LINEA ABIERTA | THIS WEEK | PREVIOUS PROGRAMS

Linea Abierta Programs for March 2005

Tuesday, March 1st

PROGRAM # 4450 - 12:00 PST
IMMIGRATION EDITION. Attorney Rosalba Piña comments on the upcoming deadline for Salvadorans to reapply for Temporary Protection Status. She also advises on the Visa V benefit for adult children of citizens. She also comments on the announcement by the Mexican government on plans to sue undocumented immigrant hunters at the Mexico-U.S. border. Piña also answers listener calls on immigrant rights and citizenship procedures.

Wednesday, March 2nd

PROGRAM # 4451 - 12:00 PST
MEDICARE DISCOUNT CARDS. Medicare beneficiaries are eligible for discounts when buying prescription drugs. This temporary program is scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Dr. Jane Delgado, executive director and president of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health in Washington DC, provides information on this benefit and the final regulations for the permanent Medicare prescription drug benefit that were recently released.

PROGRAM # 4452 - 12:00 PST
PUERTO RICO EDITION. Meet Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, who brings live interviews and commentary on news developments with an emphasis in issues on women and peace in the Caribbean basin. Listeners are encouraged to call in.

Friday, March 4th

PROGRAM # 4453 - 12:00 PST
TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION. This program marks the tenth anniversary of Línea Abierta. To celebrate the occasion, the hosts of the weekly editions from Puerto Rico and Mexico, Wanda Colón Cortés and Martha Elena Ramírez, join regular host Samuel Orozco in this two-hour program to analyze the on-air service and dialogue with listeners. The program also features excerpts from archived programs.

Monday, March 7th

PROGRAM # 4454 - 12:00 PST
LUNCH BREAK DEBATE. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing changes to the state’s regulations governing meal breaks for workers. Employers say that current regs are more onerous than other states, and Gov. Schwarzenegger says changes will give workers more flexibility for rest and meal breaks. Unions are fighting back, accusing the Republican administration of trying to weaken workers’ rights to lunch breaks. This program provides an extensive report on a public hearing held this week in Fresno, CA, the last of three open hearings in the state. Interviews: California Liutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante; Christine Chavez, Cesar Chavez grandaughter and political director for the United Farm Workers of America; Cynthia Rice, director of litigation for California Rural Legal Assistance; Rick Rice, undersecretary, Labor and Workforce Development Agency, State of California; Lorraine Salazar, co-owner, Sal's Restaurant and representative of the California Restaurants Association; Homero Gonzalez, agricultural ranch foreman.

Tuesday, March 8th

PROGRAM # 4455 - 12:00 PST
SOLDADOS: CHICANOS IN VIETNAM. This is a conversation with author and filmmaker Charlie Trujillo about his recently released documentary based on his book “Soldados: Chicanos in Vietnam.” The film features a collection of stories from Chicano Vietnam veterans from the rural town of Corcoran in California. After more than 30 years, veterans and their families give their testimony about how they were changed by the Vietnam experience. Trujillo also comments on the war in Iraq.

IMMOKALEE WORKERS AND TACO BELL: LANDMARK AGREEMENT. In an unprecedented development, fast-food giant Taco Bell Corp. has agreed to pay penny-per-pound surcharge for Florida tomatoes and help raise farm labor standards in Florida agriculture and the food industry as a whole. In this exclusive, news-breaking interview, Lucas Benitez, a leader of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, shares the news and his thoughts about this labor victory.

Wednesday, March 9th

PROGRAM # 4456 - 12:00 PST
U.S. MARIACHI TRADITION. This is a conversation with Nati Cano, a pioneer who founded Mariachi Los Camperos in Los Angeles nearly fifty years ago. Maestro Cano is a recognized leader of the current mariachi movement across the U.S. Also, Jesús Galicia, Pamela Galicia, and Margarito Rodriguez, leaders of Mariachi Tenochtitlan, a Fresno-based group that has often traveled to stages in Arizona, Nevada and California. They will be headlining Radio Bilingüe’s 23rd Viva el Mariachi! Festival on March 13 in Fresno, CA.

TACO BELL BOYCOTT ENDS. Laurie Schallow, public relations director for Taco Bell Corp., the world's largest fast-food restaurant chain, comments on an agreement reached in recent hours with tomato pickers from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida. Shallow says that the company agrees to lead by example in an effort to get restaurants, supermarkets and retail merchants to improve wages and working conditions for farmworkers.

GOVERNOR LEONEL COTA. In this brief conversation, Baja California Sur Gov. Leonel Cota Montaño, who is seeking the top position of the center-left Partido de la Revolucion Democratica in Mexico, gives his views about a bill in Mexico's Senate to allow the vote of Mexicans living abroad. He also talks about the impeachment process against Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

PROGRAM # 4457 - 12:00 PST
PUERTO RICO EDITION. Meet Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, who brings live interviews and commentary on news developments with an emphasis in issues on women and peace in the Caribbean basin. Listeners are encouraged to call in.

Friday, March 11th

PROGRAM # 4458 - 12:00 PST
MEXICO EDITION. Journalist Martha Elena Ramírez, producer of the radio program "Voz Pública," begins a new chapter of this radio series. Ramírez hosts this edition live from Mexico City, providing as usual news and interviews from Mexico and  voices from participant listeners.

Monday, March 14th

PROGRAM # 4459 - 12:00 PST
THE VOICE OF KNOWLEDGE. This is a conversation with Miguel Ruiz about his recent book The Voice of Knowledge, A Practical Guide to Inner Peace. Born into a family of Mexican healers, Ruiz says in his new book that in order to treat emotional suffering and restore joy, individuals need to reflect on the times in their life before they learned a language and contaminated knowledge.

EMOTIONAL STRESS. Aside from being a mental health issue, stress may lead to heart attacks, stroke, obesity and other conditions. In this program, Dr. Ana Nogales, a psychologist, columnist and television personality analyzes the stress that afflicts immigrant communities, including work-related stress for those juggling more than one job or work and school, and the stress resulting from cultural shock. Dr. Nogales helps listeners cope with these emotional concerns.

Tuesday, March 15th

PROGRAM # 4460 - 12:00 PST
IMMIGRATION EDITION. Attorney Rosalba Piña shares advice for immigrants who are detained or interrogated by federal, state or local agents. Piña also answers listener calls on immigrant rights and citizenship procedures.This program begins providing a news report on the kick off of the binational broadcast of the bilingual, Mixtec/Spanish, La Hora Mixteca radio show. Xochitl Galvez, the highest Mexican official for Indian affairs, comments on this simulcast that connects Mixtec-speaking audiences in Oaxaca and the U.S.

Wednesday, March 16th

PROGRAM # 4461 - 12:00 PST
UNBANKED IMMIGRANTS. Non-profit organizations are launching a national campaign to help recent immigrants in using the U.S. financial service system. This program discusses the cultural barriers that prevent Latinos from opening checking or savings accounts and addresses common misconceptions that unbanked immigrants may have about the banking system.

Guest: Jose Andres Marrero, president, JAM Latino Marketing, Austin, TX; Ed Leahy, Nebraska Appleseed Foundation and coordinator for Immigrant Rights Network of Iowa-Nebraska, Omaha, NE; Oscar Rios Pohirieth, academic adviser for public schools, Lincoln, NE.

PROGRAM # 4462 - 12:00 PST
PUERTO RICO EDITION – IRAQ WAR ANNIVERSARY. To mark the second anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, and Radio Bilingüe’s Samuel Orozco co-host a special edition revisiting the case for war made by the Bush administration. A human-rights activist calls the U.S. occupation of Iraq a crime against humanity. A renowned prosecutor believes there are elements to investigate the war as an act of agression. The program also explores other issues.

Invited guests: Carlos Castresana Fernández, public prosecutor of Spain, author of the formal complaint in the Pinochet case, professor of international criminal law, visiting professor at University of San Francisco; Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize 1980, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Victor Paredes, brother of Pablo Paredes, a soldier who is seeking conscientious objector status in the military, New York.

Friday, March 18th

PROGRAM # 4463 - 12:00 PST
MEXICO EDITION. Journalist Martha Elena Ramírez, producer of the radio program "Voz Pública," begins a new chapter of this radio series. Ramírez hosts this edition live from Mexico City, providing as usual news and interviews from Mexico and voices from participant listeners.

Monday, March 21st

PROGRAM # 4464 - 12:00 PST
FARM WORKERS IN FLORIDA. Florida farm workers have ended a three-year boycott against fast-food giant Taco Bell. The agreement to raise wages is hailed as a new day in the fast-food and agricultural industry. Now, organized farm workers set their eyes on the Republican-controlled state legislature, which they accuse of siding with the agricultural lobby and ignoring reports of critical poverty and abuse among farm workers. This program reports on efforts to get lawmakers to talk with farm worker organizers.

Guests: Lucas Benitez, coordinator, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Immokalee, FL; Todd Howland, director, Center for Human Rights, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, Washington, DC; Rep. Julio Robaina, Republican, District 117, Miami, FL.

Tuesday, March 22nd

PROGRAM # 4465 - 12:00 PST
LALO GUERRERO: A TRIBUTE. The father of Chicano music has died. Legendary singer and composer Lalo Guerrero passed away in Palm Springs, CA, at the age of 88. Guerrero is the author of popular hits such as Nunca Jamás, and La Canción Mexicana. He also provided swing-inspired music for the Pachucos of the 40s and 50s. Several generations grew up with his Ardillitas. Guerrero has being declared a National Folk Treasure and received the National Medal of the Arts from President Clinton. This program airs Lalo’s most celebrated songs and excerpts of Lalo’s interviews on Línea Abierta.

ALSO, GASPING FOR AIR. California’s central Valley is considered the state’s most industry-contaminated area. This area reports the highest pesticide poisoning incidents in the state and air pollution is blamed for the disproportionate number of asthma cases among children. Toxic contamination affects first and foremost women and children. These findings are part of a study released by the Women’s Foundation. This is a news report on a Women’s Foundation Environmental Health Summit in Fresno.

Interviews: Alma Martinez, news reporter, Radio Bilingue, Tulare, CA; Carolina Simonovich, Fresno Metro Ministries, Fresno, CA; Teresa de Anda, president, Comite pro Bienestar, Earlimart, CA; Tina Eshaghpour, program officer, Women's Foundation of California, Tulare, CA.

Wednesday, March 23rd

PROGRAM # 4466 - 12:00 PST
FOX IN TEXAS. President Bush meets in Texas with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. After a chill in their relations over the war in Iraq, President Fox focuses on free trade issues rather than immigration-reform agreements. This program gives a report on the developments of the tri-national meeting. It also discusses the temporary workers program proposed by Bush, the bill restricting driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants sent to the Senate, and Mexico’s plans to sue immigrant-hunters.

Guests: Jose Carreno, special envoy and correspondent, El Universal, Mexico City; Flavia Jimenez, policy analyst, National Council of La Raza, Washington, DC; Fabiola Rodriguez, spokesperson for Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV).

PROGRAM # 4467 - 12:00 PST
PUERTO RICO EDITION – PUERTO RICO EDITION. Meet Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, who brings live interviews and commentary on news developments with an emphasis on issues about women and peace in the Caribbean basin. Listeners are encouraged to call in.

Friday, March 25th

PROGRAM # 4468 - 12:00 PST
MEXICO EDITION. Journalist Martha Elena Ramírez, producer of the radio program "Voz Pública," begins a new chapter of this radio series. Ramírez hosts this edition live from Mexico City, providing as usual news and interviews from Mexico and voices from participant listeners.

Monday, March 28th

PROGRAM # 4469 - 12:00 PST
CHAVEZ CELEBRATIONS: ORGANIZING TODAY. This week, unions and Latino groups celebrate with hundreds of marches and public events the life and legacy of the late labor leader Cesar Chávez. The Chávez-founded UFW also celebrates this year the 40th anniversary of the historic Delano grape strike. In this program, UFW president Arturo Rodríguez and Farm Labor Organizing Committee’s President Baldemar Velázquez comment on these celebrations. They also give news and analysis on current issues, including a landmark contract with North Carolina growers, the opening of a union office in Monterrey, Mexico for guest workers, health insurance coverage for field workers, and the ongoing debate on the legalization of farm workers.

Tuesday, March 29th

PROGRAM # 4470 - 12:00 PST
IMMIGRATION EDITION. Chicago Attorney Rosalba Piña gives advice to visa applicants who are preparing to attend appointments for interviews. She talks about how to prepare a case well and file supporting documents and evidence to avoid refusals or delays. Piña also answers listener calls on immigrant rights and citizenship procedures.

Wednesday, March 30th

PROGRAM # 4471 - 12:00 PST
GUANAJUATO GUANAJUATO FOCUSES ON MIGRANTS. The state of Guanajuato maintains it is the only in Mexico that has a public institution to help migrants send money home. The state government is now launching a series of measures in the areas of high migration. Programa include incentives for small and migrant business and promotion of a federally-funded health insurance coverage. The state governor and the official in charge of the migrant program comment on these issues. They also comment on the pending bill to allow Mexican emigres to vote and the increased dangers for migrants at the border crossings. The governor of Guanajuato dialogues with listeners.

Guests: Gov. Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, state of Guanajuato, Mexico; Dr. Diana Alvarez, director, Comisión de Protección a Migrantes Guanajuatenses, Guanajuato, Méx.

PROGRAM # 4472 - 12:00 PST
PUERTO RICO EDITION – PUERTO RICO EDITION. Meet Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, who brings live interviews and commentary on news developments with an emphasis on issues about women and peace in the Caribbean basin. Listeners are encouraged to call in.

PROGRAM # 4473 - 21:00 PST
LOS ANGELES SIMULCAST – SOCIAL SECURITY DEBATE. President Bush’s proposed reforms to the nation’s retirement system are facing widespread skepticism and resistance to a plan to create private accounts. This program examines a recent study that found that Latinos would be disproportionately affected by changes to Social Security. It also found that Latinos are divided in their views on the current debate on Social Security. It also includes a discussion on the Chilean private-investment pension plan, which President Bush has cited as a model for his proposed reforms.

Guests: Hector Barreto, administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration, The White House; Ismael Ortiz Jr, director for Hispanic memberships, American Association for Retired Persons, Washington, DC.

Friday, April 1st

PROGRAM # 4474 - 12:00 PST
MEXICO EDITION. Journalist Martha Elena Ramírez, producer of the radio program "Voz Pública," begins a new chapter of this radio series. Ramírez hosts this edition live from Mexico City, providing as usual news and interviews from Mexico and voices from participant listeners.

To tune in to this news service, check our Affiliate Stations page to find your nearest station. Also, the audio of these news stories will soon be available live in this same website.

LINEA ABIERTA | THIS WEEK | PREVIOUS PROGRAMS