Three area officials pose in front of statues on a trip to China with the Latin Business Association last month. From left are Bell Gardens City Councilman Pedro Aceituno, Ruben Guerra, president of the Latin Business Association; Downey City Councilman Mario Guerra, (no relation) and Huntington Park Mayor Mario Gomez.
Story Created:
Feb 4, 2010 at 12:34 PM PST
Story Updated:
Feb 4, 2010 at 1:03 PM PST
Three area elected officials were among a number of Latino leaders who traveled to China Jan. 19 with the Latin Business Association.
Downey City Councilman Mario Guerra, Bell Gardens City Councilman Pedro Aceituno and Huntington Park Mayor Mario Gomez joined Latin Business Association President Ruben Guerra, (no relation to the Downey official) in a visit to Xuyi and Souzhou, China to begin international business relations.
The trip was conducted to explore and secure international market business opportunities for local businesses and cities.
In order to find ways to help speed up the process of recovery from the recession, the trip was designed to search for other avenues of business, across international borders all the way to China, a representative of the Latin Business Association said.
“This was an historic event for the United States, LBA and the three cities, which will create business trade in our communities and much needed jobs,” Ruben Guerra said.
“This was an incredible experience and will continue to connect California cities to Asia, Mexico, and Central America in hopes of continuing to build business exchange opportunities for our members and the Latino community at large,” he added.
“It was very exciting. We visited four cities in six days,” said Gomez in comments to his city council Monday night.
Travel was by the Maglev train. It traveled 200 miles an hour with no sense of motion, Gomez noted.
“They had done their homework on us in a good way so they knew exactly who we were and why we were there,” said Mario Guerra, who commented on the trip Jan. 26 to his Downey City Council colleagues.
“One highlight was … riding the Shanghai Maglev Train on the way back. … The Maglev train took us 30 miles in less than seven minutes and at times went over 325 [kilometers] per hour. … You could see it was going fast out the window but could not feel the effect inside. Quiet and very smooth. I was wondering how it was going to stop and yet it came to a smooth and gentle stop.”
Established in 1976, the Latino Business Association is the country’s largest Latino business organization based on total active membership and overall outreach to Latino business owners.
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