Annotations for Places: Puerto Rico

Long before the word “multicultural” came into popular usage, it was reflected on the public television's children's program, Sesame Street. Now the program is making an extra effort targeting minority children with special cultural curricula. This year, the Emmy award-winning show is placing an emphasis on Latino culture as Mandalit del Barco reports from New York.

[Cheerful Sesame Street Music]

As Sesame Street becomes more bilingual, even the theme song incorporates Latino rhythms. With this season's emphasis on Latino cultures, viewers can watch Big Bird leading a Mariachi band, and Oscar the Grouch dancing the Mambo with Tito Puente. Sesame Street is visited by Chicano rock band Los Lobos and New York's Puerto Rican folk music group, Los Pleneros de la 21. The show goes on location to barrios in Los Angeles where kids paint a Mexican mural, and in New York where they make Puerto Rican masks and visit a community center known as a Casita. This year, the spotlight will also be on the new fluffy blue bilingual muppet, Rosita.

¡Hola Amigos! ¿Cómo están?

Muppet Rosita is played by Mexican puppeteer Carmen Osbahr.

Sí, sí…yes, yeah I'm trying to help my friends to speak Spanish and all of my other friends that they're watching us. I'm trying to let them know that if they speak Spanish like me and English, they have to feel proud because they're very lucky to speak two languages.

¿Abierto?

Yes, certainly! Abierto is the Spanish word for open! Abierto.

For many years now, Sesame Street has been teaching kids a few words in Spanish, like “hola” and “adios”, but what's different is that with its new Latino curriculum, preschool viewers will also be taught an appreciation of the diversity of Latino cultures.

El mundo.

That's the world all right, and we are moving into...

Puerto Rico!

Puerto Rico it is! But look...

¡Cotorra!

In studies of preschoolers, researchers for Sesame Street found Puerto Rican children have poorer self-images than white or African-American children. The Latino kids had negative feelings about their hair and skin color, and the majority of white and African-American children in this study said their mothers would be angry or sad if they were friends with a Puerto Rican child. Actress Sonia Manzano, who plays the character María on the show says that's why the Sesame Street producers decided to devote the season to addressing issues of self-esteem and pride among Latinos.

I had the opportunity to write a show where María's family comes to visit, and I wanted everyone in María's family to be a different skin color because that occurs in a lot of Hispanic families. Puerto Ricans especially, is that, there are people of different skin colors in the same family so…and actually have a puppet say, "Wow! But he's darker than you. How could he be related?" or "She's lighter than you. How could she be related to you?"

For the last 20 years, María and Luis have been two of the human characters on the show. In that time, they got married, had a child, and are partners in Sesame Street's Fix It Shop.

Here, Luis and María, who are both Latinos, are regular people. I mean… they own a business; they have a family. You know… they're just regular people. They work like everybody else… you know. They brush their teeth, they comb their hair, you know…. whatever. The role model is, "Hey, they're just like everybody else.” You know… and that's important to show.

Actor Emilio Delgado, who plays Luis, says, since its beginning, Sesame Street was way ahead of most US television shows in realistically portraying Latinos.

20 years ago when we first started doing this, I don't remember any Latinos on a regular basis on television. As a matter of fact, I can't think of any right now either.

[Kid singing about his cultural roots]

Sesame Street is now in its 24th season. For Latino USA, I'm Mandalit del Barco in New York.

Oh, that was great! Well, this is Big Bird leaving you with one final word: "¡Viva!"

Every culture has its special days, Diaz de Fiesta. Most often, they're related to a special date in history: Fiestas Patrias, Puertorriqueños celebrate El Grito de Lares on September 23rd. Dominicanos celebrate on February 27th, the Dominican Republic's independence from Haiti. In Mexico and among Mexican Americans, Cinco de Mayo is one such day of celebration, not an Independence Day, but in memory of a battle which took place in 1862. However, as producers Laura Valera and Arthur Duncan found, the historical significance of the holiday is often lost in the midst of cultural festivities. Here's their Cinco de Mayo audio essay.

[Transitional Drum Music]

Cinco de Mayo has to do with the French forces attempting to occupy Mexico. Essentially what it deals with is the defeat of the French forces by the liberal forces of Benito Juarez in the city of Puebla, in the state of Puebla.

Do you know why we celebrate Cinco de Mayo?

All I know is it's a Mexican holiday. I don't really know what the reason is.

I don't know, is it somebody's birthday?

Ah…for me, Cinco de Mayo is a pretty good… good day.

A big event?

A big Fiesta.

That's when the Mexicans took over. They kicked the French out of Mexico!

Y ganamos los mexicanos.

The independence of Mexico.

From?

Spain.

And one last thing. Do you know why we celebrate Cinco de Mayo?

You bet. There's a battle of somewhere… I forget now.

[Transitional Music in Spanish]

Cinco de Mayo did not lead to the ouster of the French. It would represent a significant victory for the Mexicans because it taught them that they could create a real sense of nationalism for them, that they could defeat invading forces and the like. It was significant on the basis of… you know, sort of a moral strength that gave the Mexicanos.

[Transitional Mariachi Music]

We just know it as a celebration, as a fiesta. Aside from it being a festival event, it's an educational event because it is the time of the year that, for some reason, many of our people put our political agendas, our turf agendas aside, and realize that we are all one of a large majority of people in this hemisphere.

Do you celebrate Cinco de Mayo?

Well, doesn't every Hispanic?

Bueno, cuando celebramos el Cinco de Mayo vamos aquí a las fiestas que tienen en el Fiesta Garden.

Yes, a big party.

Con Mariachi, es una fiesta mexicana.

Bueno… el parque.

The typical barbecue con unas cervecitas aquí y allá. I just have a good time with the friends and family.

The most things that I do is dance.

[Corrido Music]

During these festivals, we also realize that there are no borders.

[Corrido Music]

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Vidal Guzmán.

Sigue la música. Sigue los éxitos. Twenty-four hours a day!

[Radio station recording]

WAQI Miami. Aquí, Radio Mambí.

The growth in Spanish-language media is one indication, and now it's official. The Census Bureau reports that next to English, Spanish is now the most-used language in the nation. Seventeen million people in thirty-nine states speak Spanish daily. This 1990 census data says that one out of seven Americans speak a language other than English. This nation's outgoing and Spanish-speaking Surgeon General, Dr. Antonia Novello, recently added to the controversy regarding President Clinton's healthcare plan.

Los virus no identifican persona por pasaporte ni por tarjetita. En ese sentido, hay que de quitarle el temor a buscar salud…

Novello stated that it should include coverage for undocumented workers for public health reasons and added that viruses and bacteria did not ask for green cards. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, head of the Health Care Task Force, says that the healthcare plan would not provide courage for the undocumented. That topic and other healthcare issues of interest to the Hispanic community were on the table when Mrs. Clinton recently met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. From Washington, Patricia Guadalupe reports.

Mrs. Clinton came to Capitol Hill promising greater minority-group participation in changing the healthcare system. An issue of particular worry to Congressman José Serrano, Democrat of New York and chairman of the caucus, is the lack of sufficient medical data on Hispanics.

One of the things I mentioned to her, for instance, was that tuberculosis in New York City's Hispanic community was always a problem but now has become a national problem when it reached out. So we need research to know what unique medical needs exist.

Puerto Rico's resident commissioner, Carlos Romero-Barceló, told Mrs. Clinton that residents of Puerto Rico don't enjoy full-healthcare rights as other U.S. citizens.

We have the absurd situation that here we have citizens who are not covered by Medicaid and even veterans in Puerto Rico not covered by Medicaid.

According to the National Council of La Raza, one-third of all Hispanics have no medical coverage. Members of the Hispanic Caucus want the Clinton administration to extend universal healthcare to the uninsured and undocumented workers, over half of whom are Hispanic. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe.

[Crowd chanting]

Many Latinos from across the country were among the hundreds of thousands of gays and lesbians who recently converged on Washington, D.C. They gathered in the nation's capital to celebrate their identities and demand lesbian and gay rights. In the wake of that event, Mandalit del Barco in New York spoke with several gay and lesbian Latino activists, and she prepared this report.

It's very, very difficult just to be lesbian or gay and be Latino, but I guess that at the same time, it's very beautiful.

Gay activists like Hector Seda are becoming more politically active, out there proclaiming their identities and working on issues like AIDS and equal rights. Seda is a board member of LLEGO, a national organization of lesbian and gay Latinos. He sees in this country and in Latin America an emerging political force.

It's beginning. It's happening in Puerto Rico. It's happening in general, all…I mean, it's happening in this country right now. Everybody, us, general Latinos and gays in this country, we're fighting for basic human rights.

We also have to be ready for the backlash because with visibility, there comes a very strong backlash, and usually, it's very violent.

Juan Méndez is a gay Puerto Rican who documents cases of gay bashing for the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. Méndez rejects the stereotype that Latinos traditionally have more difficulty acknowledging homosexuality than do other cultures.

Homophobia is not any more or any less than in any other community, and I think that when people start talking about the taboos and machismo, you know, and things that, really, we have a very…I would call it a racist slant or context, because, you know, I don't see any other culture that has it any different.

Many gay Latinos, like Méndez, believe that the issues important to them are not necessarily reflected in the agenda of the gay movement as a whole. For instance, he says, the issue of including gays in the military was declared an issue by white gay activists.

I, as a gay person, have no interest in being part of a military core that has invaded not only my country, but has also supported dictatorships, right-wing dictatorships in many Latin American countries, and no one in the gay and lesbian community has stopped to think about what this means for non-white lesbians and gays.

The emphasis on this issue also bothers Terry, a New York City lesbian who declined to give her last name for fear of alienating her Cuban abuelita, her grandmother. She says that when she was at the march in Washington, she was so offended that she found herself booing when they called out the names of gay military men.

Clearly, I see that the mainstream gay and lesbian movement has become more and more focused on their primary desire is to be regular Americans. That is what is happening in this gays and the military thing. They want the right to be regular Americans. Well, we're not regular Americans, no matter what we do, so I don't fit into that agenda, and I don't want to, and I never would, even if I tried.

These activists say that while some differences exist over so-called gay and lesbian issues, what is important is for lesbian and gay Latinos to develop their own unique political agendas, and not only within gay political circles, says Méndez.

We have to fight within the gay and lesbian community at large for our issues as Latinos, but we cannot forget to fight within our Latino community at large for our issues as gay and lesbian people.

For Latino USA, I'm Mandalit del Barco in New York.

In New York City, Mayor David Dinkins is calling for amnesty for Puerto Rican political prisoners. Mandalit del Barco reports.

Today, there are more than 45 Puerto Ricans in federal prisons across the country, some of them in jail for 10 years or more because of their work to free Puerto Rico from its U.S. ties. Three years ago, New York City mayor David Dinkins called three of the most famous Puerto Rican Independentistas assassins. Recently, however, he announced a support for freeing more than 21 political prisoners. Dinkins agreed with an amnesty resolution approved last fall by the New York City Council, and he said he's even written to President Clinton on behalf of the prisoners, asking for freedom as a humanitarian gesture. In November, the city council called on the United Nations to declare a general amnesty for the Puerto Ricans now in jail. Their status is a continuing issue for the Senate and Congress as hearings on a Puerto Rican plebiscite continue. For Latino USA, I'm Mandalit del Barco in New York.

This is Maria Hinojosa. In February of 1991, a hard-hitting newspaper reporter and radio commentator was assassinated in New York City. Many theories have since surfaced as to who had reasons to kill Manuel de Dios Unanue. The combative journalist had written about corruption in Puerto Rico and angered anti-Castro groups by advocating better relations between the US and Cuba. Now, as Mandalit del Barco reports from New York, law authorities are linking the De Dios's murder to a Colombian cocaine cartel.

You're listening to Latino USA. Section 936 of the US Tax Code, which gives a break to US companies operating in Puerto Rico, has become a victim of budget cuts.

President Clinton says 936 is an unnecessary tax shelter, which slaps the US Treasury of billions of dollars in revenue. Government officials in Puerto Rico disagree. From Washington, Patricia Guadalupe reports.

Puerto Rico's Governor Pedro Rosselló has formed a task force to lobby the Senate, where talks on Section 936 are currently underway. Heading up the task force is Clifford Myatt, director of Fomento, Puerto Rico's economic development agency. Myatt says he's found tremendous confusion on Capitol Hill concerning the issue.

We need 936, so I don't know where that logic comes from. There are others on the other hand who say that any kind of a change in 936 will destroy the island, destroy the economy of Puerto Rico. I don't believe that. To destroy the economy of Puerto Rico just by making a change in 936 is, I think far-fetched.

Puerto Rican Congress members, Jose Serrano and Nydia Velasquez of New York and Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois, together represent almost 2 million Puerto Ricans, a greater number than those living in Puerto Rico's capital. They recently met with President Clinton. Congressman Jose Serrano.

Considering the political status of Puerto Rico, where Puerto Rico is not equipped to have members of Congress discuss their situation, that it falls on us both emotionally and in every other way to discuss this issue. And we brought to the president, again, the concern that we have.

President Clinton told the Congress members he would reexamine his position. According to the White House, they've received more mail on this issue than any other since Clinton became president. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

I am Maria Hinojosa on the 4th of July at the Spanish Colonial Governor's Palace in San Juan, Puerto Rico's pro-statehood governor Pedro Rosello, signed a bill which calls for a plebiscite to be held this November to decide Puerto Rico's political future. With us on the phone from San Juan to talk about what this latest step means for Puerto Rico is political analyst Juan Manuel Garcia Passalacqua. It seems that the Puerto Rican people are forever voting on or debating or talking about whether they want to be a state, remain a commonwealth, or be granted their independence. Now, is there anything different about the process that began with Pedro Rosello, the governor's, latest effort?

Number one, it's the first time ever that a prospective government controls the executive, both chambers of the legislature with an ample majority, and 60 of the 78 municipalities in the island. In other words, this is the first time again, since 1898 in which statehood is obviously the possible winner of a plebiscite in Puerto Rico. The second thing is that after Congress failed to implement a US oriented plebiscite, which died in the Senate two years ago, the United States has to get its act together to respond to what unilaterally, the people of Puerto Rico are going to say on the 14th of November of this year. I have said in my column in the Miami Herald that this is the moment in which finally the resistible force meets the movable object.

So what happens with the US Congress when they get the decision on November 14th of what the Puerto Rican people decide? What role does the US Congress have to play this time?

What's happening at this point is that Congressman Jose Serrano, a Puerto Rican from New York has introduced a resolution that will be discussed in the House Interior Committee that in effect, does two things. Number one, recognizes the right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination, and number two, commits the Congress to respond to the expression of the will of the people of Puerto Rico. So that the people of Puerto Rico will next year, know exactly what the reaction of the Congress has been to whatever wins in November of this Year.

Now, Juan Manuel, the fact is that Puerto Rico has been struggling with this issue for many years. [Interruption, “Absolutely”] It's an island where we've had Spanish declared the official language at times. Other times English has been taught forcibly in the schools.

That's right.

Can Puerto Rico in fact become the 51st state of the United States, and how does that look in the future?

Well, the state of movement itself, Maria has announced that only one senator, Senator Paul Simon of Illinois, has already committed himself to submit enabling legislation if statehood is voted on by the people. On the other hand, my own pulse of the Senate indicates that 29 senators will oppose the granting of stated offhand and from the very beginning. So here we have a very lopsided thing. I mean, we already have 29 names that will oppose statehood, only one that will favor it. But I think that the issue is not really whether the statehood will be granted or not. The issue is that the things will be forced to speak, that the Senate will, in effect, respond and take a position on the admission of Puerto Rico as a state of the Union.

Pues muchas gracias Juan Manuel Garcia Passalacqua, a columnist for the Miami Herald and a political commentator in Puerto Rico. Muchas gracias, Juanma.

Hector Lavoe, one of Salsa's superstars. Known worldwide as El Cantante de los Cantantes and the Latin Sinatra, died in New York City, June 29th, after a lifetime of music and tragedy. Thousands poured into the streets at his funeral in New York. Fans and musicians, they all came to pay tribute to Hector Lavoe. From New York, Mandalit del Barco prepared this remembrance of a salsa legend.

[Natural sounds of Hector Lavoe performing]

Hector Lavoe was known to his fans as La Cantante de los Cantantes and Sonero de los Soneros, the singer of singers.

[Highlight, Hector Lavoe performing]

On stage with Willie Colon's band and with his own orchestra. He would often urge the crowds to join him in celebrating the people of Latin America. Mi gente, he called them, my people.

He had a clear voice. Hector had very clear voice, diction was very clear.

Quatro player, Yomo Toro remembers being in Willie Colon's band with Hector Lavoe, who used to proudly call himself a jibaro, a hick from Puerto Rico.

Hector was a boy that used to love to be with the poor people. He don't mess with the big society. He don't go for that too much. Sometimes he joke, improvising. Sometimes, he came serious improvising. The town, El Pueblo, love it very much. So Hector was like an idol to the people.

Even Lavoe's reputation for making his fans wait for hours didn't affect his popularity.

The dance start 10 o'clock in the night, and Hector show up about 12 o'clock, two hours after. [Laughter] People was there waiting for Hector and the band was playing alone. When Hector came, they started screaming to Hector, very happy, and they forget about he came late. [Background music, Hector Lavoe] And then the first word that he used to say always was, "It's not that I came late, the reason is that you came too soon." [Laughter]

[Highlight, Hector Lavoe Salsa]

Hector Lavoe was born Hector Juan Perez into a musical family of singers in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1946. When he was barely six years old, he would sit by the radio, shouting out jibaro songs with singers like Daniel Santos, and Chuito El De Bayamon. [Background Music, Hector Lavoe] Eventually, he left for New York and was soon discovered by Johnny Pacheco of Fania Records who teamed him up with Willie Colon. Pianist Joe Torres worked with Hector Lavoe for 25 years. First in Willie Colon's band, then Lavoe's own orchestra.

And he was a good guy to work with. He would come in and he would party. You always enjoyed playing. That's one thing you did. You looked at his bands, guys were happy on the stage.

Percussionist Milton Cardona remembers how crazy the stage shows could get, like one New Year's Eve gig.

Hector comes out and says, "Well, the queen of welfare just asked us to play La Murga. It started a riot. Before we know it, we're up on the bandstand fighting off just about every guy in that club. I mean, it was like the Alamo, and that's when Hector got his jaw broken. Willie got knocked out unconscious. That was another good night too, yeah.

Former Latin New York magazine publisher, Izzy Sanabria, wrote a biography of Lavoe for a new compilation disc.

But all of a sudden, he was a nobody and boom, immediately made it, and all this attention was too much for him.

He says, while Lavoe sang of life in the streets of Puerto Rico and New York, his own life was filled with tragedies.

Well, his mother died when he was quite young. His brother died as a drug addict on the streets of New York. His 17-year-old son got killed by accident, I think gunshot. His mother-in-law was found stabbed to death in her apartment. I mean, it's just, his house burned down. All kinds of stuff. I think when he jumped, supposedly he jumped out of a window in Puerto Rico. I mean, that was probably some of the stuff that he couldn't take anymore. I mean, he just went through a lot of stuff.

Lavoe never quite recovered from his 1988 suicide attempt and his drug addiction. He spent his last years in hospitals with an amputated leg and living with AIDS. Lavoe was in the hospital listening to a radio tribute to his life and music when he suffered the first of two heart attacks that finally killed him. [Lavoe Music, background] After hearing of his old friend's death, Willie Colon said, "All of Latin America cried for the hero of poor people." He called him Salsa's Martyr, a monster we helped create. "Forgive us, Hector," he wrote in a statement from Spain.

[Highlight--Hector Lavoe music]

Nancy Rodriguez, co-host of New York's, WBAI Radio show, Con Sabor Latino, aired a tribute to Lavoe after his death. She was also at his wake.

I could not believe the outpour of fans that came to pay their respects to Hector Lavoe. It was, to me, like going to a parade, a Puerto Rican day parade. There were thousands and thousands of people waiting on line just to get in, with Puerto Rican flags. They were carrying flowers, everything that represented Puerto Ricans.

The funeral procession wound its way through El Barrio in the Bronx for almost three hours before getting to the cemetery, surrounded by fans. And true to form, Hector Lavoe was even late to his own burial. He might have said it wasn't that he was late, but that death came too early. For Latino USA, I'm Mandalit del Barco in New York.

Today on "Latino USA," Puerto Rico's political future discussed in the U.S. Congress.

We're trying to put once again on the congressional agenda the fact that the United States is a colonial power, that there is a unique and sad relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States.

And baseball goes bilingual.

[Sports Broadcast Recording] Y le muestra la señal, la manda, viene- strike!

Also, a farewell to Afro-Cuban jazz great Mario Bauzá.

Afro-Cuban is Cuban. That's why. I've got to keep a bunch of these Afro-Cuban rhythms.

That and more on "Latino USA." But first, Las Noticias.

I am Maria Hinojosa.

In November, residents of Puerto Rico will vote on whether they favor independence, statehood, or the current status of commonwealth. Right now, no matter what the result of that vote, it's the U.S. Congress who will decide the final outcome, but not if a resolution proposed by New York Congressman José Serrano is passed.

From Washington, Patricia Guadalupe reports.

Democratic Congressman José Serrano of New York said he introduced the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Resolution as a vehicle so that Congress will finally be forced to act on the status of Puerto Rico.

We're trying to put once again on the congressional agenda the fact that the United States is a colonial power, that there is a unique and sad relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States and that that relationship in a new world climate where the U.S. has been successful in pushing democracy throughout the world, that that democratic principle be extended to the island of Puerto Rico, that the people must have that right.

Supporting Serrano are the other Puerto Rican members of Congress as well as the influential New York Congressman Charles Rangel, who counts a large number of Puerto Ricans among his constituents. Rangel welcomes the resolution because he says Puerto Rico has never been clear in what they want. However, he fears that any changes from the current political situation may not go over well in Congress.

Of course, if they decide on commonwealth, then that's not changing anything and there's no profile encouraged for the Congress to support it. But when you start talking about adding senators, adding members of Congress, looking at the situation in the District of Columbia, revising the tax code, believe me, the prejudice and bigotry that exists in this country is going to be reflected in the Congress. I do hope that these biases can be overcome by legislative and executive leadership.

So when the stated bill is presented in Congress, that would then require a referendum.

All it would be is your bill, and I would treat it as a --

Discussions on the status of Puerto Rico have sometimes created tension between representatives of the island and the Puerto Rican counterparts on the mainland, particularly when it is centered on whether Puerto Ricans who don't live on the island can participate in the November island plebiscite.

At a hearing on the resolution, Democratic Congressman Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois became involved in an exchange with Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner, Carlos Romero Barceló. Barceló of the ruling statehood party believes only residents of Puerto Rico should participate in the November plebiscite.

Would you vote for it or not?

Would I vote for what?

For the statehood bill?

I would vote for a resolution of the colony of Puerto Rico in which there has been both participation of the Puerto Rican people in a very decolonizing process according to international law and principles.

In other words, you would not vote for the state under those conditions?

Under the conditions that --

The ones that I've expressed to you.

I want to make it categorically and absolutely clear to you and all the members of this body that I would never accept a decision that comes out of a non-binding vote in Puerto Rico, such as the one that is being. And no one suggests it. I think there are many people who are harmonious with me in that statement.

Ironically, this hearing was held on the 95th anniversary of the U.S. Marine invasion of Puerto Rico, shortly after which the island became a possession of the United States.

Carlos Gallisá, President of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party, which favors independence for the island, says because of this, no U.S. president has taken Puerto Rico seriously, and a resolution isn't about to change that.

Puerto Rico is not in the agenda of the White House or the U.S. government, and they can care less about colonialism in Puerto Rico. They only move when the United Nations expresses about the Puerto Rican case and tell the Puerto Rican people, those representatives of the foreign countries, that Puerto Rican people exercise its right to self-determination many years ago. Well, it's politics of not confronting the issue, not facing the problem, and I don't see change in that position.

Puerto Rico's Governor, Pedro Rosselló, has said this type of resolution is not necessary. But Rosselló acknowledges that the Congress can do whatever it wants regarding Puerto Rico until there is a congressional mandate.

For "Latino USA," I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington,

In Puerto Rico, Governor Pedro Rosselló has officially kicked off the campaign for the November vote on the island's political status. While the New York, Latino politicians have begun their own campaign to hold a vote in which New York Puerto Ricans could have a say in the future of their homeland. From New York City, Mandalit del Barco has more.

In November Puerto Ricans on the island will be choosing to endorse independence, continued commonwealth status, or a petition to Congress for statehood. But there are another 2.6 million Puerto Ricans on the mainland, who were born on the island or whose parents were. Many of them are in New York where Puerto Ricans are now the largest ethnic group. Organizers of the New York vote say the voices of Puerto Ricans on the mainland would significantly influence how Congress responds to the island's decision, although their votes would not be counted in the plebiscite. The vote in New York is scheduled for October 7th, 8th, and 9th. Organizers including Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer and city councilman Jose Rivera say they're talking to leaders in Florida, Illinois and New Jersey to urge them to have similar votes. Some Puerto Ricans on the island, however, including pro statehood governor, Pedro Rosselló oppose the so-called parallel plebiscite, but many Puerto Rican New Yorkers feel close ties to the island and they hope to play a role in what's regarded as a pivotal moment in their homelands' history. For Latino USA, I'm Mandalit del Barco in New York,

The musical style known as La Nueva Canción, the new song movement, was beginning in the mid sixties and for 20 years, the signature sound of Latin American music. Founded by singers Violeta Parra and Víctor Jara of Chile and Atahualpa Yupanqui in Argentina. La Nueva Canción sought to create an awareness of Latin America's Indigenous musical heritage while addressing the region's political situation. Today, as younger generations identify more with the Rock in español, or Rock in Spanish movement, La Nueva Canción has lost some of its popularity. But a group of Latin American musicians living in Madison Wisconsin, believes strongly that La Nueva Canción is still alive and well. Even as they strive for a new sound fusing musical styles. Betto Arcos prepared this profile of the musical group called Sotavento.

[Transition Music]

Founded in 1981 by a group of Latin Americans living in Madison, Wisconsin. Sotavento's early recordings focused on the legacy of the Nueva canción movement. Traditional music primarily from South American regions played on over 30 instruments, but as the group grew musically and new members replaced the old ones, their approach to music making also changed.

[Un Siete--Sotavento]

For percussionist. Orlando Cabrera, a native of Puerto Rico, the band search for a new sound helps each member bring his or her own musical background.

We get together and someone starts playing a rhythm based on some traditional music, let's say from Mexico, from Peru. This person might ask, why do you play something there? Some percussion, for example, and at least in my case, my first approach will be to play what I grew up with. The things I feel more comfortable with. So if it fits and it sounds good, then we'll just go ahead and do something.

We are a hybrid. I mean we're all kind of different flowers that are being sort of sewn together and planted together, and what comes out is a very, very different kind of flower.

[Flute music] The hybrid group always searching for its own sound is how founding member Anne Fraioli defines the music of Sotavento and in their last recording, mostly original compositions. Sotavento takes Latin American music one step ahead by blending instruments and styles to form a new one.

[Amacord--Sotavento]

Sotavento's approach to composing and playing music is the group's artistic response to a top 40 music industry that overlooks creativity and experimentation. For Francisco López, a native of Mexico, this commercial environment and the group's principles of Nueva Canción have a lot to do with Sotavento's search for a new sound.

Nueva Canción has always been alive and always been alive because there's always somebody out there that is trying to produce new stuff, and that's what Nueva Canción is all about. Somebody that is uncomfortable with situations. Say for example, the commercialization of music.

According to lead vocalist, Laura Fuentes. The fact that the group's music may be heard on a light jazz or new age radio station proves that Sotavento's music is what is happening right now and that it is not completely folkloric or passe.

[Esto Es Sencillo--Sotavento]

However, Laura Fuentes believes that Sotavento's music is not specifically designed to sell. Sharing what they feel as artists is hard.

But it's worth it. I can't see us putting on shiny clothes and high heels trying to sell somebody something that we are not, something that people seem to be more willing to buy. I'd rather challenge people to hear the beauty in something different, something new.

[El Destajo--Sotavento]

For Fuentes, a native of Chile, Sotavento is also a way of establishing a connection between an artistic musical expression and its historical background.

[El Destajo--Sotavento]

An example of this connection is a Afro Peruvian style, known as Festejo, a musical style created by a small black community in Peru as a result of the living conditions they experienced during slavery.

[El Destajo--Sotavento]

In keeping with the tradition of the new song movement, Sotavento arranged music for a poem by Cuba's Poet Laureate, Nicolás Guillén. The poem called, Guitarra is for Sotavento's and Farioli a symbol of the voice of the people.

[Guitarra--Sotavento]

Wherever people are, there's going to be a voice, and I think my guitarra represents that voice, that's music, and I think it's also saying that people have to hold on to their roots. They have to hold on to their musical traditions, because it's those traditions that are really going to allow them to express who they really are, where they really come from.

[Guitarra--Sotavento]

This summer Sotavento will perform in Milwaukee and Madison, and in the fall there will begin a tour of Spain. The recording called El Siete was released on Redwood records. For Latino USA, this is Betto Arcos, Colorado.

In Chicago, the city's park district has rejected the gift of a statue of Puerto Rican nationalist Pedro Albizu Campos. And as Tony Sarabia reports, this has sparked protests from the city's Puerto Rican community.

For some, Pedro Albizu Campos is a hero who fought for Puerto Rico's independence, but his philosophy has many of Chicago's Puerto Ricans opposed to honoring a man who was jailed for attempting to assassinate President Harry Truman. A park district board spokesperson says the board didn't want to contribute to the community's division, so it decided not to accept the statue. Supporters are incensed the board is censoring a monument when it has never done so in the past. Chicago alderman Billy Ocasio calls the action hypocritical.

Where were they when they had to censor the Robert E. Lee statue? Where were they when they had to censor the Balbo statue? They haven't censored anything. Now they want to censor the Puerto Rican community.

Ocasio says the vote isn't the end of the issue. He and other Puerto Rican community leaders plan on taking their fight to court. For Latino USA I'm Tony Sarabia in Chicago,

The name Pedro Albizu Campos is a familiar one in Chicago's Puerto Rican neighborhoods. An alternative high school and a street bear the name of the Puerto Rican politician, who headed Puerto Rico's nationalist party in the first part of this century. But an effort to add one more symbol to honor Albizu Campos died recently when the Chicago City Park board voted down the donation of a bronze statue to the nationalist hero scheduled to be erected in the community's largest park. Indignant admirers of Campos say the board ignored the will of the community, but other Latinos say Campos was a controversial politician whose ideals don't deserve any more recognition. From station WBEZ in Chicago, Tony Sarabia sent this report.

The theme of the song is about a community united in an effort that is uncontainable. On a sweltering August afternoon, a throng of protestors stood on the steps of the Chicago Park District headquarters singing that and other songs as they awaited the outcome of the board's vote. Inside close to 200 people listen to community leaders who backed the effort to raise a statue in Campos's Honor. Absent however, were voices of opposition, which led many to argue that none exists. One prominent opponent however, the commissioner of the city's Human Services Department, Daniel Alvarez, says those who spoke out against Campos were intimidated with threats of violence.

Many people are afraid of talking. Many people didn't want to show up in meetings. They call me, they express opinions in the street, but they didn't want to go public.

Alvarez says only 5% of the city's Puerto Rican community support the idea of honoring a man he says relied too much on violence. Supporters however say it's more like 95% for and only five against. Pedro Albizu Campos began his fight for Puerto Rico's independence shortly after World War I. He led that Caribbean Island's only armed revolt against the US and was convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the US government. For those reasons part of Chicago's Puerto Rican community say Campos is a patriotic hero who deserves honor. Opponents argue a community that is already plagued with violence doesn't need a role model like Campos. But Magdalia Rivera, head of a Latino advocacy group in the city, counters the statue is exactly what the community needs.

It is of dire need that this community which exhibits by the way, according to the 1990 census, some of the lowest socioeconomic indicators amongst all groups within the Latino community even, needs to have its symbols. Needs to memorialize the memory of individuals who have provided models of valor.

But Alvarez says if that's the case, there are other Puerto Ricans who have done more for the island. But supporters maintain this is what the community wants. And as proof produced a petition with 3,000 signatures in favor of the statue. Chicago alderman Billy Ocasio, whose ward includes the Puerto Rican community says, "The park board has never turned down the donation of a statue."

And now here comes the statue of a Puerto Rican, one that this room here believes in. And you're saying, "No," you're saying, "No." Why is it that every time it comes down to the Puerto Rican community, you have to say no? Let me present to you that community. How many people in this room are in favor of the statue? [Cheering and applause]

But a spokesperson for the board says the commissioners had the whole community in mind when it decided not to accept the statue. And while the opposition is pleased with the board's decision supporters say their fight is far from over. They plan on taking the board to court to force them to erect the statue of Pedro Albizu Campos. For Latino USA, I'm Tony Sarabia in Chicago.

Summer may be drawing to a close, but for as long as the warm weather lasts, Latinos in one area of New York City make their summer getaway to Orchard Beach. Located in the Bronx, Orchard Beach is the hottest spot every weekend for free outdoor salsa and merengue shows, and for Latino politicians to campaign for votes. Mainly, though, it's a place where Latino New Yorkers can just relax. Mandalit del Barco prepared this sound portrait of Orchard Beach.

Yo, this is Orchard Beach in the boogie-down Bronx, the Puerto Rican Riviera.

If you can't get out of the city on vacation, this is the place to go. This is our version of Cancun, our version of Puerto Rico.

Tell you about this beach. It's blacks, whites, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Indians, Iranians, you name it. [Laughter] But uh-

This beach is full of culture you know. This beach, you got all kind of Latin Americans. Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Cubans. Get all kind of heritage walking around and having a good time, dancing. There's music bands over there.

[Highlight--Music--Cuban music]

I love it here because you don't see your brother, your sister, for 20 years. Hey brother, remember me? Oh, remember, I was your wife a long time ago? [Laughter]

This is the only place that we come here to forget, and not be- right, enjoy the summer. Because it's good being here, you know away from things, away from problems, away from home.

What do you try to forget about when you're here?

Stress.

Stress. Stress. Problems. Stress.

Work, accounting. Living in the ghetto, which is the most toughest part.

Right. When you come here, everything is different. When you go back home, you're back to the same old thing, same old-

Mostly we're all in projects. You know bad neighborhood, worrying about looking over our shoulders. So, this is a place where we just get away. Everybody's just being themselves, hanging out. We don't have to worry about someone coming behind us and trying to do something. This is relaxing. That's why we come here.

Everybody's trying to get away from that bad environment out there. You know what I'm saying? The shooting and the drugs and all that. Over here, it's not a bad environment. I'm saying, you don't see too many fights over here. I haven't seen a fight broke out yet. If anything, everybody likes trying to help each other. I come here to try have a nice time with my family. Have a few beers, smoke a blunt. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Really. Forget about everyday work and get out of the hot steamy streets, dirty filthy streets and stuff.

Do you ever go into the water?

Not really. I don't like going in that water, cause it's filthy. That's the truth. Where's everybody at? Look, the sand. Very few in the water. And if they're in the water, they're only in up to their knees. That's about it.

I just got to say, the water is very polluted.

Look what happened to his face. It's all red. Jellyfish got in his face.

Yeah, it hurts. It hurts a lot.

I saw there was lot of suckers in there. I wouldn't get in the pool now. I wouldn't put my finger on the pool.

It's not about going in the water. The water's no good. It's just about hanging out on the boardwalk and meeting people.

That's America. You know what I mean? Turn loose. That's what it's all about. You could be you, here in Orchard Beach. It's a symbol of all cultures exposing and expressing what America's about in one little corner of the world. [Laughter]

[Highlight--Music--Cuban music]

Our summertime audio snapshot of Orchard Beach, the Bronx, was produced by Mandalit del Barco.

When President Clinton speaks of universal access to the healthcare system, he includes Puerto Rico. Under his plan, residents of the island will receive the same amount of Medicaid payments as those who live on the mainland. Under the current system, Puerto Ricans on the island receive only 20% of what they would receive if they lived here. Resident commissioner Carlos Romero Barcelo, Puerto Rico's representative in Congress, is pleased with the proposed change.

For the first time in our history, we're now going to be covered in equal terms with all citizens in the nation. Up to now, the Medicaid has not covered Puerto Rico. We have only gotten 79 million dollars and now for the first time we are going to be treated as equals.

A mega showcase for Latino business. And Puerto Ricans get ready to decide the island's political status.

The only people that can talk about Puerto Rico now are the people that are living here in Puerto Rico.

I was born in Puerto Rico. When I die, whether it's New York City or Puerto Rico, I will die as a Puertorriqueño.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Vidal Guzman. The number of Latinos who make up the US population is expected to rise dramatically by the next century according to new data just released by the Census Bureau. Barrie Lynn Tapia reports.

The figures show that Latino population growth is at three times the national average. And by 1996, Hispanics will add more people to the US population than any other ethnic group. In the early part of the next century, Latinos will increase by one million every single year and are well on their way to becoming the second-largest ethnic group, only behind African-Americans. The Census Bureau figures do not include the 3.5 million residents of Puerto Rico. But resident commissioner Carlos Romero Barceló, the island's representative in Congress, said he is urging for its inclusion when the next figures come out. For Latino USA, this is Barrie Lynn Tapia in Washington.

There are an estimated 2.6 million Puerto Ricans living on the US mainland, nearly as many as those who live on the island. And in the first week of October, many of those mainlanders will be voting in an unofficial plebiscite to decide the future status of Puerto Rico. Whether to become a state, stay a commonwealth, or become independent. Mandalit del Barco reports on the issue from New York and San Juan.

In New York City, television ads have begun to publicize the upcoming plebiscite for the status of Puerto Rico.

Participa. Vota. El siete, ocho y nueve de octubre. Consulta plebicitaria 93. Es tu derecho. Es tu responsabilidad.

On October 7th, 8th and 9th, New Yorkers born on the island and their voting-age children will have a chance to voice their opinions on the future of their homeland. While island officials decided against allowing mainland voters from participating in the Puerto Rican plebiscite in November, Latino political leaders in New York insist that US Puerto Ricans register their votes. Both plebiscites are non-binding and the US Congress will ultimately decide Puerto Rico's status. New York City Council Member Victor Robles is among many defending the right of onboarding Queños to vote.

I was born in Puerto Rico. When I die, whether it's New York City or Puerto Rico, I will die as a Puertorriqueño. And that's the point. And I think this election should be focusing solely on allowing the will of the people. Let the people in Puerto Rico have their elections. I haven't said they shouldn't have it, but we here in New York, like throughout the states where there's a large concentration of Puerto Ricans, do have the right to also express how we feel.

Councilman Robles and other New York Puerto Ricans say their voices will convey enormous weight on the Congress's decision. But on the island itself, there is much resistance to the idea. At the Plaza de Armas in Old San Juan, Jesus Quinoñes, says Puerto Ricans who left the island have no right to say what should happen.

No debería tener ningún dirigencia. Son puertorriqueño nostotros puertorriqueño pero realmente ellos no aportan nada bienestar de todos los puertorriqueños. O sea, no deben opinar.

Quinoñes says those who left the country shouldn't be able to give an opinion on the future of the island. But Aura Rosa Santiago, a retired journalist who lives in Arecibo, disagrees.

Bueno, sí yo creo que sí que lo puertorriqueños somos puertorriqeuños donde quiera que estemos. Sentimos por Puerto Rico. No dejamos de ser puertorriqeuño.

While some Puerto Ricans left for a better life, she says, they still have Puerto Rico in their hearts. Santiago says she would like Puerto Rico to be independent since that's the right of every people. But she fears being cut off completely from the United States will hurt the people on the island.

Otra cosa. El estado [unintelligible 0:19:30] el nombre de [unintelligble 0:19:31]. Estuvo una colonia aquí.

Sí, había una colonia.

Debates about the status of Puerto Rico are raging throughout the island, from government buildings to local bars. A group of men drinking beer outside Juniors Cafe on Calle Sebastian in San Juan talked about the pros and cons of the plebiscite, both in Puerto Rico and New York.

Look, I'm going to tell you the truth. The only people that can talk about Puerto Rico now are the people that are living here in Puerto Rico. Because he left Puerto Rico 10, 12, maybe 20 years ago, you don't know what are the problems that Puerto Rico having now? You know what everybody talks. You know what everybody let him know. You read the newspaper there.

They're not living, not the problems that we're living right now.

The problems we are living right now. That's exactly.

Jose Santiago isn't sure what he'll be voting in November. He's heard that if Puerto Rico becomes a state, many companies will leave the island because they'll have to pay workers minimum wage. He says whatever Puerto Ricans vote, the exercise is futile.

It don't mean that if the vote here says, "Yeah, statehood." No, it don't mean that. Congress and Washington DC is going to decide. The senators, the representatives, they're going to say, "Okay, we'll set Puerto Rico as a state." Otherwise their decision, our vote here don't mean nothing.

Leading archeologist, Dr. Ricardo Alegría is vocally opposed to the plebiscite, saying an international body and not Congress should decide Puerto Rico's fate. Alegría says a vote for Puerto Rico to become a state would spell disaster.

The statehood will be the end of our nationality, the end of our culture. The people who defend statehood in Puerto Rico, the government at this moment, they don't want the Puerto Ricans who live in the United States to vote in the plebiscite. And I think that they realize that the Puerto Ricans there know better than the Puerto Ricans here, what is statehood. And that's why they are afraid that they will vote against statehood because they have suffered prejudice and they know that although they vote for the president and they vote for congressmen, they don't receive the benefits that the defender of statehood here claim that we are going to receive as soon as Puerto Rico became a state of the union.

They tried to sell statehood here by putting some ads in television with packs of dollars and expressing how much money we are going to receive under statehood and that the poverty will disappear in Puerto Rico. And I have seen poverty in New York, even worse poverty than the one that we have in Puerto Rico, but for many Puerto Ricans who have never been in the States, they still have the whole idea of the United States with a lot of money. And because of that, maybe they will vote in favor of statehood.

Dr Alegría says he favors independence of the island, but he's a realist. He says most Puerto Ricans have been frightened away from voting for total autonomy through what he calls a government's campaign of fear, equating independence with an end to veterans benefits, food stamps and other aid. There are some in Puerto Rico who say the plebiscite is a waste of money, that the government would be better off spending its energy on social problems, preventing crime and AIDS.

(singing) Entre regas se encuentre el patriota. Con el arma rota de tanto dolor. Su delito es querer revivir a su patria querida.

Jose Rodriguez scrapes by with pocket change he earns by singing in the streets. He doesn't have a job and he's been living with AIDS for 10 years. He says the government never helped him, why should he bother voting in the plebiscite? Still like many Puerto Ricans, he has strong patriotic feelings. Jose Santiago cast his vote for Puerto Rico, not in the voting booth, but by singing in the streets of Viejo San Juan. [José continues singing] For Latino USA, I'm Mandalit del Barco in New York.

This is Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture. I'm Maria Hinojosa. Today on Latino USA, a historic focus on issues affecting Latinos from Washington, to San Juan, to Los Angeles.

Yes, we are different national origins. We're different partisan roots, but the truth is we have much more in common than the things that separate us.

We'll also go to Miami, home of MTV Latino, and the growing Latino entertainment industry.

In the future you'll see a lot of crossover Latin artists getting more into the Anglo market and vice versa, and also the new breed of bilingual artists.

That and more coming up on Latino USA, but first, las noticias.

Puerto Ricans in New York City are going to the polls to voice their opinions on the political future of the island, now, a US commonwealth. Mandalit del Barco has more.

Like Puerto Ricans on the island, New Yorkers born in Puerto Rico, or whose parents were, are voting on whether Puerto Rico should become a state, remain a commonwealth, or choose independence. Both elections are non-binding on Congress, who will ultimately decide Puerto Rico's fate. Manny Mirabal, who heads New York City's coalition Pro Puerto Rican Participation says the outcome of the New York vote could greatly influence Congress' decision. "Depending on the outcome," he says, "Congress might be coaxed into declaring an official plebiscite."

One of the reasons we're holding this process is to ensure that there will be, to show the Congress that not only our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico are concerned about this issue and want it resolved once or for all, but also people who actually vote and elect the Congress of the United States. 143 Congresspeople whose electoral districts have significant Puerto Rican populations, I think will get a message that they better start dealing with it.

Officially, the New York York vote has no direct connection with Puerto Rico's plebiscite in November, but New York Puerto Ricans say they too should have a voice on the future of their homeland. For Latino USA, I'm Mandalit del Barco in New York.

Teachers in Puerto Rico are out on strike to protest a school voucher program, which they say jeopardizes the island's public education system. And residents of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques are also protesting the US Navy, which controls two thirds of the tiny island, reportedly dropped several bombs near a residential area. Now residents are asking President Clinton to put the naval bases on Vieques on his list of base closures.

Preferably, if they would just close the bases on this island period, but priority. Stop bombing exercises on this island.

Myrna Pagan of the Committee for the Rescue of Vieques. I'm Maria Martin. You're listening to Latino USA.

The incidence of measles among US children has reached a record low, after a huge resurgence beginning in 1989, according to the Centers for Disease Control. However, 224 cases of measles in Puerto Rico were not included in the results. From Austin, Texas, I'm Maria Martin. You're listening to Latino USA.

Police chiefs and mayors from throughout the nation came to Washington, DC recently to ask President Clinton's help in dealing with violent crime. The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the crime and murder rate has reached staggering proportions in recent years says, although more police is one solution, it's perhaps more important to confront this nation's culture of violence. Mayor Hector Luis Acevedo.

In Puerto Rico, we have now the National Guard in the public [inaudible]. We have this year more than 100 murders more than last year.

Puerto Rico's governor, Pedro Rosselló, also came to Washington to lobby Congress. Rosselló wants the US government to maintain Section 936 of the US tax code. Section 936 allows US companies operating in Puerto Rico to go without paying taxes for 10 years. From Washington, Patricia Guadalupe has more.

Section 936 was originally planned as a post-World War II economic incentive to industrialize the once agricultural economy of Puerto Rico. Section 936 is viewed by many lawmakers, including President Clinton, as an unnecessary tax shelter. According to congressional figures, eliminating Section 936 would add more than 6 billion to the US Treasury. President Clinton has proposed eliminating Section 936, but Puerto Rico's governor Pedro Rosselló believes that would spell economic disaster for the island. Rosselló says Puerto Rico's unemployment rate, now at 18%, double the US average, would rise sharply. Over a third of the island's workforce is employed by Section 936 companies. Rosselló met with New York Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

What we asked him to do was to include a two-option plan. Also, that the level of contribution from Section 936 is new revenues to treasury be kept in the range of 3 billion dollars over the next five years.

Some proposals include keeping Section 936 revenues in Puerto Rico to help pay for a national healthcare plan. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.