July 7th

This week's election of Vicente Fox as Mexico's next president brought an end to more than seventy years of government rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Upon his surprising electoral victory, president-elect Fox promised an orderly and peaceful transition of power. Meanwhile, the PRI begins to debate its new and unfamiliar role as an opposition party. Our correspondent in Mexico City, Lenica Avila, has the details.

Mexicans living in California traveled in large numbers to the border city of Tijuana last Sunday to cast their ballots in the hotly contested presidential election of July 2nd. Voting was generally clean and orderly, although the special booths set up along the border, with their long lines and eventual shortages of ballots, were an exception. However, as our correspondent at the border Ruben Tapia reports, these inconveniences were not enough to discourage Mexican immigrants, who, through their efforts, continue to maintain hope of being able to vote by absentee ballots from abroad by the elections of 2006.

In California, a growing public education campaign seeks to promote male responsibility among youths, in an effort to reduce the high rate of teenage pregnancies. A young leader of this campaign has found a way to reinforce his strategy for getting Latino youths to heed his message by using history as a way to emphasize the contributions of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. Citlali Saenz brings us this report.

July 14th

In a meeting this week of the National Coalition for Dignity and Amnesty for Undocumented Immigrants (Coalicion Nacional por la Dignidad y Amnistia para los Indocumentados) in New York, six retired District Directors of the INS announced that they have joined the pro-amnesty campaign. With the inclusion of these former Immigration officials, the campaign gets a major boost. But according to the officials themselves, Congress approval of this amnesty will depend largely on the support given to the initiative by corporate America. Our correspondent in New York City, Marco Vinicio Gonzalez, has the details.

The historic presidential elections in Mexico this past Sunday July 2nd, which resulted in a major shift of power for the first time in more than seventy years, also served to promote civic participation by children and youths who by law are too young to vote. On election day, some fourteen thousand booths were set up throughout the country, where children shared their thoughts and opinions on the Mexico' politics and the social challenges that lie ahead. Raul Silva, our correspondent in Mexico City, has this report.

Just days ago, California launched the biggest pilot program in the nation to help consumers gain better access to health services. In the largest private grant of its kind ever, seven health consumer organizations received $8.5 million from the California Endowment to help Californians navigate an increasingly complex health care system and secure essential medical care Six of these are part of the Health Consumer Alliance. Maria Eraņa spoke with Manuel Romero, project director of the Health Consumer Center in Fresno, who says that members of the HCA offer not just information but also representation in difficult cases.

July 21st

With the recent election of Vicente Fox, of the National Action Party (PAN), as Mexico's next president, the long ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) became, for the first time and after seventy-one years, the opposition party. This defeat has provoked a crisis within the PRI. As members of the PRI's old guard attempt to grab the reigns of command, outgoing president Ernesto Zedillo tries to mediate the conflict. Our correspondent in Mexico City, Raul Silva, explains what the nation's official party is doing to adapt and to survive in Mexico's changing political climate.

In Baja California, a select police group known as Beta has been formed to bring an end to the abuses and extortions faced by immigrants. Made up of law enforcement officers from different organizations, the Beta group also functions as a rescue unit. It also works closely with the U.S. Border Patrol in an effort to break up immigrant smuggling rings, known as "coyotes" or "polleros". Our correspondent Manuel Ocaņo has this report.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in older men. But the advancement of this type of cancer is so slow that those that suffer from it are more apt to die with the cancer than as a result of it. For this reason, some doctors are now questioning whether older men with this cancer should risk going through surgery or chemotherapy, treatments with possible adverse secondary effects. The best thing, say doctors, is to talk openly with the patient, and, even better still, to do it early enough to detect this cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages. Hugo Ordoņez reports.

July 28th

Los Angeles, considered the movie capital of the world, has been host this week to filmmakers from all over Latin America and Spain as it celebrated the fourth annual Latino International Film Festival. Presented by actor and activist Edward James Olmos, the festival, by the time its concludes this weekend, is expected to draw thousands of movie goers to the screenings of over fifty films, documentaries, and short subjects. Natalie Stawsky reports from Hollywood.

The major political focus in the United States, as of this weekend, is on the city of Philadelphia, home of next week's Republican National Convention. This convention, more than any other, seeks to present Republicans as a party friendly and aligned to the interests and values of Latino voters. Our correspondent in Washington, Patricia Guadalupe, spoke this week to Republican Congressman Henry Bonillo, of San Antonio, Texas, and has this report.

Two undocumented immigrants died this week in the Arizona desert as they attempted to cross into the United States. Concerned that many more immigrants could perish in the current heat wave gripping the Southwest, San Diego businessman John Hunter, brother of Congressman Duncan Hunter, has been traveling through the desert along the California/Mexico border installing water stations. Hunter has been placing these water deposits along the most dangerous crossing areas, he says, in an attempt to save lives. Ana Lilia Barraza reports on this humanitarian effort from the city of El Centro, in California's Imperial Valley.

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