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Juan Carlos Chavez - Latino Affairs Reporter

Latino Affairs Reporter

I am from the city of Lima (Peru). When I was a teenager I thought of dedicating myself professionally to football but the passion for reading and writing took me in other ways. This is how I came to journalism, a profession that has allowed me to get to know other cultures, countries and people of all kinds. I live in the United States because I always believed that this was the best place to dedicate myself to the press and tell stories with a human sense. I was not wrong. I went through Miami and finally arrived in Tampa, a city that has its own history and a rich Hispanic tradition. The perfect combination for a journalist like me.

  1. Jamie Anderson, co-founder and CEO of Weapon Brand, left, and Brian Anderson Needham, Weapon Brand instructor, teach students about threat awareness, choke escapes and abduction prevention during a self-defense training class for the transgender, lesbian, gay, and queer community at CrossFit ABF on Saturday, May 20, 2023, in Clearwater.
  2. Cruz Cervantes-Garcia, 29, and his sister, Jasmin Cervantes-Garcia, 13, laugh together at their home on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022, in Wimauma.
  3. Tampa Bay police departments said they are not currently conducting traffic stops to check driver’s licenses despite Florida’s new immigration law, which will not recognize documents issued by other states to those without legal status. Here, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister speaks to reporters on Sept. 14 in Tampa.
  4. Ángel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, 17, of Honduras, died May 10 at the Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Children Services shelter for migrant children in Safety Harbor.
  5. Over a hundred people gathered during an Immigration Town Hall questions and answers session on Thursday, May 11, 2023 in Tampa.
  6. Protestors rally at Lake Eola Park in Orlando on Monday, May 1, 2023. Hundreds gathered to protest, among other things, the immigration bill working its way through congress.
  7. Catholicism remains the largest religious group among Latinos in the United States. But its share of those worshipers has dropped over the past decade from 67% to 43%, according to a new study. Mass is celebrated at Nativity Catholic Church in Brandon in December 2020.
  8. Six Tampa Bay congregations are leaving the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church over issues about LGBTQ+ inclusion and differences in doctrine.
  9. Latinos are not a monolithic voting bloc and hold diverse political preferences. But when it comes to the Cuban-American vote, many of them continue to lean toward the Republican party — and one candidate in particular: Donald Trump.
  10. Ruth Pibernick prays at the Living Grace Church in Polk County, Fla.  Many parishioners provide transportation to newcomers and community members.
  11. The Poderosas initiative provides leadership development and inspires Latinas across key electoral states. At right, Yadira Sanchez, executive director of Poder Latinx, speaks with a group of women.
  12. Cuban protestors and others gathered at Lykes Gaslight Park, 241 E Madison St., and marched to City Hall on Saturday, April 1, 2023.
  13. Thomas Mosley, 21, was booked Saturday, April 1, 2023, in the Pinellas County jail on two first-degree murder charges stemming from the deaths of St. Petersburg 2-year-old Taylen Mosley and his mother, Pashun Jeffery, 20.
  14. Manuel-Alejandro "Alex" Gutierrez-Rodriguez, was arrested on March 24 on a probation violation charge. More than a dozen patients accused him of abandoning them after they paid him thousands of dollars.
  15. Cubans are planning to protest in Tampa on Saturday, April 1, 2023, to denounce what they call “communist penetration attempts.” Pictured here are members and supporters of the local Cuban community on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021 in Ybor City.
  16. Manuel Alejandro "Alex" Gutierrez-Rodriguez, a Tampa orthodontist.
  17. Venezuelan migrants wait for a bus to take them north at the Northern Bus Station in Mexico City in 2022.
  18. Oscar Luis Tasse, 32, died early Feb. 26 in an accident on the Howard Frankland Bridge caused by a drunken driver, police said.
  19. Mise en Place in downtown Tampa.
  20. Jasmin Cervantes Garcia, 13, spends time in the backyard with her pets and farm animals at her home on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022, in Wimauma.
  21. According to U.S. authorities, Frederick Bergmann, 64, worked to ship 20 ballistic vests from South Florida to Haiti by falsifying the required export documentation.
  22. Yuri Piña displays a screenshot of a GoFundMe page in her Plant City home on Feb.10.
  23. The new study found that a large majority of hospitals are continuing to hide the cost of care from consumers -- including 107 from Florida -- two years after a law was enacted requiring them to post their real prices online.