ask a citizen at 1-866-999-0270 or visit lightenyourloan.com karen: today on "cityline," hispanics are making an impact in boston' s neighborhoods and contributing to diversity. this afternoon a snapshot of , boston' s latino community. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] karen: hello, everyone. i am karen holmes ward. welcome to "cityline." with over 54 million hispanics in the country, latinos are the fastest-growing ethnic population in the united states. in boston, latinos make up almost 18% of the population. for decades, the hispanic population in the city has been growing, and as more latinos call the city home, they are

politically. in 1965, while fidel castro was the prime minister of cuba, alberto left his island home in search of more opportunity. >> i came basically looking for freedom. it was not opportunity for me back in the island. so i decided to come here to be free. karen: several years in several jobs later, he detected an opportunity to do something no one was doing at the time. he saw latino populations in lawrence and boston growing at a rapid pace. but there was a disconnect within latinos across those communities. >> i didn' t know what was going on in those cities. so it was no communication between them. what a good idea to have the newspaper that can cover all

karen: he would be surprised to find his experience writing for a college newspaper in cuba would be his ultimate calling. with little money and a lot of hope, el mundo boston newspapers put out their first publication in 1972, a weekly newspaper that would become synonymous with boston' s latino community. >> in 1972, community was different, demographics was different. even the purpose of the paper -- my father was a cuban exile, so he came to start a newspaper to express political views that you -- that he could not do so in cuba. karen: for 43 years, it is the largest and longest-running spanish-language newspaper in new england. the newspaper was a family affair, operated by alberto and his wife. >> the first issue sold 75 papers. karen: four decades later, the newspaper distributes 30,000 copies to over 20 neighborhoods in the commonwealth. with traditional news often

community, "el mundo" takes a positive approach to the stories they cover. >> that is the secret sauce. our front pages are always inspiring and it is a good news type of newspaper. that is what we' ve always wanted. >> i was always vocation of serving the community. i inherit that from my mother. the newspaper is part of the community and the community is part of the newspaper. karen: "el mundo" seeks to find new ways to keep audiences engaged. part of that is becoming bilingual. >> very bilingual staff. it is an exciting time, probably the most exciting time for "el mundo boston" ever. karen: nearly five years ago he passed down the business to his son.

bilingual. that is the new generation, my son, taking the newspaper to the next level. the whole idea of the family business. karen: with the new boss in charge, the newspaper will continue to grow as a media and entertainment company for another generation. >> in 1972, boston was not the most welcoming place for communities of color. so for a small language newspaper to have not just risen but survived and evolved, just because of its perseverance, i think that speaks to the fact that the community still needs a voice, still needs a legitimate media platform. i think that is what "el mundo" has become. karen: ivan garcia has always had a passion for business and remembers becoming interested in the field at an early age. >> when i was younger i would ask my parents to buy stamps and when my brothers and sisters would ask to borrow money, i would charge them interest, try to sell old books.

president of the association of latino professionals, and a senior vice president at state street corporation. >> being a latina is displayed in my leadership style. i treat my team like my family. i' m just as concerned about their personal goals as i am about their professional goals. karen: garcia became involved with alpfa more than a decade ago as a volunteer. over the years, her commitment organization. >> it has been a great experience, it really has been such a value add to my career growth. karen: the professional growth began well before state street >> when i was at bank of america i had the opportunity to watch a beijing. i always classify that experience as i biggest personal sacrifice and my biggest professional accomplishment. karen: traveling to china meant leaving her two children at

but although it was a tough decision to make, it taught her she can learn from her own children. >> as long as you educate your children on what you are doing and why you are doing it, it becomes much easier, and then they become little mini-leaders and start holding you accountable to do great things. karen: alpfa is the largest and oldest latino professional organization in the country. >> being a latina is my source of energy and passion and everything i do, it comes back to my roots. when you look at the latino community and how they represent the global marketplace and global melting pot, we harness that, our country will be much karen: from businesses, restaurants, music and sports, latinos have found a place for themselves in the city' s diverse culture. >> at the end of the day we have a common purpose. when you have organizations like alpfa, where thousands of together to network and continue to develop as leaders. karen: massachusetts is one of

can attribute nearly all its growth in the past decade to the hispanic population. up next, a taste of one of boston' s most popular dominican restaurants, and dance to the traditional styles of latin

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the home of your dreams. how much you can save? at 1-888-333-0245 or visit lightenyourloan.com karen: when moving away from home, there is always room to pack old family recipes and bring along favorite cultural traditions. food has always served as a way for families to pass down a taste of their homeland. one local man has been doing just that, sharing authentic dominican cuisine with people in the boston area for the past two decades. plus, a mariachi singer brings her love of traditional dance to families in east boston. when it comes to traditional

place has everyone talking. it has become a staple in roxbury. but the man behind the menu says he got into cooking by accident. >> our good friend of mine had a small restaurant and she asked me to help her sell the restaurant in 1994. economy wasn' t that good. i ended up buying it. karen: he moved to boston from the dominican republic in 1986. eight years later, in the summer of 1994, merengue restaurant opened in the roxbury section of blue hill avenue. 21 years later, there are 30 tables, an event space, and they cater for any occasion. he and his wife have built a reputation in boston among all cultures. >> not only dominicans that come to merengue.

americans, indians, people from somalia. after a while being a customer, they feel they belong to a place that is welcome to anybody of any culture. karen: he loves to give people a taste of home. >> the flavor that you grew up with and it is part of what you are. you look for dominican food, or if you are puerto rican, you look for puerto rican food. karen: what is the one dish the latino restaurant cannot live without? >> note to many can food without rice and beans. no dominican food without rice, beans, stew chicken. karen: try chicken and steak and -- fried chicken and steak and onions have been staples for two decades. with so much already accomplished in boston, he can dream of an even bigger future. >> i want to see a merengue in every state. i wish we can grow to be a big latino franchise across the

and we are in 100%. karen: across boston harbor in population has been flourishing since the 1990' s. one woman has been working to enrich the culture through music and dance at schools and around the neighborhood. this mariachi singer has been making a name for herself in new england since moving from mexico in 2000. she began singing at a young age while spending days cooking by her grandmother' s side in mexico. >> i learned a lot of songs from her and she worked in a place where mariachis had their music for the general audience. that was my first gig and from there everybody paid me for singing and i said, oh, this is cool! [laughter]

s keep singing! karen: her singing career took her around the world. these trips inspired her to share her new cultural insight with students in chelsea and east boston. >> we have more than 70% of our students in high school. also, elementary schools and middle schools, have a majority of latinos. karen: her efforts in the public schools left her wanting to do more. in 2013, she and her husband founded the cultural center to bring latinos together. >> we are 21 countries in latin america and we speak spanish. we have to understand the whole community and together to improve our quality of life. karen: the center offers cultural dance classes from latin american countries like el salvador, mexico, peru, and colombia.

countries. students gain far more than dance lessons. >> they learn to interact with each other and when they go to perform, they get confidence. we want to help parents to educate the kids because they are so busy working that sometimes it is hard for them to teach them those values. karen: the assistant dance instructor is an example of what places like this can do for students. >> i grew up with her dancing and it gave me the motivation to finish my studies, further my career. karen: the center has created a curriculum for the program that will expose students to the

>> it is a great way to expose them and socialize within the community and see that we are not so different after all. karen: they hope to continue to preserve cultural traditions. >> now with technology we are forgetting about interacting with each other. and i just want to make sure that that doesn' t happen with our families. the latinos can call their home -- to be a place where families can come and bond, place the latinos can call their home away from home. >> place where they can come to celebrate life, celebrate

karen: as the country' s largest ethnic minority, the latino vote can make a big impact in the upcoming presidential election.

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sleep number beds withrsleepia technology adjust any way you want it the bed that moves you. only at a sleep number store. karen: welcome back. the 2016 presidential election has gained a lot of attention from voters. candidates have been criticized for what some are calling hispandering, or faking interest in hispanic issues. and on the other hand, some candidates have openly voiced their plans to deport millions of latinos and prevent their immigration to the u.s. latinos across the nation are hoping to make their voices

joining us is carlos diaz, a lecturer on government at harvard university. he teaches a course called "road to the white house." director of the national alliance of latin american and caribbean communities. professor diaz, i will start with you. tell us about this course "road to the white house," apparently one of the most popular courses on the harvard campus. carlos: it is. it is a course that looks at the political system from the point of view of campaigns. we go over what campaigns do -- voters. and the theory we know from campaigns from political science, to how campaigns actually work. campaign works, from fundraising to media to advertising to the conventions, the selections of the vice presidential nominee, you name it. karen: so it is more than a

it is a real in-depth look at how campaigns work. carlos: and how the theory applies to the practice of running for president. karen: oscar, let me turn to you. talk about the role of the latino vote in the election. oscar: there is this belief that the latino vote will be decisive in 2016, and frankly, it remains for the time being more of an aspiration than a reality, and the numbers explain why. latinos will be an important voting block. i think there is a great assumption that most latinos are going to cast ballots for the democratic nominee, whomever that happens to be. that may be true. it is interesting to see how this campaign falls, particularly interested in following who gets the position for the republican party, and who the nominee chooses for running mate. if there were to be a latino on the ticket, it would be

latinos speak a lot to emotions. karen: and latinos ted cruz and marco rubio, of course. many people assume that most latinos are democrats, but there is a very large latino republican base, isn' t there? oscar: absolutely. it is important to demystify the votes monolithically. if we were a country, there is hardly unity when you talk about even the smallest country populations, voting and behaving exactly the same way. i think that applies to the karen: carlos, we were talking about the term "hispandering," candidates faking interest in issues important to the latino community. do you find that is the case? case, especially we' ll see it in

we are not seeing it so far on the republican side. we are seeing it on the democratic side. secretary clinton has definitely engaged in that. we are not seeing it on the republican side -- karen: we are seeing the opposite on the republican side. carlos: but we will see it with the eventual nominee. they realize it is an important segment of the population. oscar is absolutely right, it will not be decisive in the general election. latinos are concentrated mostly in non-swing states. half of the latino electorate is in california and texas, both of which will not really be at sway in the electoral college. latinos have not been mobilized by the democrats or republicans. karen: have not been. carlos: because they don' t have to be in most states. that is not the case and a handful of states, like florida, nevada, new mexico, arizona. but for the vast majority of the states, latinos are not going to be the deciding factor in the

honest. karen: that is counter to what we hear in the media. carlos: absolutely. oscar: that is why i use the word "demystified" a little bit. there is no question that if you project 10, 20 years down the road, assuming there is an improvement in the way that latino communities get organized, especially in the political arena, we will indeed become a very important factor in any election, especially because we are beginning to see significant growth in the state way beyond the seven states where we have historically concentrated. and that will indeed change the equation very significantly. karen: can either of you tell me the percentage of latinos currently in this country that are eligible to vote, or are registered to vote? carlos: 18% of the population is latino and 13% of the electorate is expected to be latino, eligible to vote. in the last election, 11% was eligible to vote.

registered? oscar: different question. in numbers, about 26.5 million people who are citizens of the u.s., 18 years for older. -- 18 years or older. we do have a big issue with the both in terms of getting all of them registered, and then getting all of them casting ballots. challenge. in 2008 we reached the figure of 49.9 of actual participation. we went down to percentage there is an effort to go back to at least 49.9. materializes. carlos: that number was way lower than the non-latino turnout. over 60%. karen: one of the big elephants in the room discussed by the democratic and republican

a lot of heated rhetoric on both sides. talk about some of the different views within the latino should be done about immigration. oscar: i can tell you that i really believe that neither one of the two parties has really done deep thinking about how to immigration in a way that is with basic humanitarian values that we embrace. ourselves as embracing. country will continue to need a significant injection of foreign population if we are to remain vibrant. again, i see republicans doing themselves really not a good job -- karen: great damage. oscar: and i think democrats often reap the benefits. just by staying quiet. karen: what do you see? carlos: there is a misconception

important issue to latinos. it is an important issue, but latinos care about the economy and the issues that the rest of the population cares about. served if they also pay care about, like the economy, the war on terror, health care. karen: let' s assume that the candidates are not speaking to the latino community when they are talking about immigration. they are talking about the wider community. things more complicated for whether it is jobs are accessing health care, immigration status perform well in those fields. but you are absolutely correct. the messaging we are seeing coming out on immigration issues is not directed to latinos.

the best way to candidates can the fears that the u.s. population in general is experiencing. some of it is the sad reality that racism continues to be part of our reality. but also, more importantly, the economic insecurity, fears that is so widespread, especially in the white segment of the population. karen: i will ask each of you to give one important point you would share with the latino community in terms of participating in the upcoming election. to you first, carlos. carlos: sure. turnout matters a lot. when latinos go and cast ballots. there is a reason candidates ignore the latino community. that is because turnout is low. t vote. one message is you have to go out there and vote. health care, any issues, don' t stay home, because you will be ignored. oscar: demographics is not destiny. it is not enough to be many by

number two, precisely on the question of how much the u.s. electorate actually participates in elections, i would invite my latino brothers and sisters to really be creative about how we can replenish what democracy should mean, above and the on -- above and beyond voting, which is important, i agree. karen: learn more about everyone we have featured on today' s program by logging onto the "cityline" webpage at wcvb.com. thanks for watching, everyone. have a great rest of your sunday, and take care. for watching, everyone.