Category: News

The Culture Marketing Council: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing (CMC) announced the 2018 inductees of the CMC Hall of Fame, which recognizes a select group of visionaries, leaders and luminaries who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the Hispanic advertising and marketing field. Award-winning agency trailblazers Daisy Expósito-Ulla, Monica Lozano and her family of media pioneers, Nick Mendoza, and Hector and Norma Orcí will be recognized during an awards gala at the 2018 AHAA Annual Conference taking place on Tuesday, June 5 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles.

“We are honored to recognize these men and women who created an entire industry with their forethought and strategic cultural expertise,” said CMC Chair Isaac Mizrahi. “From agency leadership to creativity and media proliferation, each of our 2018 Hall of Fame inductees played a vital role in the flourishing multicultural marketing industry of today.”

Daisy Expósito-Ulla

Expósito-Ulla, a luminary in advancing Hispanic and Multicultural Marketing, is Chairman and CEO of d expósito & Partners. Prior to founding her own agency over a decade ago, she was Chairman/CEO of Young & Rubicam/WPP’s The Bravo Group, a company she helped launch and subsequently build during her twenty-four-year tenure. Under her watch, The Bravo Group would become the largest U.S. Hispanic agency of all time. As a visionary creative leader and partner to many respected companies, she has achieved a transformational career in cross-cultural brand-building, working with clients such as AT&T, KRAFT Foods, Bank of America, Pfizer, Census 2000/2010. She has been acknowledged as a pivot of growth who helped engineer the dramatic evolution of the non-mainstream communications landscape. Among her current clients are AARP, Amica, McDonalds, US Army, FDA and Tajín.  During her distinguished career, she has received numerous creative and professional awards such as the Matrix (NYWICI) and The Carnegie Corporation’s Great Immigrant: Pride of America recognition. Most recently, she received the ADCOLOR® Lifetime Achievement Award and her agency was named Agency of the Year by the AEF in 2015, a first for a multicultural and independent agency. Daisy has consistently been recognized as one of the most influential Latinas in the United States during her over 30+ year career in multicultural marketing. She currently serves on industry boards such as the Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF), the 4 A’s and the Nielsen Advisory Board. She is founder, former president and now board member of the Culture Marketing Council (formerly AHAA). Additionally, she serves on the board of the Repertorio Español Theater. She is married to her business partner Jorge Ulla, a recognized award-winning filmmaker. Their son Gabriel is an accomplished writer. On April 24th, 2018, she was inducted to the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Fame and was also the recipient of the David Bell Award for her service to the advertising industry.

Monica Lozano and the Lozano Family

Monica is one of the most respected Hispanic business leaders in America with a thirty-year record of leading diversified media organizations. Currently Chair of the Board of US Hispanic Media, Inc. the parent company of ImpreMedia LLC, Monica recently retired after five years as CEO of ImpreMedia, one of the largest media companies serving Hispanic communities in the United States. Prior to this, Lozano led the publications division for the company and was Publisher and CEO of La Opinión, the largest and most influential Hispanic newspaper in the country. She has served as chair of the National Council of La Raza where she served as board chair. In addition, she is a member of the board of directors of Bank of America, the Walt Disney Company, the University of Southern California, the Weingart Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. In 2013 she completed a 12-year term as Regent of the University of California but was asked to return by Governor Jerry Brown who re-appointed Lozano in 2014. She served as a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness as well as the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board prior to that. She has won numerous awards including the Poder Business Leader Award, “Media Executive of the Year” from AHAA, US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s “CEO of the Year”, National Immigration Forum “Keeper of the American Dream” Award, NCLR “Raul Yzaguirre President’s Award”, National Conference on Civil Rights “Hubert H. Humphrey Award”, and the National Society of Hispanic MBA’s Brillante Award among others. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Inter-American Dialogue.

Nick Mendoza

A visionary and one of the most influential creative directors, Nick began his career in Advertising with Jay Chiat & Associates as an Art Director. He moved onto Young & Rubicam where he worked in New York, Caracas and Mexico City, serving as Creative Director for numerous marquis brands, including Chrysler, Frito Lay, General Foods, Johnson & Johnson and Proctor &Gamble. In 1979, he and Dick Dillon founded Mendoza Dillon & Asociados which went on to become one of the largest Hispanic Agencies in the United States. As partner and creative director, Nick developed campaigns for such clients as Johnson & Johnson, Tylenol, Miller Brewing Co, General Foods, Nissan Motors USA, and many others. In 1985 Nick sold his shares in MD&A and opened his own production company. As a director he worked on scores of top Hispanic commercials for an elite list of clients, including Miller, Wendy’s, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, McDonald’s and Burger King. Nick co-founded Mendoza Dillon Inc, an agency that billed over $100 million, and won numerous accolades, including Clio, Belding, New York Film Festival and Se Habla Español awards. He currently is the CEO of his own advertising agency in Henderson, Nevada.

Hector & Norma Orcí

Hector and Norma Orci had been married 18 years before making the final commitment of working together. Before that, Hector had started out at Procter & Gamble Cincinnati , did a stint at Y&R and at McCann-Erickson, and was CEO of Doyle Dane Bernbach-Mexico. Once their kids started school, Norma got her start on the Creative team at Noble & Asociados, Mexico’s then-largest ad agency. As Creative Director, she worked on major Mexico accounts as well as the Noble Newport accounts, servicing the U.S. Hispanic market.

In 1982, McCann-Erickson offered them the chance to work together to address U.S. Latinos. The Orci’s moved to Los Angeles, and La Agencia de McCann-Erickson was born. In 1986, the Orci’s spun off to create La Agencia de Orci—today’s Orcí Advetising.

Together, Hector and Norma helped pioneer the growth and recognition of the US Hispanic marketing industry, while forging lasting bonds between Fortune 500 companies and the Hispanic Community. Norma’s Creative vision of “Share of Heart ®” has established strong relationships between Latino consumers and some of America’s best-loved brands. By always reflecting an authentic and positive image of Latinos and showing how the brand fits into their life and makes it better.

The Orci’s were instrumental in forming the Cultural Marketing Council (CMC/ahaa), the industry’s first and most influential trade organization. Hector was elected its first chairman and now serves as a lifetime board member. Among the highlights of Hector and Norma’s many recognitions are MALDEF’s Corporate Responsibility Award, the American Advertising Federations’ Diversity Achievement Award, and the New American Alliance’s Philanthropists of the Year Award. For over 17 years, The Orci’s and their colleagues taught a UCLA Extension course on Advertising Effectively to the Latino Consumer. Through the Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF) Ambassador Program, Hector and Norma have lectured at colleges and universities across the country. And they were on the faculty of the National Hispanic Corporate Council Institute (NHCCI), helping Corporate America to understand, value, and better serve the Latino Community.

Over the years, the Orcí’s work for Honda, Disneyland, Verizon, Dole and dozens of other well-loved brands, has helped to raise the standard of Communication to U.S. Latinos, has won many awards, and has earned a lot of Latino Share of Heart for their clients.

Separately and/or together, Hector and Norma have served on the boards of the AAF, AHAA, New America Alliance, MALDEF, ProAmérica Bank, and The Southern California Children’s Bureau. They currently serve on the Academy for Arts and Enterprise (LAAAE), and The Hispanic Communications Network.

For more information, visit culturemarketingcouncil.org and follow the CMC on Facebook and Twitter at @cmchispanic using the conference hashtag #CMCpowerof3.

About CMC

Founded in 1996 as the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, the Culture Marketing Council: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing is the national trade organization of all marketing, communications and media firms with trusted culture expertise.

SOURCE Culture Marketing Council: The Voice of Hispanic Marketing

Also Received the David Bell Award for Industry Service

 Daisy Expósito-Ulla Inducted Into the 69th Annual Advertising Hall of Fame®

 New York, NY (April 25, 2018) – Daisy Expósito-Ulla, Chairman/CEO of d expósito & Partners, was inducted into the 69th Annual Advertising Hall of Fame® at a Gala Dinner and Induction Ceremony on Tuesday, April 24th, 2018 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The AAF Hall of Fame is undoubtedly the highest honor bestowed by America’s Advertising Industry and it recognizes the most accomplished and legendary figures in advertising, bringing together the industry to celebrate the Biggest Night in Advertising™.

 She received the award from Cesar Conde, Chairman, NBCUniversal International Group and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.

 During the ceremony, a 3-minute career highlight video presented the remarkable achievements of Daisy Expósito-Ulla, a pioneer and a recognized authority in multicultural marketing and brand communications. Besides having received numerous industry and creative awards (Clio, Effie, Addy, ADCOLOR Lifetime Achievement Award among others), she is consistently acknowledged as one of the Most Influential Latinos in the U.S.A. Her participation on boards includes the Ad Council, the AEF, and the 4A’s Foundation and she is a founding member of AHAA (The Association of Hispanic Ad Agencies) now known as Culture Marketing Council and served as its president.

 Among her enormous contributions to the betterment of society outside her professional career, she has worked tirelessly to support the people and causes she cares deeply about.

 At the gala ceremony dinner, she also accepted the David Bell Award for Industry Service, awarded to recognize extraordinary and unique contributions and service to the advertising community and industry as a whole. The award is named in honor of David Bell (Hall of Fame Class of 2007), a visionary leader and mentor to several generations of advertising professionals. 

 Expósito-Ulla, a well-known powerhouse of creativity, business-building and industriousness, has been widely recognized as a pivotal architect of the Hispanic Market in the United States. Her pioneering efforts for the industry started at an early age when the market was significantly smaller from what it is today.

 “I’m so honored to be included among this distinguished group inducted into the AAF Hall of Fame,” said Daisy Expósito-Ulla, Chairman and CEO, d expósito & Partners. Daisy Expósito-Ulla said, “This is indeed the highest honor I have ever received in my 40-year career. I share it with my partners, team and family who have always supported me and helped make the achievements possible.”

 During her acceptance speech Daisy noted, “I’ll say this: I am an immigrant. I am a product of Brand America. And so, I would be remiss if I were to accept this induction at this time in our history without emphasizing the importance of keeping the spirit of this generous country alive.”

 To read the full acceptance speech please scroll down.

 This year’s honorees, the Class of 2018, included: Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, American Express Company; Beth Comstock, Former Vice Chair, GE; Daisy Expósito-Ulla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, d expósito & Partners; Steve Hayden, Retired Vice Chairman, Global Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather; George Lois, Creative Director, Good Karma Creative; Paul Polman, Chief Executive Officer, Unilever; Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., Publisher and Chairman, The New York Times Company; and Lois Wyse (1926-2007), Founder, Wyse Advertising.

 At Young & Rubicam/WPP’s The Bravo Group, Daisy led and helped build a multi-million dollar company to reach billings of nearly half a billion, advancing it to be the largest Hispanic and multicultural agency to this day. Presenting Daisy with the NY International Center award, Ambassador Ed Ney, Chairman Emeritus, Y&R, described her as “the most important Madison Avenue success story written by a woman not born in the United States.” In 2005, she helped found d expósito & Partners with a group of former colleagues and her husband and partner, award-winner filmmaker, Jorge Ulla.  

 In 2015, d expósito & Partners was chosen AEF Agency of the Year by the Advertising Educational Foundation which also recognized Daisy “for her contributions to American advertising.” Among her many honors: The New York Women in Communication’s Matrix Award; AAF’s Role Model; New York Women’s Agenda Star; The Carnegie Foundation; Pride of America recognition; The Carvel Immigrant Award; and New York’s International Center recognition which she shared with Nobel laureate Elie Weisel and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

 About the Advertising Hall of Fame

The Advertising Hall of Fame celebrates industry legends, who, throughout their trailblazing careers, have distinguished themselves with outstanding, nationally- and globally-recognized professional achievements; remarkable innovations that have changed our industry and our culture; and exceptional philanthropic work both within the advertising industry and in their communities. Since its inception in 1949, over 250 advertising legends and eight iconic global companies have been elected to the Hall. The event is among the advertising industry’s biggest and most prestigious of the year, attended by nearly 1,000 C-suite and senior level executives from the world’s largest brands, advertising agencies, media and tech companies and is the largest fundraiser for the Federation providing a vital source of funding necessary to continue the wide range of educational, multicultural, and advocacy initiatives that are critical to our industry. For more information on the Advertising Hall of Fame, visit aaf.org/ahof.

 About d expósito & Partners 

d expósito & Partners is a multi-service communications agency with a fresh business model designed to help clients win consumers. Propelled by a Hispanic-centric DNA and its Multicultural expertise, it is positioned as The New American Agency™, helping brands engage today’s technologically-savvy, multicultural consumers, while leveraging the compelling opportunities represented by U.S. Hispanics. It is an independent, minority- and woman-owned firm that provides relevant in-culture communications. https://newamericanagency.com

 

Daisy Expósito-Ulla, Chairman and CEO of d expósito & Partners, induction intothe AAF Hall of Fame Remarks:

 

Thank you, David. I’m honored to receive this award that bears your distinguished name. Cesar, thank you for your kind introduction and for the committed participation of the Comcast/ NBC- Universal /Telemundo family.

 

Thank you to the Council of Judges of the AAF and to those who endorsed my nomination, starting with hall-of-famer Eduardo Caballero and concluding with my friend Marc Strachan.

 

To be among tonight’s inductees feels like I’m a character in one of those simulations Elon Musk always seems to talk about. It is surreal, to say the least. I’m humbled to be in your company. I also think of past inductees, from titans I studied and never got to know, to friends I was lucky to make along the way, like Teresa Zubizarreta.

 

You know, I don’t say any of this stuff purely as a gesture of humility. The fact that I ended up on this stage truly is improbable: As Peter Georgescu has said, I, like him, was an almost “off the boat” refugee in America. Growing up in Queens, the world-outside-my-world seemed like a beautiful fish bowl in which “other fish” got to do the swimming. I was an immigrant. I was a minority. And I was a woman of color.

 

Propelled by my parents’ examples of tenacity, I somehow made my way into the ad agency world. I’m glad the path led to Culture Advertising. This was at a time when the demographics of the country were shifting, and Madison Avenue still hadn’t quite realized what was going on. But a few independent pioneers in the Hispanic Market saw an opening – and so did Ed Ney, who created a division called Bravo at Y&R. That was my break, and I had no idea it would become what it did.

 

All I know is that without mentors like Bill Green and Nancy Smith, who are here tonight, it wouldn’t have happened.

 

And of course, it wouldn’t have been possible if we didn’t approach our work with a sense of respect, soul and authenticity – fully embracing the beautiful, singular otherness of our consumer. We were about diversity and inclusion, about truly mirroring the country- even in the face of what I will gently call “doubt.”

 

The merits of the approach became evident in the results. 

 

Tonight, I share this recognition with the team at our agency and particularly with my partners: Gloria, John, Fernando, Louis and Paco: I’ve been working with some of you for decades! My gratitude to my industry colleagues and to the Hispanic media. To my client partners, thank you for making the journey possible. I wouldn’t be standing here without your trust: Edna, Yvette, Annie, Paul, Lisa, Lorraine…

 

Personally, I’m grateful to be married to Jorge Ulla, a talented and supportive man who tends to believe in me more than I often do myself. I’m grateful for my son, Gabe, a brilliant writer- proud of you. I’m grateful for my sister Maritza, her husband Steve, and my 93-year- old mother Narcisa, here tonight. She still lives in the Queens apartment where we settled after arriving from Cuba. She keeps us grounded and laughing. And I’m grateful for the lessons of my father, who I like to think is watching me right now.

 

Finally, if you don’t mind my ending on a lofty note, I’ll say this: I am an immigrant. I am a product of Brand America. And so, I would be remiss if I were to accept this induction at this time in our history without emphasizing the importance of keeping the spirit of this generous country alive.

 

Thank you, AAF. It feels wonderful to be swimming in the fish bowl with the big fish.

 

Muchas gracias.

martes 10 de abril de 2018

March 8th was International Women’s Day and all of March is Women’s History Month, celebrating the achievements of women globally from cultural, political, social and economic perspectives. Yet where do women of color (as they’ve come to be called by, I guess, some inspired Caucasian) stand in my industry ―advertising― today?

Is there good news or bad news? Is there happy progress or enraging backsliding? The answer to these questions is an ironic yes.

On one hand, for women of color the “glass ceiling” is a “concrete ceiling” as The Wall Street Journal puts it. Women of color make up just 3% of the C-suite (71% are still white men) as a study from LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Co. describes it. Gender parity won’t be achieved until 2133, at least in the estimation of the World Economic Forum. There’s a “political ambition gap” according to a Women’s Caucus report called Not Making it Here: Why Women are Underrepresented in the NYC Council, a stunning reflection of how things are no less than from the world’s capital.

At the same time, there’s room for some good news. Let’s see:

•     Women of color will be the majority of all women in the U.S. by 2060, notes a Catalyst study. And ―no surprise here, nor can political walls stop this― by 2024 the percentage of Hispanic women in the labor force will increase by 30.3%. Only 3% of all U.S. Creative Directors were women and then Kat Gordon started the 3% Movement (now at 11%).
•     Women are running for office in record numbers, informs Emily’s List, a national organization dedicated to helping women win elective government positions. They add that more than 30,000 women have contacted them about running for office since the 2016 elections.
•     Women of color experience a higher rate of sexual violence, as the CDC tells us, to our inevitable shock and almost some disbelief. As an encouraging sign, the #MeToo Movement shines a light on harassment yet #TimesUp. And then, there’s The Women’s March!
•     Individual women champions are channeling their passion and networks to do something. And they are making a difference, notably Tiffany R. Warren, at ADCOLOR®; Lauren Wesley Wilson, of ColorComm, Inc.; Shelley Zalis, and The Girl’s Lounge/The Female Quotient and Geena Davis, with the Institute on Gender in Media.

So, yes, I see things are changing for the better and I am encouraged. But the fight can’t stop now

What does it mean to be a Latina in Advertising today? Just as importantly, how is advertising marketing to Latinx (both Latinos and Latinas)?

I’ve been on both sides. I started as a young Latina Creative Director in 1975, (the same year that International Women’s Day was established), at pioneering Hispanic ad agency Conill Advertising; then briefly at NBC and PBS; then at Young & Rubicam’s Hispanic unit The Bravo Group in the 1980s. More recently, I founded d expósito & Partners, an ad agency specialized in marketing to Hispanics.

Yes, I’ve experienced the Boy’s Club mentality to some measure, and the “boys will be boys” syndrome. However, self-confidence, adherence to clear values and simple respect are superior antidotes against machismo.  It doesn’t hurt to remember how the great David Ogilvy was able to set “them” straight with his famous quote: “The consumer isn’t a moron. She is your wife.”

I can also attest to the fact that I’ve been quite fortunate. Way too lucky! At Y&R I had a mentor in Peter Georgescu, a white man at the top of the most prominent advertising agency of its day, Young & Rubicam. While he was my boss’s boss’s boss, we bonded over our common personal histories of growing up in, and then escaping, a Communist society, both of us political refugees ―from Romania in his case and Cuba in mine.

Since those days, I’ve made it my own personal mission to be a bit like that mentor, specifically to young Latinas. And as head of my own agency, I try to ensure that our clients’ brand messages are sensitive and accurate, so that they resonate with our consumer regardless of gender, sexual orientation or choice, while avoiding stereotypes or disenfranchisement.

When I was honored with the Matrix Award by New York Women in Communications, Inc., I thought of it as a call-to-action to give back to the community. As such, I sponsored and supported their Esperanza Scholarship for Hispanic young women majoring in journalism or communications. I also helped create FuturaMente (FutureMinds), to support education among Latino youth by motivating Hispanic-Americans to become teachers.

Every now and then, when the silly pretentions of gender superiority may surface in my business world, something unavoidable over the years, I often think of what they said about Ginger Rogers, that she could do everything that her famous dance partner, Fred Astaire, could do, but she did it backwards and in high heels. The sentence still applies today, beyond the brilliance of its humor, for those women who may face discrimination of any kind.

But the bottom line in business is dollars and “sense.” What happens when women are left out of the equation, whether as consumer targets or employees with talent and influence? The 3% movement says it best: “In a world where women influence upwards of 80% of consumer spending and 60% of social media sharing, this is business suicide.”

Daisy will receive Advertising’s top honor this year as a 2018 inductee into the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Fame on April 24th. And this week she was honored by Girls, Inc. whose mission is to inspire girls to be strong, smart and bold

This article originally appeared in Velocitize on Mar 6, 2018. Velocitize.com is an award-winning publication covering digital disruption in business today through a marketing and technology lens.

McDonald’s “Celebrando Nuestras Leyendas” (Celebrating Our Legends) runs Sept.18-Oct.15 and is a program designed to honor the contributions of Latino legends to the cultural fabric of American society and to underline their humanitarian work. This year’s honoree is international super star Gloria Estefan. The multichannel program created
by d expósito & Partners includes in-store materials designed to engage consumers with a trivia component that highlights Estefan’s legendary achievements. Additionally, a QR code leads consumers to an exclusive video-tribute honoring Gloria.

Customers can also visit the website to take part in various activities including voting for their favorite of two original illustrations: one of Gloria at the beginning of her career and the other featuring the legendary Gloria of today. McDonald’s “Celebrando Nuestras Leyendas” is funded by New York/New Jersey/Connecticut franchisees. The program recognizes its Hispanic consumers and employees while honoring iconic figures and contributing to their charity of choice.

Since its inaugural year, it has paid tribute to the legacy Celia Cruz and Juan Luis Guerra, two of the most influential figures in music, and one of the best athletes and closers of all time, Mariano Rivera. This has made this program transcend New York Tri-state borders achieving international coverage.

The Gloria Estefan Foundation is dedicated to promoting health, education and cultural development.

Since its inception, the program has had groundbreaking results. It was awarded “#1 Ethnic Program” by McDonald’s National in its inaugural year, it has boosted restaurant visits and website traffic while garnering more than 1 billion impressions.

New York, NY – September 15, 2015 – Daisy Expósito-Ulla, Chairman/CEO of d expósito & Partners, LLC, has been selected by PEOPLE En Español as one of The 25 Most Powerful Women of 2015 and is featured in the current (October) issue.

Daisy is joined on the list by such dynamic Latinas making significant strides in entertainment, communications, politics and business as Television Host and Entrepreuneur Daisy Fuentes,
Treasurer of the United States Rosie Ríos, Singer/Songwriter/Actress Demi Lovato, Journalist and Anchor Carmen Aristegui, New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña and María Elena Salinas, Peabody Award-winning anchor who is described as the "Voice of Hispanic America".

On her profile page in PEOPLE en Español, which reaches 6.9 million readers, and on the website page devoted to Daisy Las 25 mujeres más poderosas del 2015 she describes her philosophy: "You can’t have aspiration without perspiration. You have to work hard, study and prepare yourself. I have learned that we have to contemplate what we do not as a job, but rather a part of our life – like an extension of the human experience. The issue is to put passion into it".

In addition to being featured in the magazine and on the website, the 25 Most Powerful Latinas will be celebrated during a VIP luncheon on Sept 18th and a public event for readers, Poderosas LIVE!, on September 19th, both in Miami

Follow the conversation at #25poderosas.

by Martin Vega – Senior Strategic Planner and Researcher / d expósito & Partners

Central American “Eco-Migrantes” Expected To Increase the Foreign-born Population Of Hispanics In the United States

There is growing evidence that climate change, climate-induced events and environmental disruptions are likely to assume greater importance in influencing migration, particularly within the developing world. – European Commission, on Migration and Climate Change (2013)

Since the late 1970s, people in the “Northern Triangle” countries (Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras) have endured human-wrought calamities – armed conflict, civil wars, death squads, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and drought, among others – that have spurred massive voluntary and involuntary (forced) migration. The demography of these outflows — principally to the United States – has been so stark that today roughly 27% of Salvadorans live outside their nation, as do 12% of Guatemala’s and Honduras’ populations, respectively.[1]
The intensity of this migration has continued unabated over the past fifteen years, helping to boost Central Americans’ presence in the United States to unprecedented levels:

• Today they are the fastest-growing group of Latinos in the United States (per graph below)[2]

• Salvadorans have surpassed Cubans as the third largest Latino group in the country[3]

• In 2014, more Central Americans than Mexicans were apprehended at the U.S. Southern border[4]

• Currently, more than 75% of the unaccompanied children (UAC) captured at the U.S.-Mexico border are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras[5]

Yet, while the conventional factors influencing voluntary migration have been delineated and understood for quite some time (i.e., migrants seek better livelihoods or to reunite with family, etc.), given dynamics underlying involuntary or forced migration – such as global warming/climate change and organized gang violence – have risen to public attention and debate only recently. One particularly valuable resource tabulating trends on climate change is the International Disasters Database located at the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) at Belgium’s Catholic University at the Louvain. A review of Latin America’s hydrometeorological patterns over the past four decades reveals that hazardous events associated with climate change – extreme temperatures, forest fires, drought, thunderstorms, hurricanes and floods – have increased ten-fold over the period (See chart below).

Source: “Gráficos Vitales del Cambio Climático para América Latina y El Caribe”, Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente y la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), 2010, p. 15 (disponible en http://www.cepal.org/dmaah/noticias/paginas/7/37867/lac_web_esp_2010-12-…)

A closer scrutiny of the most affected countries reveals that the Northern Triangle countries rise to the top globally in terms of being the countries most exposed to climate risk:

One particularly vulnerable area of climate change in the region implicates drought in the Corredor Seco Centroamericano (CSC: Central American Dry Corridor).[7] The CSC begins in the north, in Chiapas, Mexico and extends south to Guanacaste, Costa Rica and parts of western Panama [see map below]. This region is characterized by a six-month dry period in the summer and a six month wet season during winter, with a unique presence of drought during the latter.

Last year the severe lack of rainfall in the CSC posed a dangerous risk to over 2 million people, as the precipitous decline in the production of basic food staples led to critical hunger gaps. In response, the affected governments and international organizations such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) provided emergency food and humanitarian assistance in the Corridor. Notwithstanding these mitigating actions, it is estimated that between five to twelve percent of the households in the CSC exit-migrated as part of these household’s survival strategies.[8]

Journalistic accounts also highlighted that in some communities, such as in Guatemala, uprooted peasants chose not to migrate internally to Ciudad Guatemala (the capital) due to the ever-present threat of violent gangs. Rather, they chose to migrate to the United States.[10] A key question raised is whether this is a bell-weather of things to come. Will these emerging “eco-migrants” form part of a new flow of Central American immigrants to the United States akin to the UACs (Unaccompanied Children Migrants)?

One persistent factor destabilizing the region is the unremitting violence resulting from the trans-isthmus operations of the drug cartels and transnational gangs. Such are the levels of violence in the Northern Triangle countries that they now rank collectively as the region with the highest murder rate in the world.[11] [See bar chart below]

The cartels, in particular, have been instrumental in fueling the deforestation and destruction of the region’s eco-systems by illegally logging the tropical forests and establishing massive pasture lands for cattle ranch production, in order to launder money and set up logistical/air operations for continued drug-trafficking activities[12]. This rapidly evolving “narco-deforestation” is having a devastating effect on the tropical forests in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.[13] The increased presence of organized crime throughout the region is leading to the forced displacement of the population, not just in the rural area, but also in small towns and cities where they have a direct presence.[14]

The net result is that both climate-change and the different forms of organized violence have become intertwined in their effects in forcibly displacing a growing number of immigrants who do not fit the profile of earlier waves of Central American immigrants. It is still too soon to gauge what the magnitude of this immigration flow might be, but early signs point to it as a growing problem that has not yet been fully dimensionalized in the public mindset.

[1] Miguel Ugalde, “Migración y Juventud”, Abril 2013 (available http://jesuitascam.org/migracion-y-juventud/)
[2] Sierra Stoney and Jeanne Batalova, “Central American Immigrants in the United States”, The Migration Policy Institute, March 18, 2013 (available at http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/central-american-immigrants-united-states)
[3] U.S. Census Bureau, 2011-2013 3-Year American Community Survey
[4] http://www.khou.com/story/news/2014/12/29/central-americans-predominant-group-crossing-into-us/21026277/
[5] U.S. GAO Report to Congressional Requesters, “Central America: Information on Migration of Unaccompanied Children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras”, February 2015, p.5 (available at http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/668749.pdf)
[6] D. S. Kreft, et al., “Global Climate Risk Index 2015 – Who Suffers Most From Extreme Weather Events? Weather-related Loss Events in 2013 and 1994 to 2013”, November 2014 (available at https://germanwatch.org/en/download/10333.pdf)
[7] Axel Schmidt, et al.,”Tortillas on the Roaster – Central American Maize-Beans Systems and Changing Climate Change – Full Technical Report”, October 2012 (available at http://devnewswire.crs.org.php53-27.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Tortillas-on-the-Roaster-full-technical-report-minimum-size.pdf)
[8] Alan Brown, “Central America Drought – Situation Report #2”, World Food Program, December 12, 2014 (available at http://www.wfp.org/content/wfp-central-america-drought-situation-report-02-12-december-2014)
[9] Source: http://www.hondurasnews.com/as-central-america-drought-causes-food-shortages-un-agency-calls-for-urgent-funding/
[10] Tim Rogers, “Will climate change hasten Central American migration to US?” August 14, 2014 (available at http://fusion.net/story/6288/will-climate-change-hasten-central-american-migration-to-us/)
[11] United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Global Study on Homicide 2013”, 2014 (available at http://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf)
[12] Count the Costs, ‘The Maya Biosphere Reserve: Guatemala’s Mini Narco-state’ in “ The War on Drugs: Causing Deforestation and Pollution”, p. 9 (available at http://www.countthecosts.org/sites/default/files/Environment-briefing.pdf)
[13] Kendra McSweeney, et al., “Drug Policy as Conservation Policy: Narco-Deforestation” Science Volume 343 31, January 2014 (available at http://raisg.socioambiental.org/system/files/Science-2014-McSweeney-489-90.pdf)
[14] La Agencia de la ONU para Refugiados, “Desplazamiento Forzado y Necesidades de Protección, generados por nuevas formas de Violencia y Criminalidad en Centroamérica, mayo de 2012 (disponible en http://www.acnur.org/t3/fileadmin/Documentos/BDL/2012/8932.pdf?view=1); David James Cantor. “The New Wave: Forced Displacement Caused by Organized Crime in Central America and Mexico”, Refugee Survey Quarterly, pp. 1–35, 2014 (available at http://rsq.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/06/10/rsq.hdu008.full.pdf#page=1&view=FitH); and, Elizabeth Ferris, “Gangs, Violence and Displacement in Central America”, The Brookings Institution, November 7, 2013 (available at http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2013/11/07-central-america-armed-conflict-displacement-ferris)