MONDAY, DECEMBER 10.

PROGRAM # 6847 12:00 PM PT  

FAIR DEAL FOR FARMERS. From now until March, Latino and women farmers can file claims with the United States Department of Agriculture for compensation if they can prove they were denied loans for discriminatory reasons. Some farmers say the $1.3 billion dollars set aside for this purpose is not enough to compensate those who faced discrimination for so long.

Guest: Modesta Salazar, Farmer, Pearsall, TX; Juan García, Administrator, Farm Service Agency, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Washington, D.C., www.usda.gov.

ALSO, FARMWORKERS GO ORGANIC. A growing number of Latino farmworkers are leaving the fields laced with pesticides and training to becoming organic farmers in charge of their own farms. This edition includes interviews with farmworkers gone organic and activists working to overcome the barriers Latinos often face to enter this Anglo-dominated workforce.

Guests: Alejandro Tecum, Director of Adelante Agricultura, Adelante Mujeres, Forest Grove, OR, www.adelantemujeres.org; Reyna Rojas, Organic farmer, Hillsborough, OR.

Listen to the full program!

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11.

PROGRAM # 6848   12:00 PM PT   

IMMIGRATION EDITION: DREAMING BIG. Calls for comprehensive immigration reform are coming from increasingly diverse places. Conservative religious leaders, legislators from the two largest political parties, and undocumented youth activists are pushing to move beyond Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, for a broader path to legalization.

Guests: Cristina Jiménez, Managing Director, United We Dream, Los Angeles, CA, www.unitedwedream.org ; Rev. Jaime Tolle, Senior Pastor, The Church on the Way, Los Angeles, CA, http://www.tcotw.org/ .

Listen to the full program!

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12.

PROGRAM # 6849   12:00 PM PT  

APPROACHING THE FISCAL CLIFF. President Obama and Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, are in the midst of negotiations to avoid a fiscal crisis. On the table are increased taxes for those who make more than $250,000 a year, and deep budget cuts for social programs. How would the so-called “fiscal cliff” affect Latino families?

Guests: Hector Barreto, President, The Latino Coalition, Irvine, CA, www.thelatinocoalition.com; Sen. Robert Menéndez, United States Senator, Member of the Finance Committee, Washington, DC, www.menendez.senate.gov; Pastor David Beckmann, President, Bread of the World, Washington, DC, www.bread.org/

Listen to the full program!

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13.

PROGRAM # 6850  12:00 PM PT  

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14.

PROGRAM # 6851   12:00 PM PT

MEXICO EDITION. An official photograph and a press release are the only proof of the first meeting between Mexico's new security cabinet and the members of the United States' homeland security team. News media were not allowed at the event, announced as a "courtesy visit," was led by Secretaries Miguel Angel Osorio Chong and Janet Napolitano. The press release does not mention the so-called Merida Initiative, the agreement of the past administration that increased the operation of U.S. security agents in Mexican territory. This edition also includes reports that 14 people continue in jail for protest during the presidential inauguration in Mexico on December 1st, and that the so-called educational reform, proposed by President Enrique Peña Nieto, does not take into account teachers' points of view.

Guest: David Cruz Angón, Director, Tele-Secondary School, San Miguel del Progreso, Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico (pretaped interview); Artists' campaign to free prisoners: http://youtu.be/173oLuU-_H0.

Listen to the full program!

Funds for Línea Abierta are provided in part by The National Endowment for the Arts, The California Endowment, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, The Ford Foundation, The California Wellness Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.