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From: Iván F. García-Hidalgo
To: PERU HOY e-mail
Subject: AIPEUC: FRONT AND CENTER OF DEBATE 

Mr. Juan Reyes,
I wanted to thank you for taking this AIPEUC issue and
putting it front and center of the debate. With that
said, it is extremely unfortunate to see this kind of
behavior once again coming from some in the Peruvian
Community that have no regard for our image except for
their personal agendas. This issue has played itself
out in the public forum for several months now, with
no apparent end. Lately, the court of public opinion
seems to be swaying in favor of the current President
with endorsements coming from members of the Chapters
and from former Presidents. The other side has yet to
comment.
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The President's agenda seems to be clear and
justified. He is determined to clear the name of the
Association and resolve the possible problems with the
IRS due to lack of tax returns being filed for several
years. What I don't understand; and I seem not to be
only one, is why no one is willing to turn the books
over to the new President so he can fix the problems??


Now the Chapter Presidents, (and apparently not all of
their Chapters are even incorporated) say the
President is violating their bylaws and not respecting
them. One must ask: what does that have to do with
turning the books over and not filing taxes for
several years? I don't know enough about this
situation or the Association to say who is right or
who is wrong, but it appears beyond question that the
books should be turned over and the tax returns should
be filed. Other issues should be resolved among the
parties, and as a last resort, may be resolved in a
court of law. The last place for these arguments
should be the court of public opinion!! I have offered
this advice to both sides and I hope they will decide
to follow it for everyone's sake. 

Our community has yet another black eye with this
entire situation and it's a shame to see no end in
sight. Now the question we must ask is, is it worth
it? One comment I hear all the time around the
community, and which I share is: What exactly has
AIPEUC done since its creation besides holding an
annual convention? Has it worked for the Peruvian
Community here in the USA? Who are its members, and
what exactly do they do? What is the vision and
mission of this Association? Ask a member of AIPEUC:
?So what have you done lately??, and you will get a
long convoluted story about the latest in-fighting
about who deserves what title and what the extent of
their authority should be. 

The vast majority of non-profit associations are
united, and work toward a common goal. One reason for
this is that there is no profit motive; i.e., no big
pay out for any stock sales or the like, as in the
private sector. Certain members of AIPEUC seem to have
lost site of its goal, and prefer to wage war against
a duly elected President because he is not to their
liking. He does not respect them. He does not
understand how extremely important they are. Maybe
they are right, maybe not. But their campaign to
?destabilize? him is disconcerting. The situation
appears to be just short of a mutiny. Let?s face it,
many of us left Peru to escape this kind of chaos. We
can grow in the U.S. and move forward together, or we
can attempt to do it alone. It makes more sense to
unite our community and work towards a common cause. 

With all this damage and divisiveness created in our
community, is it worth fighting for AIPEUC? Perhaps a
fresh start is in order. Some suggest we should create
a new body which truly represents our community, and
that has a board that is representative of who we are,
and desires to work in harmony for all of us? We have
real issues that affect our communities on a daily
basis and this does nothing to solve them. We have the
Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) which is in its
final stages of negotiation. We need to come together
and support this agreement once it?s sent to congress
for approval. We will need to write letters and make
phone calls to our Congress members, urging them to
support it once it?s on the floor for a vote. We still
don?t have a clear immigration policy or solution for
all the undocumented people in this country that
contribute to this economy. Here alone in Dade County,
how many are we? What percentage of the county budget
goes back to our community? I only know of one
Peruvian organization that receives county funds for
its heir work in the community, and it is very
limited.

We should all step back and reflect on what has been
going on and say ?enough?! What is it going to take
for all of us to come together and work together
towards a common goal?? Don?t we deserve it? Don?t our
children? Can?t we just all get along?
Sincerely yours,

Ivan F. Garcia-Hidalgo
PS: My comments are personal and not those of any
institution or organization I may be part of or
represent.

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