation in the heart of South America, Patrick J. McDonnell reports from Asuncion.

"Today a new Paraguay is born," Lugo told thousands of supporters and various heads of state assembled outside the congressional palace in the normally sleepy capital. "Today marks the end of an exclusive Paraguay, a secretive, notoriously corrupt Paraguay."

Sharing the stage with Lugo on Saturday, when he travelled to San Pedro, was a euphoric Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, clearly viewing the newly installed Paraguayan chief of state as his newest ally in the Caracas versus Washington political battle that has split Latin America.

"For the first time, I feel wanted in Paraguay," the animated Chavez declared, after repeating his habitual refrain that the United States, which he calls el imperio yanqui (the Yankee empire), was to blame for the region's chronic underdevelopment.

Read here about Lugo's signing in, and here about Chavez tagging along.

For more on Paraguay, click here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Profile: Paraguay President Fernando Lugo

Tyler Bridges profiles Paraguay's recently elected President Fernando Lugo, for the McClatchy News Service.

His election was far-fetched, writes Bridges.

No priest in living memory had been elected president of a Latin American country, much less one who hewed to the Liberation Theology practice of agitating on behalf of the oppressed.

Lugo's election is historic for another reason: He defeated the Colorado Party, which had governed Paraguay since 1947. No political party holding power had governed longer anywhere in the world.

Click here to read on about Paraguay's President Fernando Lugo.

For more on Paraguay, click here.

Paraguay's president submits early resignation

Paraguay's President Nicanor Duarte Frutos submitted his resignation nearly two months before his term ends to assume a post in the Senate, but the opposition has threatened to block the move, reads this report.

Duarte won a Senate seat in April's general election. However, opposition leaders say the constitution prohibits him from running while still in power.

Both houses of Congress will meet today to debate whether to accept the resignation, writes the BBC. If they do, Vice President Francisco Oviedo will take over.

President-elect Fernando Lugo will be sworn in Aug. 15, ending more than 60 years of rule by the Colorado Party. Read about his election in April here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Paraguay inmates riot for more sex

"Paraguayan prisoners rioted Friday to press a list of demands, including more sex. Inmates seized the Esperanza prison's director and other administrators, demanding nighttime conjugal visits and an end to mistreatment by guards," the Associated Press reports.

"Paraguayan prisons allow such visits during the day," the AP notes, "but that clashes with working hours at Esperanza, where inmates have jobs, such as at a prison clothing factory.

No deaths or injuries were reported.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City