May 4, 2005 -- Sen. George Allen (R-VA) received
the Hector Barreto Sr. Award from the Latino Coalition at their 2005
Latino Small Business Conference. To Allen's right is Small
Business Administrator Hector V. Barreto. As
governor of Virginia, Allen appointed the first, and still the only,
Latino to serve in the Cabinet; Rob Martinez served as his
Transportation Secretary. He also made his first trade mission as
governor to Canada and Mexico. Allen took
advantage of the conference to practice a few words of Spanish, noting
that he is a one-time "jugador de rugby." Despite his limited
Spanish, Allen was well received. He vowed that the next
generation of Allens will do
better; his daughter is in an intensive Spanish program.
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