MySpace announced today at the Billboard Latin American Music Conference the beta launch of MySpace en Español, a new Spanish-language version for U.S. based Hispanics.

"We're moving rapidly to build communities that reflect and respect the lifestyles of our diverse members," said Travis Katz, Senior Vice President and General Manager of MySpace International. "MySpace en Español opens the community even wider, giving our Hispanic members the choice to share their experiences, connect with family members, and plan their social lives in either Spanish or English. We look forward to getting their feedback as we build out these new cultural communities."

MySpace en Español will feature relevant artists, and will offer programming and content focused on the U.S. Hispanic MySpace population, as well as a Spanish language version of the MySpace IM client.

The company also announced today, MySpace Latinoamérica; a pan-regional site in Spanish for Latin American users. Beginning today, more than 150 million residents from across Latin America will be able to access MySpace in Spanish through the new localized community. MySpace will be working with local teams to develop relevant programming and unique partnerships for each country's user base.

MySpace also revealed development plans for communities in Brazil and Mexico. The company disclosed today it's plans to launch a Brazilian MySpace this summer; MySpace Mexico, currently in beta, will be ready in the coming months.

MySpace Mexico recently partnered with EMI Records for a compilation CD of label artists and unsigned talents. The album is currently on sale in record stores across Mexico and is found on MySpace at Disco My Space Mexico. MySpace Mexico is also sponsoring Vive Latino, Mexico's largest music festival on May 5 & 6, 2007 in Mexico City. The goal is to encourage the community's attendance and interaction with local artists.

According to last month's Nielsen Netratings, 43% of all U.S. based Hispanic Internet users are visiting MySpace; the English site is among the country's top 5 most visited sites by the Hispanic Web population. MySpace's own internal numbers show that more than six million members have indicated their origin as either Latino(a) and/or Hispanic in the United States alone.

Travis Katz, of MySpace International, is on-site at the Billboard Latin American Music Conference today and tomorrow to discuss the portal's international launch strategy and Latin American expansion plans.