El Salvador

Pablo Alvarado: The Man Who Organized Day Laborers

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here.Pablo Alvarado, 46, normally affable and soft-spoken, bristles when he's called the Cesar Chavez of day laborers. Despite his accomplishments as director of the National Day Labo ... More >>

Mara Salvatrucha, Koreatown Gang, Is Now An International Crime Syndicate

Mara Salvatrucha, the Salvadoran American group that got its start in the heart of L.A.'s Koreatown, has been designated by federal authorities as an international criminal organization, a first for a street gang. MS-13, as it's also known, "is being targeted for its involvement in serious transnat ... More >>

32: Pupusa Revuelta at Atlacatl

Celebrating this year's Best of L.A. issue -- now out in print and online -- we're counting down, in no particular order, 100 of our favorite dishes. 32: Pupusa Revuelta at Atlacatl. All hail the pupusa, in its crisp-edged, cheese-oozing glory. Enjoying this Salvadoran staple has long been an esse ... More >>

10 Best Pupusas in Los Angeles

Pupusa are cheap and cheerful, exceptionally hearty, stuffed and griddled disks of slaked cornmeal or rice flour that originated in El Salvador. They invariably cost less than $3 in even the most stylish restaurants, and are most likely available somewhere near you. We learned three very important ... More >>

Mara Salvatrucha Gang Turf Targeted in Spate of Deadly Koreatown Area Shootings

Updated at the bottom with a report stating there's a gang truce. First posted at 7:07 a.m. Monday. A spate of gang-related shootings have broken out in and around Koreatown in recent months, most happening in a neighborhood known as the epicenter of the global El Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha gang. ... More >>

Tonight at Guelaguetza: Free Oaxacan Bites for KCRW's Sonic Trace

KCRW's newest cultural project Sonic Trace, which documents the experiences of L.A. residents who have immigrated from places like Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, will be hosting an opening party tonight at Koreatown's Guelaguetza restaurant from 7-11 p.m.

Drink This Now: Kyoto-Style Iced Coffee at Cafe Demitasse

In terms of cool food-science-nerd equipment, Cafe Demitasse wins. The Kyoto-style iced coffee setup is a beauty to behold, all glass and metal and orbs and tubes. Cold water drips slowly through the apparatus, extracting a wholly different flavor from the coffee. It takes 14 hours to make three lit ... More >>

El Rincon Usuluteco: A Review of Salvadoran Cuisine's Most Harmonic Trio

When three incongruent but powerful forces come together, the end product can inspire awe. The legendary band Cream lit up the stage with the '60s jazz drumming of Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce's haunting vocals and melodic bass lines and Eric Clapton's Delta blues-inspired guitar playing. It's not just ... More >>

Cocaine Bricks Worth A Half-Million-Plus Discovered at L.A. Port

Twenty bricks of cocaine worth $585,000 was found during a routine inspection at the port of Los Angeles this week, authorities said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers picked a container randomly and, when a drug-sniffing dog alerted, discovered the bricks, which weighed 64 pounds, accord ... More >>

Pete Licata Wins US Nat'l Barista Championship; Nik Krankl Takes 2nd

Here's an early afternoon pick-me-up. This past Sunday, Pete Licata of Honolulu Coffee Company beat out dozens of competitors to win the United States Barista Championships. The man who who won the 2011 Southwest Regional Barista Championship will go on to compete in the World Barista Championshi ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Mo-Chica

Ask Mr. Gold: What's The Big Deal With Quinoa?

Anne Fishbeinthe invisible restaurant critic​ Dear Mr. Gold: What's the big deal with quinoa? I couldn't even pronounce it right when I first saw it on the menu at Hugo's in Studio City. Then I saw it at Trader Joe's and then I saw it everywhere. It has probably been around forever, but has on ... More >>

Obama en Español: U.S. President Tours Latin America, Talks Chilean Miners, His Own Stellar Immigration Policy (Really?)

The Daily BeastBarack and Michelle, lookin' the part​Updated after the jump: The president makes his last stop in El Salvador. If there's one thing our POTUS can do, it's talk. Barack Obama could talk himself out of Guantanamo Bay through a thick swatch of duct tape. In perfect form, he tur ... More >>

UCLA Professor: Cash From L.A. ($20 Million Per Year) Makes Up Half the Economy in One Part of El Salvador

From your wallet to El Salvador​You know all those stacks you drop on yardwork, Pico Union ethnic food and the live-in nanny? Bet you were feeling pretty good about doing your part to stimulate the local economy, or whatever. But there's a good chance your fat Los Angeles dime is instead goin ... More >>

Mito Aviles, West Hollywood Candidate: Overcoming Adversity, Aviles Seeks to Open Up Government to Residents

Jennie WarrenWeHo City Council candidate Mito Aviles​Update, 11:50 a.m.: Aviles, who hung a Sarah Palin mannequin in effigy from his rooftop in 2008, has received an endorsement from the gay Republican web site GayPatriot.net. More after the jump. For West Hollywood City Council candidate Mi ... More >>

Grass Reindeer Figures Seized At LAX (No, They're Not Made Of That Kind Of Grass)

CPBDo these belong under a tree, or maybe in a bong?​You know it wouldn't be the holidaze without some seriously grinchy stories coming at ya. Yesterday we told you how L.A. city officials and police cracked down on fake designer crap (and DVDs) your mom buys. Now comes word that the crack, h ... More >>

ACLU Adds New Names In Their Lawsuit Against U.S. Government Challenging Their Policy Of Detaining Immigrants Indefinitely Without A Hearing

​The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California announced Tuesday that they're adding new plaintiffs to its lawsuit against the U.S. government, challenging the government's right to hold immigrants indefinitely while they wait for their cases to be heard in immigration hearings. T ... More >>

Number Of Illegal Immigrants Decreased By One Million Since 2007

​The number of illegal immigrants in the United States was down about 800,000 last year compared to 2008, reportedly as a result of the recession and fewer job opportunities. The decrease from 11.6 million undocumented workers in 2008 to 10.8 million in 2009 was reported by the U.S. Department ... More >>

Movie Reviews: The Invention of Lying, Whip It, Zombieland, Paranormal Activity

Plus, Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, In Search of Beethoven and more

Taste of the Americas at San Antonio Winery: Celebrate Independence with Food and Wine

Seven Latin American countries celebrate their independence day in September. That makes it the perfect month for San Antonio Winery's "Taste of the Americas" food and wine festival. The festival, held September 20 in downtown Los Angeles, will feature dishes from five of those countries--Mexico, El ... More >>

In the Wurst Way: Downtown's Wurstkuche Serves Up Bohemia on a Toasted Roll

Sausage that demands beer

The 10 Best Dishes of 2008

Hot dogs and hominy, blowfish and a fine cup of joe

Through the Past, Weekly

30 years and counting

The Weekly's World News: The Paper Looks to Central America and Comes of Age

The Weekly looks toward Central America and comes of ageBy Marc Cooper

L.A. Weekly Founder Jay Levin on the Vision That Started It All

The journalist's dream

The Man in the Mirrored Sunglasses: From El Salvador to D.C.'s Oliver North Hearings, the Weekly Far From Home

Dances with detached strangers

Election '08: McCain's Watermelon Strategy, Plus Palin's War on Verbs

BY MARC COOPER I made a passing reference to this the other day, but now it's really starting to bug me. The McCain-Palin street rallies really are beginning to take on many of the chilling aspects of what I witnessed from the proto-fascist right-wing in El Salvador twenty years ago. It was always ... More >>

Tierra Mia Explores Coffee for the Latino Palate

A journey through the world's best beans

What Hillary Clinton Doesn't Know About Gunshots

Liar, liar under fire

The Saint Plays

A Heavy Load

The ports say they have a plan for cleaner, safer trucks. But do they have a plan for the truckers?

General Petraeus From Cincinnati

Iraq policy is apparently in the hands of the supernatural

Nuts and dolts

The shadow of El Salvador haunts the Iraqi elections

Love, From Los Angeles

The Killing Years

Death in El Salvador, bloody hands in Washington

Sí, Se Puede!

L.A.’s new Freedom Riders take their quest for immigrant equality on the road

Ask Mr. Gold

Herr Reich

Should Otto make us laugh or cry?

Harsh Holidays

Addressing the plight of laid-off workers

A Small Universe of People

Crack Cop

FBI memos released to the Weekly show ties of convicted dealer to former CIA official

Less Than Zero

The new age of intolerance

Uneasy Rests the Crown

Barbie's Revenge

Janitor Power

The new womens’ movement

Homies, 1; LAPD, 0

Gang-peace group member freed after seven months in jail

Harassing Homies

LAPD campaigns against a church-based gang-peace project

Burning Man

Getting in Touch with One's Inner Churl

Targeting the Assassins

School of the Americas faces its toughest test

She Conchs to Stupor

Honduran seafood chowder on West Adams