With her hijab and dark complexion, Catherine Garcia doesn't look like an Orlando native or a Disney tourist. When people ask where she's from, often they are surprised that it's not the Middle East but Colombia. That's because Ms. Garcia, a bookstore clerk who immigrated to the US seven years ago, is Hispanic and Muslim. On this balmy afternoon at the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, she is at her mosque dressed in long sleeves and a long skirt in keeping with the Islamic belief in...

(From the Banks of the Potomac) Acording to the Debkafiles, recent Al-Qaida related chatter about dirty bomb attack on the U.S., or other imminent attack, "speaks obliquely of the approaching attacks easing the heavy pressure America exerts on countries like Cuba and Venezuela." According to Debkafiles "the al Qaeda communications accuse the Americans of the grave error of failing to take seriously the videotape released by the American al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gaddahn last...

As a girl in Catholic school, Khadijah Rivera dreamed of becoming a nun despite the fact she feared Jesus. She was frightened by her church’s bloodied statue of Christ nailed to the cross and was plagued with fear when receiving communion. "When I used to put the host in my mouth," she says, "I never bit it. I let it melt because I was afraid to bite the body and blood of Christ." Years later, as an adult, she says she has now gotten over these fears and learned to...

Spain as a target for al-Qaeda, domestic impact of North African Jihadist terrorist networks under restructuring and likely consequences for national security. Summary: It is time to rethink the threat currently posed to Spain by Jihadist terrorism. This is due, on the one hand, to the frequent and aggressive targeting of Spain by the al-Qaeda leadership, with reiterated references to al-Andalus as part of a pan-Islamic caliphate, and, on the other, to the restructuring of the global...

Hispanic Muslims in Atlanta are set on changing the negative image that some in the Latino community might have of them. That is the mission of the Atlanta Latino Muslim Association (ALMA), a group founded by Siri Carrion, a Puerto Rican woman who is also Muslim. Wearing her hijab and kneeling, Carrion starts preparing to pray alongside her four children. One of them, Ismail, raises his hands and starts by saying the ‘adhan, inviting the angels into this family’s living room. ...

The October 23, 2006 failed explosive operation in Caracas On October 23, 2006, the Baruta Municipality police found two explosive devices near the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. One of the bombs was found in a box containing leaflets making reference to the Lebanese radical Islamic group Hezbollah. The local television news network, Globovision, reported one of the devices found in a flowerpot near the Embassy, while the other device found outside a school, near the diplomatic premises....

Spurred on by both Venezuela's relationships in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and his hatred of Western capitalism, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has fallen into political step with some of the most dangerous players in the Middle East and, in doing so, has become an increasingly outspoken detractor of Israel: Chavez has situated himself in direct opposition to the U.S. and much of the West, billing himself as the successor to Fidel Castro-the next...

When Zulayka Martinez left the Roman Catholic Church and converted to Islam six years ago, she was happy and at peace with her decision. But she felt like an outsider in her new faith. Looking back, she realizes her problem was more of a cultural and language barrier. Most members of Houston mosques were of Arab or Pakistani backgrounds. She didn't know any Spanish-speaking Muslims. And as a single woman, she found it especially hard during holidays. "My first two Ramadans, I felt very...

Catherine Garcia enters the mosque barefoot and finds a spot on the floor. She kneels and leans forward. Palms, nose and forehead touch the ground. Her lips move, almost imperceptibly, whispering words in Arabic. Three years ago, she would have been in a Roman Catholic church, murmuring prayers with her rosary beads. Today, she invokes Allah while reciting portions of the Quran. Garcia, 33, is among an estimated 70,000 Hispanics nationwide embracing Islam, blending with apparent ease two...

Hugo Hernández put aside the saints, the host and the confessions. Nineteen years of Catholic religious traditions were left behind when he decided to convert to Islam. A teacher and political science graduate, Hernández, 26, came to a turning point in his life during his freshman year of college in Denver. Born and raised in a traditional Catholic Latino family from Evans, Hernández says he hasn't talked to his mother in the seven years since he converted. "That's...