Associated Press

DENVER - Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante is among the notables scheduled to appear Monday in Pueblo and Denver as a bus tour designed to connect the Democratic party with Hispanics wrapped up in Colorado.

The three-state, eleven-city "Una Nueva Esperanza" tour was organized to highlight the values that the John Kerry-John Edwards campaign shares with Hispanics, Democratic National Committee spokesman Patrick McKiernan said in a written statement.

"This tour underscores John Kerry's and the Democrats' commitment to the issues important to the Latino community and the values that all Americans embrace," Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe said in the statement. "We face a clear choice in this election."

Bustamante, who ran unsuccessfully against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in last year's recall election, planned to make the Pueblo appearance, along with one in Denver. He was set to join Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farmworkers of America, and the woman for whom a preparatory high school in Pueblo is named.

Census figures show Hispanics comprise 17 to 18 percent of Colorado's population. The tour was scheduled to conclude with three Colorado stops, one in Pueblo and two in Denver.

Other guests were to include Mickey Ibarra, President Clinton's former director of intergovernmental affairs, and Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-Texas, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Actress Eva Longoria planned to join the tour for its two final stops in Denver.

Longoria, known for her roles in the CBS daytime dramas "The Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and the Beautiful," as well as ABC's "General Hospital" and the new primetime soap "Desperate Housewives," is politically active nationwide with organizations seeking to advance Hispanic rights, according to her biography on an ABC Web site.