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CNN) -- Costa Rica elected its first female president, as the ruling National Liberation Party claimed a historic victory. "I want to thank the pioneering women who years ago opened the doors of politics in Costa Rica," Laura Chinchilla said Sunday to flag-waving supporters in the capital, San Jose. "My government will be open to all Costa Ricans of good faith." Second-place candidate Otton Solis of the Citizen's Action Party had conceded defeat earlier in the evening, as the PLN -- the Spanish acronym for the National Liberation Party party -- forged its way to a nearly 2-to-1 lead. Polls...

SAN JOSE – Laura Chinchilla, who was elected Costa Rica’s first woman president over the weekend, vowed in her victory speech to open a dialogue with all sectors of society and improve the quality of health care, education and security. “We do not get a blank check from the people to do anything, on the contrary, they have placed very solemn obligations on our shoulders, (such as) serious and permanent dialogue with all the parties and social sectors,” the 50-year-old Chinchilla said. Chinchilla, of the ruling National Liberation Party, or PLN, garnered 46.8 percent of the vote, with 71.1 percent...

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) – A protege of outgoing President Oscar Arias could be elected Costa Rica's first woman head of state on Sunday, though a conservative rival has upped his challenge ahead of the election. Opinion polls show ruling party centrist Laura Chinchilla, who has promised to expand Costa Rica's free trade pacts beyond the Western Hemisphere, within striking distance of the 40 percent of the vote needed to avoid a second round run-off. A late surge by libertarian Otto Guevara, who wants to replace the local currency with the U.S. dollar and crack down on rising crime,...

Dave Paterson's Latina lovely By MATTHEW NESTEL, FREDRIC U. DICKER and DAN MANGAN Last Updated: 6:22 AM, January 17, 2010 Posted: 3:51 AM, January 17, 2010 Gov. Paterson was spotted nuzzling, neck-kissing and cooing like a smitten schoolboy with a pretty young woman -- not his wife -- in a New Jersey steakhouse yesterday afternoon, The Post has learned. "I saw him kissing her neck," said Sharon Farrell, a lawyer sitting two tables away from Paterson and his mystery gal pal at the River Palm Terrace in Edgewater. "He was right on her neck, nudging, like back and forth." Paterson's...

Editor's note: Silvia Henriquez is the executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, a nonprofit policy and advocacy organization based in New York and Washington that works on behalf of reproductive health interests of the nation's 15 million Latina women. When Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered her oath last summer, many women -- and especially Latinas -- felt renewed hope as a champion of women's rights took her place on the U.S. Supreme Court. With Democrats in the White House and both houses of Congress, we believed that we could stop playing defense and actually advance women's rights,...

A document from the House ethics committee lists an examination into whether the chamber's rules were violated when Rep. Linda T. Sanchez put three legislative aides to her fellow-congresswoman sister on her payroll after an embezzlement scheme had left Rep. Loretta Sanchez's office short of funds. The document, a July tracking report obtained by The Washington Post, says that the sisters, both California Democrats, "shared transferred staff from one office to another after embezzlement," and that a meeting between lawyers for the ethics committee and the congresswomen had taken place June 1. The document also says that lawyers for the...

As Republicans continue to hammer Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor for a 2001 assertion that’s become known as the “wise Latina” remark, her backers are struggling to come up with a single coherent line of defense. In the past few days, supporters confronted with the remark have offered a range of divergent tactics and tones, offering explanations that span from apologetic to defiant to suggesting Sotomayor may have been joking. President Obama himself addressed the bubbling controversy, which is emerging as among the leading GOP lines of attack against Sotomayor, asserting on Friday Sotomayor “would have restated” the comment if...

It was late November when Angel and her boyfriend visited Silent Voices, a pro-life pregnancy resource center (PRC) in Chula Vista, Calif. Angel's menstrual cycle was also late. It wasn't the first time. The sexually active 17-year-old Latina had stopped in at Silent Voices five or six times since 2004 to take a free pregnancy test. Over the years, said Sharon Pearce, the center's executive director, Angel revealed herself bit by bit. From her perfect French manicure to her designer handbag and jeans, it was clear that her family had money. When she wanted a certain kind of car for...

Another day another "study" of dubious worth. This time it is Science Daily letting us know that "Latinas" in the United States have high rates of depression because of that dreaded "Americanization" they apparently unfairly face. So now, just the gall-darn, odiousness of becoming "Americanized" is enough to send "Latinas" to the funny farm, I guess. But, it seems to me that this "study" tends to say that it is single motherhood and out of wedlock pregnancies causing the depression not the fact that they are "Latinas" that have become acculturated to American ways. Just look how horrible it is...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2007 – Six military women of Hispanic descent were honored for their service to the nation at Latina Style Magazine’s 4th annual awards luncheon held here Sept. 6. Army Sgt. Maj. Venus Carpenter is one of six Hispanic military women who were honored at Latina Style Magazine’s annual awards luncheon held here Sept. 6. Photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Defense Department co-hosted the event, titled “Latinas in the Global Fight on Terror.” The luncheon traditionally heralds other Hispanic-American Heritage Month activities, held Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Award recipients...

Zulma Arreola's cell phone rings incessantly. She spends a large part of her workday on it, listening to and counseling about 40 Latina girls, ages 11 to 18, who are affected -- or at risk of being affected -- by gangs. Youth gangs are growing in east Multnomah County, Arreola said, and that's why the culturally specific gang intervention program at El Programa Hispano is crucial. Arreola builds rapport with the girls, acts as a role model and visits the girls and their parents at home to help them leave or avoid the gang lifestyle. "We do anything that will...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Disturbing statistics on the number of Hispanics who daily go hungry in America was released at a press conference on Wednesday by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). The national Hispanic civil rights group found that nearly one in five people lack nutritious food. NCLR officials said in a press release that increasing federal nutrition assistance programs would help decrease the growing "food insecurity" faced by 19.6 percent of Latinos in America. "Lack of access to resources is forcing far too many Latino families into choices no one should have to make, such as between...

A recent series in the Spanish-language New York newspaper El Diario/La Prensa sheds some light on a mostly overlooked national phenomenon, the misunderstood and endangered young Latina, who represents one of the fastest-growing segments of the American population. Hispanic teenage girls attempt suicide more often than any other group. They become mothers at younger ages. They tend not to complete their education. They are plagued by rising drug use and other social problems. A federal study found that a startling one in six young Hispanic women had attempted suicide, a rate roughly one and a half times as high as...

The immigration and security debate, which has sparked huge demonstrations in recent days by Hispanic residents of cities around the country, comes at a crucial moment for both parties. Over the last three national elections, persistent appeals by Mr. Bush and other Republican leaders have helped double their party's share of the Hispanic vote, to more than 40 percent in 2004 from about 20 percent in 1996. As a result, Democrats can no longer rely on the country's 42 million Hispanic residents as a natural part of their base. In a lunch meeting of Senate Republicans this week, Senator Mel...

UNION CITY, N.J. — On a hot summer day, Stefani Perada left work for the day in West New York, N.J., and stepped outside in her long jilbab, the flowing clothes worn by many Muslim women. Meanwhile, other Latinas in the mostly Hispanic neighborhood were taking advantage of the warm day, walking around in shorts and midriff-exposing halter tops. Perada, 19, who converted to Islam just over a year ago, is still trying to become acclimated to certain customs, such as the jilbab and the hijab, which covers her head and hair.

MIAMI -- Ask Melissa Matos why she converted to Islam, and you'll likely get an answer that spans 13 centuries. She may refer to seventh century Arabia, where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed received the Koran from the angel Gabriel. Or she might describe Islam's golden age in medieval Spain. Or she'll recall Sept. 11, 2001, when fear and curiosity drove her to read about Islam on the Internet.

Ask Melissa Matos why she converted to Islam, and you'll likely get an answer that spans 13 centuries. Matos, who comes from a family of Seventh-day Adventists from the Dominican Republic, has answered the question countless times since converting to Islam in April. She now covers her hair, prays five times a day, and today will observe Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayer and reflection, which began at sundown.There are some 40,000 Hispanic Muslims in the United States, according to a spokesman for the Islamic Society of North America. Islam's growth among Hispanic women may result from the broader Muslim...

UNION CITY, N.J. — On a hot summer day, Stefani Perada took a break from her job in West New York, N.J., and stepped outside in her long jilbab, the flowing clothes clothes worn by many Muslim women. Meanwhile, other Latinas in the mostly Hispanic neighborhood were taking advantage of the warm day, walking around in shorts and midriff-exposing halter tops. Perada, 19, who converted to Islam just over a year ago, is still trying to become acclimated to certain customs, such as the jilbab and the hijab, which covers her head and hair.

Pregnancy rates among Georgia's Hispanic teens soared over the past decade while dropping significantly among black and white teens, state research shows. Between 1994 and 2003, pregnancy rates overall dropped about 41 percent among 15-to-17-year-old girls, according to data compiled by the state Department of Human Resources. African-American non-Hispanic girls saw a 48 percent decline, while non-Hispanic whites experienced a 46 percent drop. But among Hispanic teens, the pregnancy rate increased nearly 62 percent. Dr. Stuart Brown, director of the Division of Public Health, called the findings "dramatically positive" but said the state needs to do a better job of...

LIMA, Peru (AP) -- At least 1,700 women from Latin America and the Caribbean are lured each year into sexual slavery in Japan's huge illicit sex industry, according to a new report. A team of researchers hired by the Organization of American States found that most of the women come from Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico and Peru. The team of researchers -- led by Phillip Linderman, an expert on loan from the U.S. State Department -- presented the "Rapid Assessment Report" to an international seminar on human trafficking sponsored by Peru's Foreign Ministry on Friday. The OAS analysis was culled...