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Spanish weekly wish come true
Sunday, August 21, 2005
By NATALIA MUÑOZ
nmunoz@repub.com


SPRINGFIELD - The largest Spanish language paper in Western Massachusetts, El Pueblo Latino, is now a weekly.


In an effort to better serve the burgeoning Hispanic market El Pueblo moved from a bi-weekly this month. Its third weekly edition hit the streets on Thursday at more than 125 drop off points in Hampden and Hampshire counties.


News of the paper going weekly was enthusiastically endorsed by leaders of the Hispanic community and readers and advertisers of the publication.


"My wish came true," said Anita Rivera, editor of El Pueblo Latino. "I wanted the newspaper to grow."


Rivera founded the publication in January 2000. MassPublishing Co., owned by The Republican Co., which owns this newspaper, bought it in 2003. Rivera has remained editor and publisher.


In recent editions, El Pueblo Latino has begun including news coverage as well as additional features such as church listings and the names and contact information for regional lawmakers in Boston and Washington, D.C., along with international news and features from Hispanic countries Rivera said will be provided by The Associated Press.


El Pueblo's assistant editor Gricel Ocasio predicted future growth for the paper in light of the growing Hispanic buying power.


"We are here to stay. We want to be the people's paper and, as two Puerto Rican women who know what our people want, we intend to see it grow further," Ocasio said.


She noted that the fact El Pueblo Latino is the only local Hispanic weekly in the area will help to push it into areas not currently served.


José Claudio, an aide for Springfield Mayor Charles V. Ryan, said he was pleased to hear that El Pueblo is a weekly.


"I think it's something that's needed in the Hispanic community," he said. "It's very overdue - by maybe 40 years."


Heriberto Flores, president of the Brightwood Development Corp. in Springfield, said the newspaper's move to weekly publication is another sign of the vitality of Hispanics in Western Massachusetts.


"I think it's great," Flores said. "The newspaper reaches the core of the Puerto Rican and Hispanic community."


MarÃÂ*a Acuña, of Acuña Real Estate and one of El Pueblo Latino's biggest advertisers, said the weekly circulation is indicative of the Hispanic population increase in the area. According to various estimates, there are about 80,000 Latinos in Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin counties.


"It's showing growth in the Hispanic community," said Acuña. "Financially, we're getting more powerful."


Hilda Colon, vice president of the Westfield Spanish American Association, described the weekly as a "taste of home" and said she was pleased to hear of its expansion.


"I think that would be fantastic," Colon said. "It's one way to hear about our own community and issues in the larger community in the Spanish language."


Harry Gonzalez, owner of Gonzalez Family Market on Elm Street in Westfield, who offers the weekly at his store, said he too was pleased of the weekly's continued success.

"That's great," Gonzalez said. "Especially for the older Hispanics. We want to feel like we have our own paper." Rivera said that 10,000 copies of El Pueblo Latino are distributed throughout Springfield, in Holyoke, Westfield, Chicopee and Northampton, making it the largest Spanish weekly in Western Massachusetts.


Three other Spanish-language or bilingual publications are in circulation in Hampshire and Hampden counties, reflecting the large growth of the Latino population. El Diálogo is biweekly and bilingual; El Sol Latino is a bilingual and monthly; and Elite, in Spanish, is published every other month.


Rivera, a popular radio host, can be seen at many events in the Latino communities, taking pictures and notes or serving as MC. When she decided to put together her own bi-weekly publication, her celebrity status afforded her immediate ads and plenty of invitations to events ranging from festivals to commemorations.