 Edición Semanaria de Noticiero Latino |
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January 2002
January 4th | Listen to the program
NY COALITION URGES MAYOR BLOOMBERG TO MAKE SOCIAL ISSUES A PRIORITY - A coalition of sixteen social organizations this week welcomed New York's new mayor, Michael Bloomberg. In the so-called People's Inauguration, the coalition celebrated Bloomberg's first day on the job by inviting him to join them in developing an agenda that, among other things, would give priority to building schools rather than prisons, creating jobs rather than budget cuts, and developing more social services and a better quality of life. At the same time, the coalition asked the mayor to begin these efforts within the first one hundred days of his administration. Marco Vinicio Gonzalez has the details.
NEW REGULATIONS FOR MINOR DRIVERS IN GEORGIA - On the first day of the year, new regulations took effect in Georgia for minors applying for driver's licenses. Statistics show that approximately 80 percent of teens involved in automobile accidents lose their lives. As Noticiero Latino contributor Patricia Ramos explains, with these new rules, authorities seek to give young drivers more experience and a sense of responsibility.
SERGIO AGUAYO COMMENTS ON PRESIDENT FOX'S DELAY IN NAMING NEW HUMAN RIGHTS PROSECUTOR - Mexico's Human Rights Commission has recommended the appointment of a special prosecutor in charge of investigating the fate of more than 270 activists who disappeared while in government custody in the 1970s and 80s. These disappearances were the subject of a broad report presented by the Commission to President Vicente Fox in late November. Professor, author and independent human rights promoter Sergio Aguayo spoke recently with Noticiero Latino director Samuel Orozco about the importance of this official report on the disappeared and about some of the possible reasons for the delay in naming the special prosecutor.
January 11th | Listen to the program
GEORGIA LATINO COALITION DELIVERS PETITION TO GOVERNOR URGING HIM TO GRANT DRIVER'S LICENSES TO UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS - This week, civil organizations in Georgia delivered thirty-five thousand letters signed by state residents to Gov. Roy Barnes. The letters included suggestions of how local authorities can grant driver's licenses to immigrants even if they have no social security number. The letters were written as part of a campaign begun in August of last year and, as Noticiero Latino contributor reports, are a reflection of a successful organizational effort by Latinos in Georgia.
BUSH EDUCATION REFORM IN NEED OF STATE COUNTERPARTS TO BE TRULY EFFECTIVE - President Bush signed an education reform bill this week that qualifies as the most exhaustive of this generation. The law authorizes more than $26 million in federal funds for various elementary and high school programs. However, schools in low-income neighborhoods won't necessarily see great changes. Dr. Anthony Flores, president of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, explained to Noticiero Latino director Samuel Orozco why education reforms at a state level are still necessary to help those schools that educate the majority of Latino students.
NUYORICAN POET SEEKS MIDDLE ROAD BETWEEN ANGLO AND LATINO CULTURES - The difficulty of being Latino in New York is a reality that is often hard to understand, since it requires living between two sometimes contradictory cultures. As a response to this quandary, some artists seek a third route that allows them to define not only their own values but also their creative imagination. Jesus Papoleto Melendez, a Nuyorican poet and public school teacher in the Big Apple spoke about this search with correspondent Marco Vinicio Gonzalez.
January 18th | Listen to the program
HEALTH PROBLEMS IN GROUND ZERO - Four months after the terrorist attacks in New York City, Latino maintenance workers from office and residential buildings surrounding the zone now known as Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers once stood, are reporting various physical ailments. Apparently, this is due to the contamination of the air that persists in the area. Since many of these workers lack medical insurance, they are being examined in a mobile health station to determine their state of health. If, as correspondent Marco Vinicio Gonzalez explains, they are found to be contaminated, the city could face a class action lawsuit.
ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS WARNING - A recent study warns of a possible far-reaching environmental crisis in North America. Notably, the warning comes not from environmental activists but from an official commission established under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Noticiero Latino contributor Kent Patterson, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, spoke with the commission's director who insisted that, if the correct steps are taken, it may not be too late to avoid major damage to the environment. The report is voiced by Alejandro Glusman.
ESQUIVEL! - Known as the last of the great dance band leaders or as the Mexican Duke Ellington, Juan Garcia Esquivel died early this year in Jiutepec, Morelos. Garcia Esquivel spent many years in the U.S. and was internationally renowned for his innovative musical arrangements that pre-dated the age of stereophonic sound and computer effects. Mexico City correspondent Raul Silva has this report.
January 25th | Listen to the program
PRISONERS IN GUANTANAMO - This week, the U.S. decided to suspend the transfer of detained suspected terrorists from Afghanistan to its naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba. The decision came in the wake of questions raised in Europe about the treatment of the suspects by the U.S.in this military prison. But in Havana, the decision to keep these prisoners in Guantanamo is a clear indication that the U.S. will have to re-examine its policies towards Cuba that keep the island nation among its list of terrorist countries. This was the message of Cuban President Fidel Castro in a speech delivered before a delegation of Mexican lawmakers who recently visited the island. Correspondent Citlali Saenz has this report.
MEXICANS AT HOME IN ATLANTA - One of the effects of the Mexican migration to its northern neighbor has been the nearly complete relocation of rural communities to cities in the U.S. In their new home, many migrants try to recreate the living conditions of their places of origin. Such is the case with a group of immigrants from Ejido Modelo, a town near Lake Chapala in the Mexican state of Jalisco, who have made their home in Atlanta. Noticiero Latino contributor Patricia Ramos has the details.
ARGENTINE CRISIS - The economic crisis currently gripping Argentina is still far from being resolved. With the risk of public discontent boiling over into riots still looming large, President Eduardo Duhalde faces the challenge of proving that his prescription for curing the country's economic ills will not be worse than the illness. The other option, according to an observer who returned to Mexico after witnessing the recent disturbances in Argentina, is to seriously consider alternative economic models. Mexico City correspondent Raul Silva explains.
Fallece Roland Massa, Corresponsal en Washington - El periodista Roland Massa, veterano de la radio en espanol y corresponsal de Noticiero Latino en la ciudad de Washington por mas de una decada, fallecio hoy en su hogar victima del cancer a la edad de 68 anos.