Dear LULAC of Iowa members, By Hola Iowa -August 8, 2022

Just came across this letter from HolaAmericaNews. It's a letter to LULAC of Iowa. I post it because it captures well the gist of what played out recently in San Juan, Puerto Rico where we nearly experienced a coup, a takeover, of our organization by the Island Puerto Rican Republican Party, which is clearly misnamed the Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP), meaning the New Progressive Party. They seek statehood for Puerto Rico which is not necessarily a progressive stance. Even less progressive is their decision to attempt to railroad their agenda by voting a former board member's son, Juan Carlos Lizardi, into the presidency of LULAC to enforce this agenda for statehood over the wishes of others on the Island. I really encourage everyone to read the Dallas federal judge's Temporary Restraining Order that I've already posted to this blog and that gets mentioned in the Hola Iowa piece below. 

I am in total agreement that Iowa LULAC's state director, Nicholas Salazar, who expresses that LULAC's voting process and constitutional loopholes need updating. We, in fact, need a constitutional convention at some point once this legal debacle is behind us. And I would add that this could be a great opportunity to not just update the organization, but to invigorate it for the current generations who might get cynical if we fail to do so. LULAC needs to be a big tent that welcomes class, racial/ethnic, and gender diversity while being multigenerational itself. 

An interesting irony is that we may be better poised for this than ever. In Spanish, we have the expression, No hay mal que por bien no venga, meaning that out of bad things, good things come. I have practically lived my life by this. Much good can come of this moment. 

Que viva LULAC! Long live LULAC!

-Angela Valenzuela

Dear LULAC of Iowa members

By

 Hola Iowa

 -

August 8, 2022

I am reaching out to report back on behalf of our delegation to the 2022 LULAC National Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico last week.  Overall it was a productive trip but we did have an issue with the elections at the National Assembly.

The national elections were suspended due to a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that was issued to LULAC and its National Board by a District Court in Texas that prevented the assembly from holding elections.  To put it broadly – the TRO which was petitioned by a LULAC Council in Dallas, Texas, alleges that a partisan organization in Puerto Rico called the New Popular Party (NPP) devised a plan to take over LULAC and its leadership by funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to LULAC operatives and leadership on the mainland and island.  This allegedly involved creating hundreds of “paper councils” on the island to create illegitimate delegates, paying transportation and hotels for votes, and influencing LULAC operatives to run for LULAC National Board.

The Iowa delegation received the TRO the morning of the assembly so we did not attend.  Unfortunately, since it’s one of the main reasons to go and represent our membership and have our voice heard as a state charter.  However, an illegitimate election still took place that was mostly led by LULAC operatives and leadership involved in the alleged scheme – breaching the TRO that was issued.  This action of holding an illegitimate election and the ongoing investigation has so far resulted in the suspension of several LULAC National Officers and the immediate discharge of former LULAC CEO Sindy Benavides.  These types of actions can also result in expulsion from the league, fines, lawsuits, and jail time.

I am sharing this to make sure our leaders and members are aware of what is going on at the national level in case we are not receiving press releases or hearing the news.  We do not want outside partisan groups to influence LULAC.  This is also the result of LULAC leadership over the years ignoring calls to update the draconian voting process and close constitutional loopholes to avoid situations like this.  

LULAC National who promotes democracy and champions voting should not have issues in their own house. 

LULAC of Iowa will continue to focus on state and local issues.  Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or action items on this topic.  I will keep our leaders/members up-to-date.

Thank you,

Nicholas Salazar – State Director

League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa