Historic Laredo
An illustrated history of the city of Laredo and the Webb County area, paired with the histories of companies, families and organizations that make the region great.
An illustrated history of the city of Laredo and the Webb County area, paired with the histories of companies, families and organizations that make the region great.
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LA POLÍTICA<br />
WAR ON POVERTY<br />
The War on Poverty and the advent of VISTA (Volunteers In Service to America) workers in <strong>Laredo</strong><br />
in the mid-sixties fomented a rarely experienced politicization of <strong>Laredo</strong>ans. Funded by the federal<br />
Office of Economic Opportunity, the War on Poverty and VISTA initiated a chain of events that would<br />
culminate late in the next decade with a great, heaving shift in the politics of this city.<br />
The VISTAs arrived in <strong>Laredo</strong> in 1965. Recognized at first by the Old Party rule as benign interlopers<br />
who would help with educational and fix-up work in barrio homes, the volunteers created a flurry of activity<br />
in the city’s oldest and poorest neighborhoods, organizing their leadership into councils that could chart<br />
improvements for the homes of barrio residents “The VISTAs made sure that the barrio residents fulfilled<br />
❖<br />
Political activist Chaca Ramirez.<br />
JUAN RAMIREZ<br />
Chapter VII ✦ 57
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