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Salsa a la Salsa Mexican Grill
1420 Nicollet Ave S.
Minneapolis, MN 55403
612.813.1970
Fax 612.813.1972  
Service Learning Facilitator
Carver- Scott Educational Cooperative
309 Lake Hazeltine Drive
Chaska, MN 55318
(952)368-8895
Carver-Scott Educational Cooperative is a school district that serves a
diverse range of students who need individualized or customized education
and support. Program offerings serve students from early childhood through
adulthood. At its foundation, CSEC offers the following: Career & Technical
Education, Special Education and Area Learning Centers.
In April of 2000, four programs in the Carver- Scott Educational Cooperative
participated in mural projects in cooperation with Alejandro Trujillo.
The goals of these workshops were:
1. To allow students to explore relevant life issues through art.
2. To increase creativity and artistic expression through the creation
of murals.
3. Allow the students to share their work with the community via
exhibits and to interact with their peers.
4. Provide the opportunity to work with and learn from professional
artists.
There were four workshops:
Family Friday, April 14 at the East Creek Family Center with New Beginnings
students.
Friendship Saturday, April 15 at Jordan Elementary School with ESL students
and their families. 
The Future Tuesday, April 18 at Chaska Elementary School with students from
Chaska and ESL students from Jonathon Elementary School. 
Peace Wednesday, April 19 at CSEC with students from CASA, Passages and
Stepping Stones.  
Tacos Pineda Comida Rapida - Estilo México, DF. Estilo México D.F. - Fast Food 311 E Lake St. Minneapolis, MN 55408 (612) 825-7466
 DJ WAMM (612)221-2079
winfredmiranda@msn.com
 Aldo Ramos (763)560-4051
aramostuyyo@hotmail.com Aldo Ramos and his Mexican and Latin American music group has performed at
all ethnic celebrations, at theaters, libraries, colleges, and universities
in MN, and other states in the Midwest. Voices and string instruments bring
us the rich musical tradition of Latin America, from Cuban Boleros to
Rancheras songs from Mexico, Los Soles can delight the audiences at parties,
weddings, and all sorts of celebrations. Just wait until you hear La Bamba
performed in the American and Mexican fashion.
Los Soles can use the traditional charro costume or the more tropical and
casual guayaberas, the music can include cumbias from Colombia, tangos from
Argentina, joropos from Venezuela, and cuecas from Chile. It can even be
arranged as a solitaire troubadour for a serenade or a concert; or a group
for a dance, strolling, or background music.
It can be a cultural presentation narrating the meaning and origins of the
songs or just plain fun and entertainment.
For more information call:
Aldo Ramos
Manager. Telephone: 763 560 4051 Or write to:
Aldo Ramos
MARIACHI LOS SOLES
6836 W. RIVER RD.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55430
La Prensa de MN 
Mario Duarte La Prensa editor and publisher reflects on a decade in the newspaper business
Mario Duarte hopes to give the Latino community "the visibility we need and deserve"
By Jay Miskowiec
Surrounded by piles of papers and books, articles being edited and phone messages from readers and advertisers, Mario Duarte leaned back in his chair a few moments one recent afternoon to talk about his ten years publishing La Prensa de Minnesota.
Duarte has been in business all his life. He has a degree on business administration in his native country of El Salvador and worked for 12 years as the purchasing manager with Rotoflex, the biggest Central American manufacturer of flexible packaging, later spending two years with another corporation in the Central American country, Nixon, S.A. until he moved to the USA.
In 1982 he decided to move to Minnesota with his family. One of the biggest adjustments he had to make was the language, and so he attended Macalester College for a year to study English as a Second Language. His first job in the state was with the Wilder Foundation on St. Paul’s West Side, where he worked as a janitor. Duarte then moved on to become a purchasing consultant for Lectec, a medical company based in Minnetonka.
His next job as a materials inspector for the Minnesota Department of Transportation took him out of a suit and tie and put him into a hardhat and boots. "It was another good learning experience about American society," he said.
Duarte began his media experience in 1984 when he worked five years as the communications director for Centro Cultural Chicano. He managed for this organization a monthly newsletter, a weekly radio show and a bi-weekly TV show. In 1989, while working as a volunteer on the ‘90 census, he traveled throughout the state and saw the growth of the Chicano and Latino population in places like Wilmar and Mankato, as well as in the Twin Cities.
"I realized we needed a means of communication for our community," he said. "Since the moment I decided to start, it was to give the Latino community the visibility it deserves and also to change the stereotype that the society had about us. That has been our mission and continue to be."
With the support of a couple members of the Minnesota Minority Media Coalition, Duarte started La Prensa. At first it was as he remembers "a one-man show in a little corner of an office." He wrote articles, took photos, sold ads, and distributed the paper, publishing at first monthly and then twice monthly, finally becoming a weekly in 1994.
While La Prensa has grown in circulation, it has also broadened to look at more international events, with correspondents in countries such as Panama, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela and El Salvador, who have each developed their own readership.
Duarte recalled one time when Blanca Cué, who is one of the correspondents based in Mexico City, took a couple weeks off to travel. He received a phone call from a reader who had been searching for her articles, and was scolded that next time her column wouldn’t appear he should put a notice in the paper.
La Prensa currently has a full-time staff of eight and twelve part-timers and free-lance writers. "Obstacles exist all the time," said Duarte. "The challenge is to keep things moving, to put all the people who work for La Prensa together as a team. Everyone here comes from a different background and has different attitudes about things. We are in the communication business, so we all have to practice that in our work."
Last year the paper started to be designed and laid out electronically, which required upgrading the computer systems and hiring someone to train the staff over eight months. "Technology changes everyday, it gets faster and more and more sophisticated," said Duarte, "so you also have to be up-to-date."
The investments have paid off, with La Prensa getting local and national recognitions. Its publisher says he is "proud to have helped put Minnesota on the map amongst Latinos. I think it’s given us the visibility we need, but it has also brought ideas from across the nation to Minnesota."
Duarte says he has based his business formula and personal philosophy on three things: honestly, professionalism and responsibility. He also devotes a lot of time and energy to volunteer organizations. His past memberships include Instituto of Arte y Cultura, the board of KFAI Radio, the American Red Cross, the Midway Chamber of Commerce and the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, El Fondo de Nuestra Communidad, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, The National Federation of Hispanic Newspapers, he represents the seven Midwest states for this organization, and the Minnesota Newspaper Association.
His efforts have been recognized with awards from such organizations as La Raza Federation of Minnesota, The Hispanic Bar Association, and Centro Legal, as well as several times by the governor’s office. This coming August, he will be recognized by the Salvadoran-Canadian Cultural Association, in Winnipeg, for his outstanding international work.
Looking back over ten years of challenges and rewards, Duarte believes, "Everything is possible. You can make your dreams reality, but you have to work very hard everyday. The future looks good for the Latino community, but we have to educate ourselves." Laughing, he says, "Me, I’m still in the process of learning."
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20 de julio del 2000 - La Prensa de Minnesota |
