A majority of Latinos in the U.S. say they can still realize the American dream, Russ writes.

Why it matters: There's optimism even after two years of a pandemic that has disproportionately hit Latinos and amid deep polarization and systemic racism, our second Axios-Ipsos Latino Poll in partnership with Noticias Telemundo shows.

By the numbers: About 61% of the 1,005 U.S. Latino adults surveyed said they believe they "can live" the American dream.

• When asked the most important factors to succeed in the U.S., 94% said "a strong work ethic and working hard."
• 94% also said the ability to speak fluent English and a supportive family were needed.
• Only 44% said you needed wealthy parents to help you in the U.S.

What they're saying: "Hispanic Americans are less likely to sort of voice concerns or complaints that there are things that are going to stop them from being able to achieve" success, Ipsos pollster and senior vice president Chris Jackson told Axios Latino.

Details: A breakdown showed Mexican Americans, the largest Latino group in the U.S. and most of them Democrats, were slightly less optimistic than Cuban Americans, who tend to favor Republicans.

• 58% of Mexican Americans said they could still realize the American Dream, while 72% of Cuban Americans thought so.

The intrigue: Only 48% of Central Americans said the U.S. makes them feel as if they belong, possibly a result of the heated rhetoric around migration from that region in recent years.

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Latinos say they are accepting of members of the LGBTQ community, and many support someone’s right to choose the gender they identify with, Marina writes.

Why it matters: The percentage of Latinos who identify as LGBTQ has more than doubled in the past decade and has outpaced growth among white and Black Americans.

By the numbers: 62% of respondents in the latest Axios/Ipsos poll of Latinos said they are comfortable around LGBTQ people.

• Support rose depending on how long they've been in the country: 70% of second-generation Latinos (born to immigrant parents) said they were comfortable around LGBTQ people, while 76% of third-generation Latinos (who have U.S.-born parents) said the same.
• Respondents of Central American heritage were the least accepting, whereas those of Mexican and Puerto Rican origins expressed the most tolerance.

Between the lines: States with big Latino populations have recently passed legislation like, in Florida, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and, in Texas, a governor's order requiring authorities to investigate for child abuse parents who provide gender-affirming treatments for their kids.

• But 43% of respondents said they don’t think a parent's helping a child with gender-affirming treatments should be considered child abuse, while 23% of respondents said it could be and the rest had no opinion.
• Two-thirds of polled Latinos said they support students being taught about sexuality and gender identity.
• 48% agree that teenagers should be able to determine their gender identity for themselves, compared to 29% who disagree.

What they’re saying: “Amid the wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation we are seeing across the country, it is heartening to see a majority of Latino adults in the U.S. embrace acceptance of transgender youth,” Amit Paley, CEO of the nonprofit The Trevor Project, told Axios Latino.

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A California county has launched a new trilingual video podcast for farmworkers, Marina writes.

Why it matters: Most of the approximate 165,000 Indigenous farmworkers across California speak Mixtec and Zapotec, according to a study.

• As essential workers, many have been hard hit by COVID-19 and need reliable information about health and worker rights.
• Official interpreting services are scarce. The county says the podcast is the first of its kind.

Details: The podcast, “Raíz Informativa,” was launched mid-February by the Ventura County Farmworker Resource Program. It airs the second Wednesday of each month on Facebook.

• The hosts are Israel Vázquez, who speaks a Mixtec dialect, and Flavio Reyes, who speaks Zapotec.
• Their parents were farmworkers and they have also worked in the fields.
• The hosts answer questions submitted through WhatsApp on topics like Medicare or the CalFresh food stamps program.

Of note: Since 2019, the county’s Farmworker Resource Program has helped more than 40,000 people with payroll problems and other concerns and with navigating government agencies.

• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill in September creating a grant program to fund similar farmworker assistance programs statewide.

Advocates for domestic violence survivors and many others are crusading to stop the planned execution of a Latina in Texas, Astrid writes.

The big picture: Melissa Lucio's attorneys say she is a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and domestic violence and that her confession to killing her two-year-old daughter, Mariah, was coerced by police after what her lawyers claim was the girl’s accidental death from falling down a flight of stairs.

• Lucio's history of being abused made her "especially vulnerable to coercive interrogation tactics" because that level of trauma is associated with suggestibility, compliance and false confession, Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at The Innocence Project, said in a news conference this week.

Driving the news: Lucio’s team this week submitted a request to Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for her death sentence to be commuted.

• Lucio’s execution is scheduled for April 27. She is the only Latina sentenced to death in the state's history.
• The request includes testimony that Lucio’s statements to police after a five-hour interrogation were “a mere regurgitation of facts and words officers fed to her.”
• Attorneys claim false medical evidence led a jury to believe Lucio physically abused Mariah, who had a medical condition that led to easy bruising.
• The Texas attorney general's office in past court filings pointed to an autopsy that found Mariah died from “blunt force head trauma."

What they're saying: "Melissa was a victim long before she was a defendant. We have little doubt that Melissa's case would be handled differently today," said Daisy Lopez of Friend of Women, a Texas organization that helps victims of domestic and sexual abuse.

Read more.

1. Colombian presidential front-runner Gustavo Petro has named Francia Márquez as his running mate for the May 29 election.

• Márquez is an Afro-Colombian environmental lawyer and activist who came second in the primaries.

2. A Nicaraguan official spurned his own government yesterday, calling President Daniel Ortega a dictator.

• Arturo McFields Yescas, the Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States who repeatedly defended Ortega’s controversial reelection last November, said he could no longer “keep quiet.”
• He said there’s “over 177 political prisoners and that over 350 people have been killed” in the Central American country since 2018.
• Days earlier, several high profile opposition figures were sentenced in closed-door trials on money-laundering charges.

About 200 eccentric buildings called "cholets" are spread across El Alto, Bolivia. Source: Noticias Telemundo

It’s where Iron Man meets Indigenous motifs: A Bolivian city features houses inspired by Andean culture dating back thousands of years mixed with recent pop culture elements, Marina writes.

Details: The buildings with this eccentric architecture are nicknamed "cholets," derived from chalet and cholo, the latter being a word for Indigenous people that once was used pejoratively but has been reclaimed.

• Most belong to Indigenous tradespeople who came into wealth in the last decade after suffering many years of discrimination.

Of note: The bigger cholets have offices and apartments in which the first floor serves as an event space. The decoration is colorful and gold-rimmed, with geometric Andean patterns.

• Arguing it’s an expression of identity, the buildings’ owners in recent years added elements like a replica of Titanic’s deck on a rooftop or, on a facade, a mask alluding to the Diablada, a traditional Bolivian dance.

A big congrats to David Peña, Jr. of San Antonio, Texas, for being named the new executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists! 📰

• NAHJ is the largest organization of Latino journalists.
• Peña took the helm on Feb. 22.

Échale ganas!