America’s second largest city is now billing itself as the “Northern Capital of Latin America,” at least as far as Los Angeles’s 2024 Olympic bid organizers are concerned.
In a statement on official website for the Olympic bid, la24.org, Mayor Eric Garcetti explains that:
“Los Angeles is the most diverse city on earth – we are the Western capital of the United States, the Northern capital of Latin America and the Eastern capital of the Pacific Rim.”
“Hosting the Games in Los Angeles would give our city the chance to show the world how much has changed in 40 years,” he adds.
The California city is more than 48% Latino, according to the 2010 census–making Latinos the largest ethnic group, by a long shot, in Los Angeles. Overall, 32% of the population is of Mexican descent–about 2/3 of Latinos. More than 36% of Los Angeles residents are Spanish speakers, with some neighborhoods being almost entirely Spanish speaking.
Los Angeles last hosted the Summer Olympics in 1984. Its bid for 2024 was selected after the U.S. Olympic Committee’s first choice, Boston, bowed out in July due to lack of popular support and funding issues for the expensive games.
Los Angeles will compete against a roster of top world cities, like Rome, Paris, Hamburg, Germany, and Budapest.
The 2024 host city will be selected by the International Olympic Committee in September 2017.
