Arnie in hot water over taped 'blood mix' remarks

Published on Saturday 9 September 2006 01:08

ARNOLD Schwarzenegger, the California governor and film star, has been caught on tape calling Cubans and Puerto Ricans naturally feisty and temperamental because of their mix of "black blood" and "Latino blood".

"I mean Cuban, Puerto Rican, they are all very hot," he is heard saying on the recording obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

"They have, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood that together makes it."

The six-minute tape was made earlier this year. On it, Mr Schwarzenegger and his chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, are heard talking affectionately about a member of the California assembly, Bonnie Garcia, and speculating about her nationality.

Ms Garcia, who is Puerto Rican, is the legislature's only Republican Latin American woman. She told the LA Times that the governor's remarks did not bother her.

"I love the governor because he is a straight-talker just like I am," she said. "Very often I tell him: 'I am a hot-blooded Latina'. I label myself a hot-blooded Latina who is very passionate about the issues, and this is kind of an inside joke I have with the governor."

Margita Thompson, Mr Schwarzenegger's spokeswoman, said in a statement that the remarks were "a small part of a long conversation that is taken totally out of context".

"The governor respects every member of the legislature," Ms Thompson said. "It is not uncommon for him to have fun and joke with the members, especially during very tense negotiations."

As governor of California, Mr Schwarzenegger presides over one of the biggest Latino communities in the US.