Posted on 05/11/2015 7:54:24 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
MIAMI – Union leader Dolores Huerta prefers a woman in the White House in 2016, saying that “there’s a lot at stake for Latinos” if one of the current Republican hopefuls wins the election, even if he has “a Latino name or speaks Spanish.”
The tireless 85-year-old activist said in an interview with Efe that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) “took two steps back” when he could have used his “influence to pass immigration reform” in 2013.
“Some of those candidates who are Latinos in reality don’t represent the values of the Latino community, who for the most part are working people. They are against their aspirations,” she said.
Huerta criticized the fact that Senate Republicans have been “stopping” the approval of Colombian-American Judge Felipe Restrepo, who was nominated by President Barack Obama six months ago for one of the eight vacancies on the federal appellate bench.
“They say they’re in favor of the Latino community but when their votes are needed they’re not there. The same thing happened with immigration reform,” she said.
Huerta, who once again says that she will support Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton, said that the current Republican candidates Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and even former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is married to a Mexican and has adopted the most conciliatory policy among the Republicans on immigration reform, are “wrong.”
“Rubio is very opportunistic because he’s putting his race for the presidency before the needs of the Latino community,” she said.
“He could have been a force for good for us, since many of the Republicans look at him as a candidate for president. He started out very well, but his voice fell silent,” she added.
Huerta said that something similar is happening with Cruz and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, other Latinos who have presidential aspirations despite their stances on the immigration issue.
“Yes, they can win because they have a Latino name, because they can speak Spanish, but our community has to be more educated to be able to know that those candidates, like Jeb Bush, who speak Spanish and also have a child who speaks very good Spanish, lack a Latino heart,” she said.
Huerta, the founder, along with Cesar Chavez, of the United Farm workers, recalled her trips with Clinton during the 2008 Democratic primaries in Florida, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.
“She is the most qualified and she had very big support from the Latino community,” said the activist who, however, added that “time has passed” and Clinton must get herself known among younger voters.
Huerta expressed concern over the multimillion-dollar inflow of money from conservatives groups to reach the Latino community and “confuse it.”
“Our people have to be very well informed so that they don’t get tricked,” she warned regarding groups like the LIBRE Initiative, promoted by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, Republican Party donors,” who are very anti-union and anti-immigrant.”
A year before the election, Huerta said that the work of civil organizations is crucial “not to tell them how they should vote as Latinos, but to inform them and for them to make their own decisions.”
The activist lamented the fact that many Hispanics “think that those elections are not for them, that they’re not part of this country” and she invited them to vote: “Your vote is worth a lot. You can decide who’s going to be president of the United States.”
“They say they’re in favor of the Latino community but when their votes are needed they’re not there. The same thing happened with immigration reform,” she said.”
Darn that Uncle Juan Ted Cruz!! How dare he not allow the unfettered invasion of diseased, unskilled, Nanny-state babies in the best interests of his country! /s
*in favor of doing what’s best for his country.
And I should care what an union activist want for president. She had her 15 minutes of fame, now dear, STFU.
I think she wants a Marxist women Hillary. She is a Marxist.
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