Latino Leaders Call for Jobs Programs

Several Los Angeles County Latino leaders called Thursday for the establishment of job training and environmental programs in conjunction with the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement.

Saying they could not support the treaty unless such programs were adopted as part of the trade package, Rep. Esteban E. Torres (D-La Puente) and others stressed the need for a development bank to fund environmental and improvement projects in communities affected by the labor pact.

Speaking at a Los Angeles news conference, Torres, Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Hernandez and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles) said the programs were necessary to offset the effects of the trade package, which would create the world’s largest free-trade zone, involving the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The news conference was called by Latino Consensus, a national coalition of Latino organizations and elected officials.