Faces of our Latin American community:

Philip Shaw Barker

He was an entomologist. He was born in Mexico in 1933 and received his degree in agricultural engineering there and his PhD in entomology at McGill University. He started doing research into insects in stored grains while working as a research scientist with Agriculture Canada. He discovered a wheat that was midge-resistant. He died in 2009.

 

Marco Castillo

He is a samba musician from Brazil. He left Brazil, the capital of samba, and came to Canada. His first CD, Brazilian Season, topped college radio charts. He has since released Trip to Brazil in 2011. Besides leading his Brazilian Beats band, he is a songwriter and producer.

 

Moises Briceno

He is owner/manager of Latin American Travel, an agency that specializes in trips to and from Latin American countries. He is from Chile and came to Canada in 1975 when he was 12. He belongs to the Latin America Community Association.

 

Hector Vergara

He is one of the most respected soccer referees in the country. Born in Chile, he grew up in Winnipeg and went to John Taylor Collegiate before earning degrees at the University of Manitoba. He played soccer competitively and recreationally for decades and has been a referee for almost three decades. He is the executive director of the Manitoba Soccer Association. He refereed in three World Cups and now holds the record for most matches refereed by a Canadian. He retired as a FIFA assistant referee last year and was appointed to FIFA's referees committee as a development member. He has been named Sport Manitoba's official of the year four times.

 

Julian and Sonia Lemus

They are the owners of Café Mercadito Latino a grocery and cafe on Henderson Highway. Julian (left) is from Guatemala, Sonia (second from right) is from El Salvador. They stock the shelves with Latin American goods and have a small café at the back.

 

Vic Toews

He is the MP for Provencher, and he was born in Paraguay to parents Rev. Victor David Toews and Anna Peters. He studied at the University of Winnipeg for a history degree and at the University of Manitoba for a law degree, getting called to the bar in 1977. He was a provincial Crown attorney before being elected a Winnipeg Tory MLA in 1995 and serving as justice minister. After losing his seat, he was elected in Provencher in 2000 for the Canadian Alliance and has since been re-elected for the Conservative party. He has been federal justice minister and president of the Treasury Board and is currently the minister of public safety.

 

Hugo Torres

He is a world-beat Latin American singer and songwriter. He was born in Chile, where he taught himself to play the guitar and fell in love with the pan flute. He appeared on national television in Chile in 1968 as a member of the folk group Voces de America. Coming to Canada, he was founder of Retaguardia, one of the first Latin American folk groups in the country. He has played the Winnipeg Folk Festival several times as well as across Canada and in California.

 

Luis Escobar

He is the City of Winnipeg's manager of transportation. Originally from El Salvador, he studied civil engineering at the University of Manitoba. He started working for the city as a traffic studies engineer and has managed the transportation department since 2009.

 

Ximena Munoz

She is a provincial fairness commissioner. Originally from Chile, she has worked to help immigrants settle and find jobs here. She was the director of the Manitoba Settlement and Labour Market Services branch and helped develop new services and support for immigrants. She was appointed the province's first fairness commissioner in 2008.

 

Rodrigo Munoz

He is a musician, founder of the Latin Jazz band Papa Mambo. He is native of Chile and trained as a classical guitarist, but his work as both guitarist and percussionist has also taken him to other countries, including Cuba and Argentina. He is a member of Trio Bembe. He served on the executive board of the Winnipeg Classical Guitar Society and has been on music juries for the Manitoba Arts Council, the Canada Arts Council and the Juno Awards.

 

Ernesto Vela

He is a psychologist and has worked for years at the Health Sciences Centre, but also Mount Carmel Clinic and NEEDs. He specializes in working with torture victims and victims of post traumatic stress disorder. He works mostly with Spanish-speaking people.

 

Ivan Salazar

He came here from Chile as a child and attended St. John's High School, the University of Manitoba and Red River College. He owns ISAP Consulting and also works at a screen graphics company. He earlier worked at Cangene. He specializes in manufacturing science and technology. He held a fundraiser for the victims of the earthquake in Chile in 2009, volunteered with the Winnipeg Chilean Association and danced with the folk group Chile Lucha y Canta.

 

Cecilia Araneda

She is a filmmaker who was born in Chile and grew up in northern Manitoba before coming to Winnipeg. She earned a bachelor of fine arts in playwriting from York University and a masters of fine arts in creative writing/screenwriting from University of British Columbia. She has created nine short films that have won awards and been screened at film festivals in New York, Chicago, Paris and Toronto, among others. She was honoured by the province last year as a female artist working for social change.

 

Sergio Carvalho

He is from Brazil, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Manitoba. He received his degrees and diplomas at several universities, including Northeastern University and the University of Fortaleza in Brazil. He focuses on consumer behaviour and research. He has received teaching awards not only at the U of M, but also the Graduate School of the University of Fortaleza and Baruch College in New York.

 

Javier Mignone

He is an assistant professor in the University of Manitoba's family social services department. He is from Argentina and received his education at the Universidad del Salvador, University of Alberta and University of Manitoba. He specializes in community health, aboriginal health and HIV/AIDS.

 

Wilder Robles

He is an assistant professor in the family social services department at the University of Manitoba. He is from Peru and attended the State University of Campinas in Brazil, the University of British Columbia, Ohio University and the University of Guelph. He specializes in global poverty, inner-city politics and humanitarian aid.

 

Maria Victoria Zamora

She owns La Rica Vicky, the first Peruvian restaurant in the city. When her husband headed to North America to look for a job and move his family here, she began a take-out restaurant from the window of her home. Her food was so popular she had lineups two-blocks long and began catering weddings and other events. Her husband was finally able to bring his family to Canada 16 years ago and last year they opened the restaurant.

 

Rodrigo Cunha

He is an assistant professor of restorative dentistry at the University of Manitoba. He lived in the Netherlands and Portugal before moving to Brazil, where he went to high school and received his undergraduate dental degree. He has also been assistant professor at the Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Campinas since 2001.

 

Isabel Mello

She is division head of endodontology and an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba's department of restorative dentistry. She is from Brazil and received her undergraduate endodontics degree there. She received her PhD in dental sciences in a joint program between the University of Sao Paulo and the University of British Columbia. She joined the U of M in 2009.

 

Renato Roperto

He is an assistant professor of restorative dentistry at the University of Manitoba. He was born and raised in Brazil and received his degrees at universities there. In 2008, he joined the U of M, where he researches adhesive technology.

 

Getulio Nogueira

He is the director of the graduate program in periodontics. He was vice-dean of the graduate program in dentistry and associate professor since 2000. He received his degrees at universities in Brazil, the United States and Hong Kong. He's a member of the editorial boards of the Brazilian Journal of Periodontics and Journal of Periodontology. He has twice been honoured by his undergraduate students with the Honoured Professor award.

 

German Ramirez-Yanez

He is an assistant professor in the University of Manitoba's department of preventative dental science. He is from Colombia and received his degrees at universities in Colombia, Mexico and Australia. He specializes in craniofacial growth and development and malocclusions. He has written a book, Early Treatment of Malocclusions, in which he discusses prevention and treatment of malocclusions in newborns.

 

Karina Gamboa

She is an assistant professor of preventive dental science at the University of Manitoba. She received her training in Mexico and graduated from the country's children's hospital where she worked with children with special needs. She also works at the Kids Dental Clinic.

 

Adriana Salles

She is an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba. She was born in Brazil and received her doctor of dental medicine at the University of Santo Amaro. She worked first at Norway House and then practised at the Children's Hospital with medically compromised children. She now teaches students at the university's Smile Plus Dental Program on Mountain Avenue for low-income families.

 

Jorge Nallim

He is an assistant professor of Latin American history at the University of Manitoba. He was born in Argentina and received his degrees at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo and the University of Pittsburgh. He specializes in several areas, including modern Latin America and Argentina, anti-fascism, anti-Peronism and social history.

 

Juan Godinez and Edgar Rascon

They are the owners of La Bamba, a restaurant that serves Mexican specialties. They are both from Mexico, but didn't meet until they co-ordinated a Folklorama pavilion together. They opened the restaurant in Osborne Village and have now opened other branches.

 

Sources: Winnipeg Free Press archives, University of Manitoba, Manitoba Historical Society, personal websites.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 29, 2012 J12