War Torn
Hispanic Americans remain divided on the war in Iraq—and they are getting increasingly impatient
By Steven Saint

Long before Cindy Sheehan made national news by demanding a meeting with President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Fernando Suárez del Solar was asking for what noble cause had his son died in Iraq. Like Sheehan, Suárez del Solar had not been happy about his son’s decision to join the military, but supported him as he was deployed to Iraq. The Mexican-born Marine Lance Cpl. Jesús Suárez del Solar was killed in March 2003. He was not a casualty of enemy fire, but from stepping on an unexploded cluster bomb lying in a field courtesy of the U.S. military.

Suárez de Solar, who had immigrated to San Diego with his family from Tijuana in 1997, visited Iraq and has since been touring the U.S. with an anti-war message.

“I see the military recruiting in the Hispanic and low-income communities,” says Suárez del Solar, founder of Proyecto Guerrero Azteca and a leader of the Hispanic movement against the engagement in Iraq. “Hispanics make up only 10 percent of the troops, but account for 22 percent of the casualties in Iraq. We need to get this information out to the Hispanic people.”

De Solar’s is not the only Hispanic position on America’s war effort. But it is an increasingly popular one. According to a survey conducted earlier in the year by the Pew Hispanic Center, Hispanic support for the war in Iraq has eroded over the past year. A majority (51 percent) said U.S. troops should be withdrawn as soon as possible, rather than leaving them there “until the situation has stabilized” (37 percent). And only 33 percent of Hispanic Americans approved President George Bush’s handling of the war—down from 47 percent in early 2004.

PAYING A HEAVY PRICE

But the president still can count on steadfast support from many Hispanic Americans. Lt. General Ricardo Sánchez, who was the top soldier in Iraq during an earlier phase of the campaign, has spoken frequently in support of America’s mission to bring stability to the region—even while acknowledging that success in the name of freedom often comes at a heavy price.

“We’ll continue to support Iraq and Afghanistan and those countries we make a commitment to,” said the general while visiting veterans in McAllen, Texas in September. “We’ll stay there as long as they need us.”

In the course of American history, Hispanic soldiers have been decorated with countless Purple Hearts and 42 Medals of Honor. They have been a part of every U.S. war, including the Civil War. Today, they number about 130,000 strong.

That’s part of the reason Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera, who served in the Army from 1979-1987, supports the war effort, difficult as it has become. “We need to stay in Iraq until the job is done—we need to respect the lives of the soldiers who have made the sacrifice. An immediate withdrawal would be an insult to their families.”

VIETNAM-STYLE PROTESTS

In August, as Cindy Sheehan was breaking camp in Crawford to take her protest to Washington, D.C., Hispanic antiwar activists launched a counter-recruitment campaign called Latinos for Peace. The coalition—including Proyecto Guerrero Azteca, the Latino Caucus of the National Network Opposed to the Militarization of Youth, and the Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools—launched a national challenge to the war on the August anniversary of the 1970 National Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War. Thousands of Latinos marched in East Los Angeles against that war 35 years ago, clashing with police at a Boyle Heights park. Three people were killed, including Los Angeles Times reporter Ruben Salazar.

“Minorities typically voice concern over employment and education issues, and stay away from foreign policy,” says Latinos for Peace spokesman Rosalio Muñoz, who organized the 1970 Vietnam protest. “The peace movement is always on the back burner until enough bodies come back.”

Addressing the current war, he says: “The working class communities are where most of the troops come from and they want the troops home now.”

Muñoz is spearheading a petition campaign and hopes to collect 100,000 signatures in the coming months. The petition calls for immediate withdrawal from Iraq and has been signed by Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona) and Mexican American activist Dolores Huerta, head of the United Farmworkers Union.

Meanwhile, speaking on the Democracy Now! radio program, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Mexican American, sought to stay on a middle—and practical—road: “Our objective,” he said, “should be to start pursuing as rapidly as we can an exit strategy.

“Do we have a deadline? Do we pull out immediately? No.” H