Venezuelan transplant to Utah using books to connect Latino kids with their roots

LEHI — After nearly a decade in the United States, with limited prospects of returning to his native Venezuela, José Guevara still doesn’t forget.

“We’re never going to stop being Venezuelan even if America becomes our new country,” he said.

However, he worries that younger Venezuelans who left as children don’t remember much about the country, and with that in mind, he has launched a nonprofit book publishing foundation aimed at strengthening their connections. The Capitán Zarigüeya Publishing Fund released its latest batch of books last July, three volumes geared to kids in English and Spanish that detail children’s games in Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico — all written by Guevara.

The first Capitán Zarigüeya book, “ Un sueño tricolor ” — “A Tri-Color Dream,” in English — came out in