Pinkett-Smith will both produce and star in the film titled “Salsa,” which shares the story of a woman who is at a crossroads in her life when she meets a smoldering salsa instructor, who sweeps her off her feet through Latin dance.

RELATED: William Levy rocks out as the new face for Pepsi Next

It’s a huge starring role for Levy, a telenovela actor who first became America’s sweetheart last year on “Dancing with the Stars.” Since then, Levy has appeared on screen in multiple commercial campaigns for Pepsi. He’ll next be seen in “Addicted” and Tyler Perry’s “Single Moms Club.”

And if the idea of a big screen Latin dance film seems like an unlikely smash success, think again. Vanessa Williams and Latin music star Cheyenne teamed up for 1998’s “Dance with Me,” which successfully introduced Cheynne to mainstream audiences and cemented Williams’ reputation as a sexy leading lady.

They say 46-year-old Ricardo Portillo of Salt Lake City died late Saturday night.

Unified police spokesman Justin Hoyal says Portillo passed away at the hospital, where he was being treated following an assault during a soccer game last weekend.

Police say a 17-year-old player in a recreational soccer league punched Portillo after the man called a foul on him and issued him a yellow card.

The teen has been booked into juvenile detention on suspicion of aggravated assault.

Hoyal says authorities will consider additional charges since Portillo has died.

The U.S. and Mexico are as tightly bound as siblings, and often just as dysfunctional.  While both governments are concerned with immigration and drug violence, President Obama must forge a more positive, productive partnership.  Mexico is enjoying remarkable economic growth, and Obama neglects our southern neighbor at his own peril.

Obama will arrive in Mexico with good and bad news.  On the positive side, he can highlight the progress his administration has made towards overhauling our immigration system.  The border is more secure than ever, and the Senate has unveiled a proposal that creates new pathways for legal immigration.  On the negative side, Obama bears responsibility for his failure to reform U.S. gun laws.  ThinkProgress reports that the expiration of the assault weapons ban has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Mexicans in cartel violence.  Even worse, America’s demand for illegal drugs fuels the growth of these cartels. 

However, Obama would be wise to recognize that relations with Mexico should not center on these issues alone.  As president-elect, Peña Nieto wrote in The Washington Post that, “It is a mistake to limit our bilateral relationship to drugs and security concerns.  Our mutual interests are too vast and complex to be restricted in this short-sighted way.”  He wants a deeper relationship, one that is defined by shared economic goals.

That’s the smart way forward.  Since 2008, Mexico has seen steady economic growth, which has been a net benefit to the U.S.  The U.S. exports more to Mexico than to China and Japan combined, and U.S./Mexico trade hit almost $500 billion in 2012.  Obama should build on these ties to create greater economic integration.  If he and Peña Nieto were to collaborate on ways of matching Mexico’s young labor force with American technology and training, it would be a recipe for a regional economic boom.  Greater U.S. investment in Mexico will make the country safer, as the cartels generally leave multinational operations alone.

Politically, Obama cannot afford to take Mexico for granted.  Consider that Mexico has been fully engaged with Cuba since the revolution in 1959 (which was launched from Mexico).  And although the U.S. has not recognized Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro as successor to Hugo Chavez, Mexico recognized his election on April 19.  So Mexico is not an ally that automatically falls in lockstep with American interests.  Perhaps with more attention from the Obama administration, Peña Nieto could be persuaded to be more supportive of U.S. policies for the region.

True, there are legitimate reasons why Mexico has been viewed warily by past administrations. Mexico has historically been the largest source of our undocumented population.  Border towns have long feared spillover violence from the drug cartels.  But illegal immigration is at net zero, and the fears of violence on the U.S. side of the border have proved largely unfounded.  Obama should take the lead in encouraging more communication and cooperation with Mexico.  Already, Peña Nieto favors opening Mexico’s energy sector to private investment, and he may even allow foreign investment in its state oil company.

President Obama has the chance to turn a page in U.S./Mexico relations, and he should not miss it. It’s time for a foreign policy with Mexico based on its potential, not on its problems.

Raul A. Reyes is an attorney and member of the USA Today Board of Contributors.

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said Wednesday that “any type of contact has been postponed” with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson, who had reportedly reached out to Venezuela’s government before Chavez’s death.

Jaua specified, however, that diplomatic and consular relations would remain between the two countries.

Venezuela’s government expelled two military attaches earlier this month for allegedly talking to members of the country’s armed forces. Washington responded by ejecting two Venezuelan diplomats, who were honored by Jaua Wednesday.

“I think Latin spirits are really helping expand American cocktail menus beyond lemon drops and cosmopolitans,” says Sanchez, who left Lima, Peru for San Francisco at just 21 years old. Sanchez didn’t know any English when he first arrived but while working his way up from dishwasher to barback, quickly learned that he was meant to pursue a career in bartending.

Mixologist Enrique Sanchez

“I remember being in awe by how creative you could be behind the bar,” recalls Sanchez, who credits prominent mixologists like Dominic Venegas as an early inspiration. Sanchez says he’s always considered pisco as a gateway to Peruvian culture and cuisine, and at every restaurant he’s worked at – including San Fran eateries Tres Agaves, Restaurant LuLu and Peruvian hotspot La Mar Cebicheria Peruana – he’s introduced patrons to his favorite spirit.

“I haven’t met a single person that doesn’t love pisco sours,” says Sanchez, who is now the lead bartender at Italian eatery Rosa Pistola. And while Sanchez recalls mixing up classic pisco sours – consisting of pisco, egg white and fresh lemon juice – at just 14 years old at family parties, he says his approach now is understandably a bit more sophisticated.

“It’s a lot of fun to experiment pairing pisco with bitters, fresh herbs, fruits,” explains Sanchez, of the clear spirit made from distilled grapes. He also prides himself on implementing molecular gastronomy in his cocktails, noting that he loves adding elements like foams and agar agar caviar to his recipes. But, he says, the best cocktails are the simplest and with that in mind, he’s sharing one of his favorite cocktail recipes here. Crisp pisco, herbal elderflower syrup and Amaro Averna, a citrus and herbal infused Italian liqueur, are blended for a well-balanced cocktail layered with flavor; it’s a reflection of the Italian restaurant where he works and an homage to his Peruvian roots.

“I’m always looking forward,” says Sanchez. “But at the same time, I always represent my culture wherever I am.”

Hometown                         

1-3/4 parts Pisco Portón

3/4 part fresh lemon juice

3/4 part Darbo Elderflower Syrup

1/2 part Averna

1/2 part egg white

Angostura bitters

Preparation: Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Shake vigorously without ice. After dry shake, add ice and shake all ingredients again. Shake contents over a martini glass. Garnish with 1 mint leaf and a dash of Angostura bitters.

A victim of domestic abuse during her first marriage, Rivera used her perspective to publicize the issue through her advocacy.  In 2010, she was named a celebrity spokesperson for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) against battered women and domestic violence in Los Angeles.  To further commemorate her dedication to battered women, the L.A. City Council officially named August 6th  “Jenni Rivera Day.” Rivera had also founded a charitable organization – the Jenni Rivera Love Foundation – which offered supportive services to single mothers and victims of both domestic and sexual abuse.

Known for using her music as a vehicle to make public her own struggles – becoming pregnant while in high school, battling her ex-husband José Trinidad Marín in court over issues of sexual abuse , for which he was eventually sent to prison, and facing the bitter drama following the end of her parent’s 40-year marriage – Rivera was outspoken about being a woman in a male-dominated, Latino culture.

“I wasn’t allowed to have dolls,” she told Dallas News of her childhood growing up in Long Beach, California among four brothers.  “My mom bought them for me, but they would tear them apart and get rid of them. They wanted to teach me karate and doing pop-wheelies in the street and playing baseball and playing marbles and being a great wrestler. It kind of made me tough. I got in trouble if I got into a fight and I came back crying,” Rivera  said.

The social media aficionada was also outspoken being expanding her commercial appeal beyond the music industry. With a clothing, makeup and fragrance line, as well as production credits on two shows starring her daughter Janney Marin – “Chiquis & Raq-C” and “Chiquis ‘n Control” – Rivera was intent on growing her empire.

“I’m going to be the Mexican Oprah Winfrey and the Mexican Howard Stern as well,” she told the Houston Chronicle in 2010. “I’m going to do radio and TV. I really, really like to talk and get my point across. And I like to listen to my crowd and to my fans.”

With more than 15 million album sales to her credit, Rivera often used her style of Mexican norteña and banda music to publicize her personal struggles. Songs like 2011’s “La Gran Senora” addressed her mother’s struggle against her father’s infidelity, while the lyrics of her classic hit “Juro Que Nunca Volvere” were about being vulnerable to love – something she knew all too well with three failed marriages.

And Rivera was all too aware of Latinos being vulnerable to laws like Arizona’s SB1070 law, joining the movement as an outspoken immigrant rights activist.

”It doesn’t respect humanity and it’s racist,” said the mother of five at a 2010 rally in Arizona. The recent two-time Mexican Billboard Award winner took to the streets in protest of the law because she shared the indignation of those “who have been targeted by this hateful law that views any Mexican American [sic] or anyone with brown skin as ‘reasonably suspicious,’” according to a press release announcing her involvement with the anti-SB 1070 movement.

Rivera – who told PARADE magazine in August that she was nearly three quarters finished with her autobiography – was also outspoken about issues ranging from education (despite her first pregnancy as a sophomore in high school, she graduated and later went to college to earn her degree in business administration before working in real estate), health (she had a cancerous tumor removed from her breast in 2011), LGBT equality (she performed at the Billboard Awards for Mexican music dressed in purple to show solidarity) and gender equality.

It was this last issue for which she may remembered most, telling reporters at her final press conference following her Dec. 8 concert in Monterrey that “I am a woman like any other and ugly things happen to me like any other women.”

“The number of times I have fallen down is the number of times I have gotten up.”

“This is the first tragedy of this kind that we suffer as a family,” Rivera’s father, musician Pedro Rivera told reporters Sunday evening.  And while Rivera’s passing represents the tremendous loss to her family – who helped make up the colorful cast of her popular mun2 show “I Love Jenni” – Latino celebrities also expressed grief and disbelief, taking to Twitter to say goodbye to the icon, reality star, entrepreneur and actress.

Cuban American singer Gloria Estefan, tweeted her grief over the late singer.

Our deepest sympathy to the family & fans of @jennirivera & those that accompanied her on what was to be her last voyage. Rest in peace…

—
Gloria Estefan (@GloriaEstefan) December 10, 2012

Fellow Mexican American Eva Longoria expressed disbelief.

My heart breaks for the loss of Jenni Rivera & everyone on the plane. My prayers go out to her family. We lost a legend today.

—
Eva Longoria (@EvaLongoria) December 10, 2012

Model and actor William Levy took to Twitter immediately, sharing his sorrow with fans.

No puedo creer lo de @jennirivera... Mi corazón está con sus familiares. Les deseo toda la fuerza del mundo. Q Dios la tenga en su Gloria...

—
william levy (@willylevy29) December 09, 2012

For a singer like Roselyn Sanchez, Jenni Rivera was an icon to look up to.

Q triste dia...RIP Jenni Rivera y todos los pasajeros de ese terrible vuelo. Q descansen en paz....

—
Roselyn Sanchez (@Roselyn_Sanchez) December 09, 2012

For actor Lou Diamond Philips, Rivera’s passing was unbelievable.

Words cannot express my shock and sadness over the tragic loss of Jenni Rivera. I had the joy of knowing her. The world has lost a Light.

—
Lou Diamond Phillips (@LouDPhillips) December 10, 2012

Mario Lopez tweeted about the deceased singer, adding that he had recently spent time with her.

Spent some time with Jenni Rivera recently. What an amazing lady... Cool, smart, funny & talented. Such a travesty... God Bless her family

—
Mario Lopez (@MarioLopezExtra) December 09, 2012

Comedian George Lopez – who always has something funny to say – was in disbelief over the incident.

Rest in Peace @jennirivera My love and Prayers go out to your family and everyone effected by this Tragedy

—
George Lopez (@georgelopez) December 10, 2012

Actress Gina Rodriguez also tweeted her shock over the loss of her “Filly Brown” co-star.

I am in utter disbelief and sadness. God in this time of fear please help us remember that you will be protecting our @jennirivera we love u

—
Gina (@HereIsGina) December 09, 2012

Fellow Mexican singer Ninel Conde expressed grief over a lost friend.

Querida @jennirivera vivirás siempre siempre en nuestro corazón . Eres una reina y un ejemplo de fortaleza como mujer http://t.co/fBYKSOCW

—
Ninel Conde (@Ninelconde) December 10, 2012

And global superstar Pitbull expressed admiration for the 43-year-old singer.

I highly respected #JenniRivera 4 being a gr8 performer but more then tht being real & gr8 example 4 us all que dios la bendiga &may she RIP

—
  (@Pitbull) December 09, 2012

Like Thalia, Rivera had also grown her influence beyond music to include a clothing line.

Dios mío! Me acabo de enterar de la terrible noticia sobre Jenny Rivera! Rezando por un milagro!Cadena de oración por Jenny y su familia!

—
Thalia (@thalia) December 09, 2012

Gloria Trevi was a close friend of Rivera’s and seemed overwhelmed with grief.

Sigamos en oración por Jenni y sus acompañantes, porfavor! Fuerza y amor para sus familias.

—
  (@GloriaTrevi) December 09, 2012

Senator Marco Rubio even expressed his sympathy to fans and Rivera’s family, and paid tribute to the singer in a statement made from on the U.S. Senate floor on Monday.

The competing claims about Gross are a backdrop to the stalemate over U.S. and family demands that he be released on “humanitarian” grounds after serving three years of a 15-year sentence following a conviction for importing satellite technology, the Cubans say in violation of Cuban laws.

Their statement was made in Havana today by a senior official, Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, Director of the United States Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba. International Press Center, Havana, December 5 2012.

(Non-official translation — Cuban statement) “In recent days we’ve seen the stepping up of false statements and reports by U.S. Government officials regarding the case of American citizen Alan Gross and, in particular, on the alleged deterioration of his health.

“The U.S. Government is lying once again to the public, saying that Mr. Gross has cancer and does not receive adequate medical care.

“These lies have not stopped, even after the results of the biopsy practiced on Mr. Gross’ lesion were delivered to his family and U.S. authorities, which leave no doubt that Mr. Gross does not have cancer.

“A world class medical Cuban team has offered from day one systematic attention to Mr. Gross. This team has the biopsy results and other tests showing Mr. Gross is not suffering from cancer or other disease that might endanger his life. The U.S. has no evidence to prove otherwise. If these misrepresentations are to continue, we would be forced to disclose new evidence.

“The U.S. Government also lies about Mr. Gross’ prison conditions and about his phone calls and visits regime.

“The U.S. Government continues to lie about the reasons that led to the arrest of Mr. Gross, for the sole purpose of avoiding its direct responsibility for the situation that Mr. Gross and his family are going through.

“The U.S. Government has never seriously addressed the case of Alan Gross and just reiterated the unsustainable position that it has nothing to negotiate with Cuba to find a solution to it. Moreover, it insists in demanding that Cuba makes a unilateral decision without taking into consideration our humanitarian concerns related to the case of the Cuban Five. This is unrealistic. Today, I reiterate Cuba’s willingness to immediately establish a dialogue on the Gross case.

“Based on these fabrications and, interestingly enough, coinciding with the anniversary of the arrest of Alan Gross, the U.S. Government put pressure on the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the UN Human Rights Council to force a decision declaring arbitrary the detention of Mr. Gross. Today, Cuba denounces these pressures that led to the violation of the usual working procedures and deadlines of this Group.

“Yesterday, December the 4th, the Government of Cuba received the opinion of this Group calling the detention of Alan Gross arbitrary.

“Today we are publishing on the Foreign Ministry’s website the official response sent by Cuba to this United Nations Group, showing that Mr. Gross’ detention does not qualify, in any way, as arbitrary.

“Alan Gross was detained, prosecuted and sentenced with all the guarantees and rights of the due process of law and under the principles related to judicial independence. Mr. Gross violated Cuban laws by committing acts that constitute serious crimes severely punished in most countries, including the U.S.

“The U.S. does not allow another government to break U.S. regulations and illegally send unknown individuals into U.S. territory, with government funding from that other State, to establish illegal and covert communications systems, without any kind of formality or registration, much less so if these actions are intended to destabilize the existing order.

“Mr. Gross has received a decorous and humane treatment since his arrest.

“This UN working group is the one that in May 2005 had declared the detention of the Cuban Five arbitrary, on the grounds that the Five were kept in solitary confinement for 17 months, without proper access to lawyers and the evidence of the case, and because there was a climate of bias and prejudice that contributed to the Five being presented as guilty from a beginning, in the absence of objectivity and impartiality.

“The Cuban Government, once again, invites the U.S. Government to a serious talk about these issues in order to find a humanitarian solution that is acceptable to both sides.”