Montalban Letter Exposes Nosotros Rift : Latinos: Organization founder accuses the group of misusing his name. The disclosure comes just weeks before the Golden Eagle awards.

It looks like the best of times for Nosotros, an organization that honors Latinos in the entertainment industry. Members are happily celebrating their 20th anniversary and what they call a boom time for Latinos in the arts.

But just as Nosotros approaches its biggest event of the year--the televised Golden Eagle awards show June 8 that will recognize noteworthy Latinos including Gloria Estefan, Raul Julia and Paul Rodriguez--a letter sent to the media calls attention to a potentially embarrassing chasm between the board of directors and founder Ricardo Montalban.

The letter, from Montalban, who is no longer actively affiliated with the group, was originally sent to Nosotros president Marc Allen Trujillo, with copies going to board members and past presidents, but appeared on the desks of local media without a return address. In it, Montalban accuses Nosotros of misusing his name.

The letter from Montalban, dated April 30, 1990, reads: ‘It has come to my attention that my name has been used in contexts that may imply that I am still a part of Nosotros and a participant in this year’s Golden Eagle awards. This is to officially inform you that I would like the use of my name discontinued in connection to the present-day activities of Nosotros.

“Furthermore, I would like to request . . . that my credit as founder of Nosotros not be highlighted in a way that can imply any current association.”

A spokesman for Montalban confirmed the authenticity of the letter but said that the actor would have no comment on it.

Nosotros denied using Montalban’s name as a trump card.

“You can look through my files, and you won’t see his name as a draw to any celebrity in any letter,” said Frank Nanoia, the producer of the Golden Eagle awards for the last three years. “In fact, although I have the utmost respect for him and I know he’s an ace role model, I don’t think he’s a big drawing card. He’s old-time Hollywood. Now, Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, they would sell tickets.”

Jimmy Smits and Rita Moreno are hosting the Golden Eagle awards this year. Last year, the host was Geraldo Rivera.

Montalban, the longtime star whose credits include “Fantasy Island” and “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” started Nosotros in 1970, and was a driving force in it until 1988, when he disassociated for personal reasons and asked that his name not be used in connection with the group, said Trujillo, the group’s current president.

The letter, which states that Montalban does not want the issue to go public, did in fact go public when it was anonymously sent to the media--which displeased Nosotros board members because it exposed dissension in the group. They say such negative attention thwarts their goals.

“Hispanics have been stereotyped as people who can’t organize, people who stab each other in the back. An incident like this perpetuates these stereotypes, and contradicts the very meaning of the word nosotros , which means us ,” said Trujillo.

Although Montalban’s name is on the group’s letterhead as founding member--”which is a fact and not misuse of his name,” said Trujillo--board members claim to have kept his name out of Nosotros business.

“Ricardo is getting bad information about our use of his name,” Nanoia said.

The source of that information, some board members suggested, may be Jerry Velasco, a former Nosotros president whom they say is a personal friend of Montalban and is bitter because he was not chosen to produce the awards show in 1985, after working on the event for several years.

Velasco, head of Velasco-Cardinale & Assoc. public relations firm and now an honorary member of Nosotros, acknowledged in an interview that he is a liaison between Montalban and the organization, but he denied sending a copy of Montalban’s letter to the press.

“I don’t know who sent out that letter, but whoever did must know certain things that are going on in the group, and must want other people to know about them too. And there are a lot of bad things going on.” He criticized the board for being “power hungry” and failing to make a complete disclosure of the group’s financial condition to its members.

Nosotros president Trujillo dismissed Velasco’s accusations and said that there are no serious problems within the organization: “We’re stronger than ever, except that someone has a personal ax to grind at our expense.”

Although Nosotros board members said that they want Montalban to return to the group and would welcome his participation, they said that they have no trouble carrying on without him.

“If we either stand or fall on one person, we would not have been doing our job right,” Trujillo said. “And Ricardo’s organization would not be what he wanted it to be. We are about creating role models, many role models, for Latinos, not just one.”