La Horchata Zine is an arts publication featuring and highlighting creatives from the Central American diaspora and from Central America. It was founded by Veronica Melendez and Kim Benavides, who met in art school at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. According to the Washington Post, it was launched about the time the Trump administration announced the end of a program that granted Central American minors temporary legal residence in the United States. La Horchata got its name from the sweet, milky drink found in Latin America — and in Mount Pleasant, for that matter — but made with different ingredients in each nation. La Horchata has been featured in some media such as NPR and the Washington Post.

Veronica Melendez is a visual artist based between Washington, D.C. and New York. Through illustrations of iconic household products to photographs documenting the diaspora of Central Americans within the D.C. metro area, her work speaks to the broader theme of how we as humans create home. Having been raised in and around D.C. within one of the largest Central American communities in the United States, her work gives a platform to a voice that is often marginalized and serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of culture and representation in art. Kim Benavides is a visual artist who grew up in the suburban Maryland but has family roots in El Salvador and Guatemala. She co-founded La Horchata Zine with Veronica Melendez.