America's Top Corporations Advance Latino Political Empowerment

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Posted by Donald A. DePalma on May 23, 2005 in the following blogs: Translation and Localization
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If presidential campaign speeches in middling Spanish are any indication, Latinos -- 13% of the U.S. population -- have become a factor in U.S. politics. Besides voting, Latinos are also standing for office. The May 2005 election of Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor of Los Angeles notches up to 22 the number of Latino elected officials who serve as mayors of cities with a population of 100,000 or more. Mayor Elect Villaraigosa will govern the largest of them. Donations to the NALEO conference are one way for companies to get on the Latino political bandwagon.

Looking at the size of the Latino population and its race to US$1 trillion in purchasing power, it's no surprise that government and business have taken notice. The U.S. Hispanic population has surpassed the population of Canada, and ranks as the fifth largest group of Spanish speakers in the world after Mexico, Spain, Colombia, and Argentina. By 2050, this group will grow another 25 percent. They account for more people online than any other hispanohablante nation, and average more page views per day than other American web users. Unlike previous generations of immigrants, U.S. Latinos retain their language and culture -- 78 percent speak Spanish -- even as they work and play in the dominant Anglophone economy. Nearly two-thirds of Latino adults are first-generation immigrants, all comfortable in Spanish.

The bottom line: Latinos represent a potent economic and political constituency in the United States. While not a homogenous group, they share a language that government and business will use to reach out to voters, consumers, employees, and shareholders.

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