More Guatemalans move to valley

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Friday, May 21, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.

Chapines are here and more are coming.

That's the nickname Guatemalans call themselves, and there are thousands of them living in the Las Vegas Valley, enough to merit a visit this weekend by consular officials from that Central American country. Earlier this week, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit foundation that helps Guatemalans was also in town, scouting locations for a new office.

Add to that the recent naming of a consul and vice consul ad honorem in Las Vegas and the November launch of the first locally produced radio show aimed at Guatemalans, and it becomes clear this Central American community is continuing a trend: Hispanics from countries other than Mexico seeking to establish their own identity in the Las Vegas Valley.

"Although I consider the Hispanic community a very large family joined together by history and language ... when we say Hispanic, it's not all Mexicans," said Aldo Aguirre, named vice consul ad honorem for Guatemela last month.

According to 2002 Census estimates based on household surveys, the valley is home to about 8,400 Guatemalans -- although the same survey results indicate the number may be as high as 14,400. Aguirre said there may be as many as 25 percent more Guatemalans in the valley who are undocumented.

By any accounting, then, Guatemalans are the second-largest population of Central Americans locally, after Salvadorans, which the same survey says number between 12,300 and 20,400.

Salvadorans have also made moves to establish their presence locally in recent months, opening the second full-time consulate in the valley. Mexico was the first.

As the ad honorem vice consul, Aguirre works for free and helps prepare the growing Guatemalan community locally for any paperwork or other help they may seek from the consulate itself, which is in Los Angeles and sends officials to visit Las Vegas twice a year.

This weekend, consular officials will be at the Rafael Rivera Community Center, at 2900 E. Stewart Ave., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

Aguirre also played host to brother and sister team Carlos Roberto and Francesca Calderon earlier this week. The two were in Las Vegas laying the groundwork for opening a local office of the Immigrant American Foundation, a nonprofit organization that would help Guatemalans and other Hispanics. They hope to have the foundation operating in June.

Carlos Roberto said the Guatemalan community may soon grow enough to require its own consulate, since ad honorem officials cannot issue passports or other documents.

The Calderons hope to also encourage trade between local companies and Guatemala, as well as hold workshops for Guatemalans on topics of immigration and other areas of interest and help promote cultural events from that Central American country.

"The Guatemalan community has its own identity, and it's important to recognize the richness and wealth of each community," Aguirre said.