Annotations for Subject-headings: Government Policy

The debate over healthcare reform continues. In a full page ad in the New York Times, three California Latino organizations urged President Clinton to include everyone, even the undocumented, in his upcoming healthcare plan. From Sacramento, Armando Botello reports.

The Latino issues for a Mexican American political association and American GI forum based their petition on the assumption that preventive healthcare is a good investment. John Gamboa is President of the Latino Issues Forum.

There's no real good reason why these people should not be counted. First, it's un-American. Second, it doesn't save money. Third, if we don't cover them, the health of everybody else is in jeopardy because a communicable disease that could be prevented may spread to other people and increase the cost, and get other people sick simply because we won't cover them.

According to Gamboa, the only criticism to their petition has come from anti-immigrant groups. However, Arnoldo Torres, former National Director of the League of Latin American Citizens, says the plan is not feasible because of an anti-immigrant climate, a shortage of funds, lack of Latino health professionals, and a lack of consensus among the Latino community to back the proposal. Torres however offers an alternative which would be linked to the Free Trade Agreement.

Some of the revenue and benefit that Mexico will receive from this, and as well as the US, ought to be providing... It should be put into some reserve/trust fund to cover some of the healthcare costs of undocumented people in this country.

So far, the only response to the proposal has come from the California Congressional Delegation, which has asked the President to look into it. In Sacramento, California, I'm Armando Botello reporting for Latino USA.

Seasonal farm workers have been left out of Washington State's newly-enacted healthcare law, considered the most sweeping in the nation. Farm worker health advocates call the exclusion "unwise and unconstitutional", and plant a core challenge. I'm Maria Martin. You're listening to Latino USA.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. President Clinton met with Latino leaders from around the country in Washington. Among those meeting with the president were representatives of the National Council of La Raza, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda and the League of United Latin American Citizens. Healthcare, Education and Clinton's economic plan were among the topics on the agenda.

Dieron el pronunciamiento de [unintelligible] en inscripcion de la gente para que renovar su permiso… [Translation--Dub--English]

Salvadorean refugee advocates like Manuel Alfaro of Washington are mounting informational campaigns in Central American communities. They're telling people that temporary protective status for Salvadorans due to expire at the end of June has been extended for 18 months. Salvadorans now under TPS have until that date to file form 765 for the immigration service in order to be able to remain in this country legally.

Hay mucho ya establecieron familias. Otros tienen temor de regresar al El Salvador por todo lo que paso durante los 12 años... [Translation--Dub--English]

Even now, before NAFTA's implementation, business people in Texas are actively trading with their colleagues south of the border, and if the trade agreement is going to work, it will be up to individual entrepreneurs to lead the way. It's a trail already being blazed by many Hispanic-owned businesses, such as John Montoya's. He's the president of World Dallas International, a trading services company, and for him, the rewards of the agreement are quite clear.

An international labor union has begun a series of meetings nationwide to involve its Latino retirees in national healthcare reform. From Miami, Emilio San Pedro reports.

About 40% of the retired members of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, the ILGWU, are Latinas. That's why the union decided to create a series of nationwide meetings on Latino healthcare called Acceso or Access. At the first such meeting held in Hialeah, a primarily Hispanic industrial city northwest of Miami, about 100 retired Latinas expressed their healthcare concerns to a panel made up of national and local union representatives as well as representatives from the local congressional offices of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz Ballard.

The kickoff will be for our retirees, our Hispanic retirees across the country, to highlight the fact that for them the key issue, for our Spanish-speaking retirees, it's the access issue because they have the additional difficulty at times of not having linguistic access to this care, and particularly for women.

The retirees say they're concerned with how a new healthcare system would impact their ability to seek medical care from Hispanic doctors. For Latino USA, I'm Emilio San Pedro in Miami.

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.

This is Maria Hinojosa. It's estimated that in the United States alone, there may be as many as a million practitioners of the religious tradition known as Santería. The Afro-Cuban religion, whose followers turn for guidance to deities called Orishas, recently came into the spotlight when the US Supreme Court ruled that Santería's practice of sacrificing animals, such as roosters, is protected by the freedom of religion clause of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. With us from Miami to speak about that ruling and what it means to practitioners of Santería is anthropologist Mercedes Sandoval, author of several books on Santería and an expert on Afro-Cuban religions. Welcome to Latino USA, Mercedes.

Thank you very much.

Now the ritual sacrifice of animals for the Orishas or the saints was banned in the Florida city of Hialeah in 1987. What was the impact of that ban, and how do you think things are going to change with this Supreme Court ruling?

Since the very moment that the Supreme Court, for instance, has lifted that ban, it means that santerians are not going to be persecuted for sacrificing animals, and it takes that stigma out, and I hope that the authority will be more interested in persecuting real criminals than people that are practicing a religion that doesn't have to have any connotation of antisocial behavior.

Were people in fact persecuted because of practicing animal sacrifice?

Not really, but they could have. Sometimes they were arrested not only because of that ban, but because of complaints that the authorities received from different association for the defense of animals, and so, or for neighbors that were nervous. You have to have in mind that there is a lot of other repercussions outside of the actual sacrificing of animals.

Now in Spanish, the word Santería means the way of the saints, and in fact, the religion has a very holistic spiritual interpretation of human beings and their environment, their surroundings. But in fact, many misconceptions exist about Santería, that it's like a black magic or it's voodoo. How much do you think those misconceptions played into the original banning of animal sacrifice in Hialeah, and how much do those misconceptions still exist?

Well, first of all, Santería, does have a reputation. It is an African religion. A lot of the rituals are carried out in a way that is practically secret. Then, there is some reliance in magical practice, much more so than other more European type of religious systems, and therefore a lot of people go to this religious system looking for protection. And in some instances magical practices are, try to be used to protect yourself and even to attack an enemy. This is actually true. However, I believe that because it is an unknown religion, because it has an African origin, they have been misunderstood and suffered a lot of discrimination.

Do you think that the Supreme Court ruling, which basically is now protecting the sacrifice of animals under the First Amendment, the freedom of religion clause, do you think that this is going to have an impact on how people see Santería and how people see the issue of animal sacrifice in this country?

Yes, I believe that. I believe that first of all, it has a practical impact. It gets the authorities off the back of the santeros. All right? That's very important. I think it legitimizes their practices. That's what it's doing. If the supreme law of the land takes off the ban, it's legitimizing these religious practices, and then Santería will not be in any way associated with satanism. That has nothing to do with Santería.

Thank you very much, Mercedes Sandoval, who is an anthropologist and an author of several books on Santería and is an expert on Afro-Cuban religions.

My own feeling, my own personal feeling is that if we work at it, that we'll be able to get a treaty that's good for the country and good for Mexico.

That's Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza, commenting on the present status of the North American Free Trade Agreement. At this point, congressional approval of NAFTA is still in question. Mexico and Mexico's president, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, have a lot at stake in NAFTA's becoming a reality, as do many Hispanic entrepreneurs in this country. In Dallas, Latino business and civic leaders recently met with the Mexican president trying to counter the arguments from a certain Texas politician that NAFTA will mean major job losses. Brian Shields prepared this report.

Dallas billionaire, Ross Perot is spending millions of dollars to go on national television to stir up opposition to NAFTA, but members of the Dallas Hispanic Chamber believe the treaty will be beneficial for their businesses. During a recent visit to Dallas, Mexican president, Carlos Salinas, asserted there's no time to waste.

I have been asked, "Why NAFTA?" Because this is the only way how we will be able to compete in the world in which we live. "Why now?" Because we are late, late when other regions in the world are getting together to increase the efficiency and competitive capacity.

To my business, it would probably help it tremendously. I've been in business now for 12 years, doing business back and forth through Mexico, and we have had quite a bit of product going back and forth. The prices generally will then be lowered on some of the items that we now are paying some duties in.

Opposition to NAFTA in the United States centers on concerns that higher paying jobs north of the border will disappear to be replaced by very low wage employment in Mexico. Such arguments are coming not only from supporters of Ross Perot, but also from grassroots Hispanic groups such as San Antonio's Fuerza Unida, if you're a loss of American manufacturing jobs that now employ Latinos here. However, President Salinas insists the treaty will have the opposite effect.

NAFTA is also a wage increase agreement, because with increases in productivity, we will be able to increase wages in Mexico more than they have been growing in the past four years.

Between Ross Perot and opponents of free trade in and out of the Congress, right now, the agreement appears to be in trouble, but Jorge Haynes with Laredo's International Bank of Commerce insists the opportunity is too important to allow it to slip away.

If we should decide not to adopt NAFTA, which is something I don't want to think about, I think we will be going backwards in our relationship with Mexico rather than forwards.

Hispanics in the United States are the group less likely to have access to healthcare. Luis Antonio Ocasio has a story.

According to a report from the National Coalition of Hispanic Health and Human Services Organizations, 30% of Hispanics do not have regular access to healthcare. The study shows that almost one-third of children of Hispanic working adults are not covered by health insurance. According to U.S. Assistant Secretary for Agent Fernando Torres Hill, the passage of a national healthcare plan is essential for meeting the healthcare needs of Hispanics.

Latino families still tend to rely on each other. They still draw on extended families, and they still prefer to have their elders or disabled either with them or near them. That's not to over-romanticize the Latino community because we are also acculturating. And as we acculturate, our studies show we become like everybody else, where we look to nursing homes and hospices, and hospitals.

Torres Hill says the Department of Health and Human Services will promote home and community-based healthcare programs. For "Latino USA," I'm Luis Antonio Ocasio in Washington.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. The future of the North American Free Trade Agreement remains in question. Since the US district judge ruled the Clinton administration may not present NAFTA for approval in Congress until its impact on the environment is determined.

It caught some people by surprise.

Judge Charles Richey's ruling was a victory for environmentalists opposed to NAFTA and a disappointing setback to its supporters like Abel Guerra of the National Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

We feel NAFTA provides many environmental safeguards, which are now nonexistent. The defeat of NAFTA would actually harm the environment more than these environmental groups know.

Opponents of the present trade agreements say the court ruling validates their long-standing concerns about the treaty. Labor organizer Victor Munoz of the AFL-CIO says he's hopeful the recent court decision will lead to negotiating an entirely new trade agreement.

If it could be renegotiated completely, I think it would give us a very good opportunity to create a much better trade agreement than the one we have right now.

A majority of Americans favor curbs on immigration. This includes many Latinos. According to a recent New York Times CBS poll, 53% of Latinos interviewed said immigration levels should be decreased. 77% said they would welcome immigrants in their neighborhood compared with 67% of all respondents to the survey. From Austin, Texas, you're listening to Latino USA.

In a narrow five-to-four decision in a case challenging the North Carolina Congressional District, which for the first time since Reconstruction has selected an African American, the US Supreme Court has ruled that minority districts drawn with widely separated boundaries may violate the rights of white voters. Reaction to the ruling by minority voting rights organizations was universally negative. Patricia Guadalupe has this report.

Latino reaction was highly critical of the Supreme Court decision, allowing challenges to congressional districts that were specifically drawn to increase Black and Hispanic representation in Congress. Steven Carbo of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Washington DC.

It's been recognized that in order to overturn what historically has happened, that legislatures would have to be race-conscious and maximize political opportunities by creating majority-minority districts. The decision by the Supreme Court seems to question that whole framework. Frankly, if we can't be race-conscious in things like drawing majority-minority districts, then how do we make the Voting Rights Act a reality?

Two of the congressional districts that could be affected by the Supreme Court decision, one in New York and one in Illinois, have a majority population of Latinos and were created only recently to represent that majority. Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Chicago represents one of the districts.

It's 65% Hispanic, but only 40% of the voters are Hispanic so that non-Hispanics make up the vast majority and indeed are the single largest group. I never believe in an electoral process that you guarantee any ethnic or racial group a seat in the Congress of the United States. But you do have to guarantee us a fair and equitable opportunity.

Even though Latino groups said they were surprised and caught off guard, all are mounting legal fights around the country to challenge the Supreme Court decision. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

According to a CBS news poll, the majority of Americans supported President Clinton's decision to bomb selected Iraqi targets. Bombing raids began on June 26th in retaliation for a plot to assassinate former President George Bush. Well, here at Latino USA, we wanted to get an idea of the sentiment for President Clinton's action among Latinos. We have reports from two Latino communities, the first from Emilio San Pedro in Miami.

[Natural sounds of neighborhood] I'm Emilio San Pedro, en la Calle Ocho, Southwest 8th Street in Miami. Here, some people support the recent US bombing of Iraq while others question the necessity for such an action.

Si ellos quieren hacer algo verdad, que vayan a—[English translation dub]

[English translation dub] Well, I think if they want to attack, well, they should attack Hussein. He's just playing with them. Really, it's a political game that we're going to show the world we're powerful.

I feel that President Clinton did the right thing. We can't be taking the pressure from the Middle East all the time, you know. Man did what he had to do. He did the right thing. He had to make sure that take a stand against people like that, like Gaddafi and this other guy he got rid of. That's the main thing.

Yo me opongo porque se—[English translation dub] Well, I'm opposed. If we keep attacking, then they keep attacking, and it's never going to end.

In Los Angeles, few residents inteviewed have taken the time to analyze the recent bombings in Iraq. And some worry about the military implications, other wonder about other priorities like finding a job.

Ahorita ultimamente no me entero de nada noticas por la radio. Lo relacionado a que estan sin trabajo se dedica mas tiempo en el trabajo si.

I feel good about it. [Laughter] I'm glad they did. Because if you don't stop them, they'll just keep going. And who knows where it will end up. A nuclear war?

In my opinion. Yeah, it was wrong. It was justified at that time to invade Iraq. They were a threat, I believe.

I don't listen to the news.

Bueno si si hubo motivo pues esta bien que lo hagan hecho [English translation dub].

[English translation dub] If there was a reason, then it's good. But if there was no reason, then it jeopardized world peace. And that's something that all of us on this planet long for.

In Los Angeles for Latino USA, this is Alberto Aguilar reporting.

The government of Cuba recently announced it's willing to compensate US companies for properties confiscated on the island more than 30 years ago. Also, a group of retired US military officers announced a visit to the island. Dialogue with Cuba has not been officially announced by the Clinton administration, but the mere possibility of dialogue has split the Cuban American community. With us from Miami to speak about the political climate in the Cuban community are reporters, Ivan Roman of El Nuevo Herald, Nancy San Martin, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, and Latino USA correspondent Emilio San Pedro of WLRN Radio in Miami. Welcome. Is there a growing division between more conservative elements of the Cuban community in Miami versus more modern elements? And what are those divisions based on?

Emotions are extremely high. We've had a couple of outbreaks between anti-Castro exiles and what we've termed sympathizers. And I think those incidents where there was actual fistfights surely indicate that there is a growing division between those who believe that peace talks are the way to go, and those who believe that tightening the embargo and perhaps only a violent overthrow is the way to go.

So people in the area near Miami actually talk about the need to have a violent overthrow of Castro's Cuba that is put together by the United States? A military overthrow?

[Interruption]I'm sorry. They don't only talk about it, but you have the paramilitary groups that actually plan for it.

I've always lived in Miami. And that's been a discussion in Miami for the last 30 years. I can guarantee you of that. But the thing is, I think primarily, that now you see people that have not been in the United States for 30 years or 25 years, people who came in 1980 from Cuba, people who came in the 80s, people who have recently arrived, and they feel a much deeper connection to Cuba in the sense of, I have a mother that lives in Cuba, or I have a sister that lives in Cuba and that I keep in contact with on a regular basis. And a lot of those people are the ones that are saying, "I want to be able to know that my relatives in Cuba are okay. I don't agree with the system over there. I don't like the system, but I don't want to punish the people who live there that are my relatives."

And that's a very definitive group in the community that really feels strongly that there should be supplies, that there should be trade of some sort, so that the people receive just the basic essentials so that they can get back on their feet. And the anger is evident as it was outside of the radio station Radio Mambi recently when people really went at each other and they were all Cubans. Everybody that was punching each other for the first time, I think, really we're all Cubans fighting over this issue. And they were all beating each other up and screaming and calling each other communists or, you want to starve my kids, and all kinds of things like that. And the media, unfortunately, really hasn't helped much.

The tensions continue because certain people who want a certain resolution in Cuba, who favor a hard line towards Cuba don't look toward very kindly towards any media that either advocates a different solution or simply tries to report the different points of view. And here in Miami, reporting two sides of the story can get you labeled as a communist in a second, and that happens, and that's happened for decades.

And from your insider's perspective, who has President Clinton's ear on the issue? One group more than the other, or where does Clinton stand on this?

Definitely the hardliners because they're the ones who got him some more Cuban votes, even though it wasn't overwhelming, but they're -- the most activist Cubans in his campaign who are speaking with the loudest voice are people who favor a hard line.

At the same time, there are people who think that he can't possibly be as inclined towards a hard line as President Bush or Reagan may have been. And so there's that other group that is kind of waiting to see if there's some change in the policy from Washington, but really there hasn't been any significant policy since Clinton took office, so it's almost hard to gauge where he's going to come out.

I agree. I think he is playing both sides of the field. I think while he has publicly come out saying that he's not going to soften the embargo, at the same time, the State Department recently approved the humanitarian aid flotilla that left from Key West to Cuba in April. And that was the first time that a flotilla of that kind went to Cuba and the approval was almost immediately and a lot of people down here saw that as a shift in policy. So I think we're not exactly sure on how he's going to come out on this issue.

Thank you all very much. Ivan Roman of El Nuevo Herald, Nancy San Martin, a general assignment reporter for the Sun-Sentinel, and a Emilio San Pedro of WLRN public radio.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin.

It is not a perfect solution. It is not identical with some of my own goals and it certainly will not please everyone, perhaps not anyone.

As President Clinton correctly predicted, his policy on gays in the military drew mixed reaction. From the gay community, there was anger and disappointment. Letitia Gomez is with a National Latino Gay and Lesbian Alliance in Washington.

It's incredible to me that if you say you're gay and you're in the military, that that is considered sexual misconduct and you can be thrown out. I mean, who in the United States has to deal with that except gays and lesbians in the military? One Gallup poll showed that 58% of Americans do favor the compromise.

You're listening to Latino USA. As a response to Cuba's economic crisis, premier Fidel Castro says Cubans may now legally possess American dollars and that more visas will be granted to exiles wishing to visit relatives on the island. Meanwhile, the State Department has issued new regulations permitting US phone companies to do business with Cuba. From Miami, Emilio San Pedro has more.

The new guidelines on telephone communications will make it easier for telephone companies to expand their service to Cuba. They also call for US phone companies to split revenues 50/50 with Cuba's telephone company. This has led some people to see this as a significant easing of the economic embargo against Cuba, but others in the Cuban exile community questioned the move because the government of Fidel Castro stands to earn in excess of 30 million dollars a year from improved telephone communications with the United States. According to businessman Teo Babun Jr. of Cuba USA Ventures, the guidelines just announced by the State Department were actually included in the Cuban Democracy Act signed into law last year. He says they don't really represent a softening of the economic embargo of Cuba.

A softening of the embargo would necessitate creating either a new bill or a retreating from some action that the United States had already announced. And in the case of this act, it is not a change, but rather it's just a development, if you will, or an announcement of the specific guidelines of a bill that had already been announced.

The State Department echoes the view that while the new guidelines do carve out a niche for Cuba to do business with the United States, they do not represent a departure from US law now governing the embargo. The next step is for us phone companies to begin negotiations with the Cuban telephone company using the new guidelines. Before that happens, the Cuban government wants the US to address its demand for the release of 85 million dollars of phone revenues earned by Cuba now being held in escrow in US banks. For Latino USA, I'm Emilio San Pedro.

That's news from Latino USA, Vidal Guzman.

More than 30 years ago after the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 and the failed US backed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, the United States government imposed an economic embargo of that island. Trade and travel to Cuba were prohibited under most circumstances. Under the Trading With the Enemies Act, that policy has softened and then heartened over the years. Most recently, it was tightened under legislation sponsored by Representative Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, the Cuban Democracy Act. Now that policy is being challenged by a group led by several religious leaders. It's an effort known as Pastors for Peace.

I'm Sandra Levinson. I'm from New York, but I started on the Duluth route.

Joe Callahan from Minneapolis.

I’m Henry Garcia from Chicago.

Latino USA caught up with a group Pastors for Peace in Austin a few days before they defied US government policy by taking medicines, food, and other aid to the economically strapped island of Cuba.

We're taking such dangerous things as tons of powdered milk. We are taking pharmaceuticals because they are actually distilling their own pharmaceuticals out of the herbs and plants in the fields. I've seen that with my own eyes just in April. They don't even have sutures to close surgical wounds.

Like the Reverend George Hill, pastor of First Baptist Church in downtown Los Angeles. Every one of the approximately 300 people involved in the motley caravan of school buses, vans, and trucks that make up the Pastors for Peace eight caravan opposes the US economic embargo of Cuba. So much so that they refuse to obtain the license the Custom Bureau requires in order to ship anything to that island.

We refuse to ask for a license. We refuse to accept the license if the government extends one to us. Our license is really our command from God to feed the hungry, to give clothes to those who are naked, to visit those in prison, to give a cup of cold water. We must do this to the least and even to those with whom we may have differences.

The Reverend Lucius Walker of the Salvation Baptist Church in Brooklyn is the founder of Pastors for Peace. His stand on Cuba has not made him very popular among those opposed to the government of Fidel Castro. And he says he's received a number of threats.

Telephone calls to my office, threatening to come over with a pistol and take care of me.

Still. Walker insists he is not engaging in politics, only in the highest tradition of religious principles and civil disobedience.

Of Jesus Christ, of Martin Luther King, of Gandhi, and all of those who are the good examples of what it takes to make social progress in a world that if left to its own devices could be a very ugly place to live.

[Music] About 30 members of the Pastors for Peace Group sit around a television three days before they're set to rendezvous with more caravan members to cross the border at Laredo. They're watching a video about how the animosity between the governments of Cuba and this country have separated families for as long as 30 years.

No quiero vivir allá, no me gusta vivir allá. Pero me gusta vivir aquí, pero quiero ver a mi hermana, y a mis sobrinos que nacieron allá. Que son familia, que son sangre. [Translation: I don’t want to live there, I don’t like living there. I like living here, but I want to see my sister, and my nephews that were born over there. They are family, they are blood.]

I grew up myself with my family always saying, you know, that the only way to get out is to go to US to have a better life, to live like normal people, to wear jeans, to eat gum, chew gum. It's like very idiotic things to think of when I live here now, and you know, I have to learn the language.

Elisa Ruiz Zamora was born in Cuba. She came to this country with her family when she was 18. She's now a young mother and student making her life here in the States. But when she heard about the caravan of aid to Cuba, she brought her family down to meet with a group. Her mother, brother, and grandfather are still on the island and she hopes some of the caravan's aid gets to them. It's amazing, she says, to see Americans get together to help another nation, one their government has told them is a dangerous enemy.

Tell the opposite to their government. The government's like to me, it's like they want to be the judges of the world. Say, what should happen here? What shouldn't happen, how Cubans should live their lives. And we have a mind of our own and we always have. There's...

The Clinton administration has so far given little indication that it's ready to lift the blockade on Cuba. During his election campaign, Mr. Clinton received considerable support from anti-Castro organizations like the Cuban American National Foundation, but with the easing of telephone communications with the island, some now believe there might be a small window of possible change on other fronts. Sandra Levinson is the director of the Center for Cuban Studies in New York.

They are looking, I think, in Washington for a way to change policy, which does not really give anything to Cuba. Of course, we will never do that, but will ease the tension somewhat, perhaps make it possible for more people to travel legally to Cuba. Make it possible for AT&T to put down some new telephone lines and perhaps give some of the 80 million dollars in escrow, which is accrued for Cuba to the nation, which so desperately needs that money. They don't care how much they have to pay for a telephone call. They want to talk to their mama.

As this program went to air, most of the Pastors for Peace caravan had been able to get across the border, except for two school buses and a few other vehicles. Among the drivers of those vehicles was the delegation leader, the Reverend Lucius Walker, who in the non-violent tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, began a hunger strike in protest. For Latino USA, I'm Maria Martin reporting.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. The struggle over the North American free trade agreement continues to intensify. Even as treaty negotiations draw to a close, supporters and opponents of NAFTA heat up the lobbying effort for votes in Congress. Among vocal opponents of NAFTA coming to Capitol Hill recently were members of Mexico's opposition Democratic Revolutionary Party. From Washington, Patricia Guadalupe reports.

While Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari has staked his political reputation on passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Congressman Miguel Huerta of Mexico's Democratic Revolutionary Party said he had to come to Washington to tell his counterparts here that the North American Free Trade Agreement would hurt citizens of both countries.

It's not the problem that because we are opposed to Salinas, we are opposed to NAFTA. It's not... that's not the argument. We are opposed to some fundamental chapters of this NAFTA because it's bad for the citizen of the two countries. We are opposed to NAFTA because some chapters and some principles establishing the NAFTA are opposed to the interest of citizens of Mexico, of United States, and of Canada.

Since then, six Democratic senators have sent a letter to President Clinton, urging him to renegotiate the free-trade agreement. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe, in Washington.

We've just heard a report about relations between the police and Latino community in the city of Dallas, Texas. With us on the phone to address the issue from the perspective of other communities, our attorney, Juan Milanes, legal counsel for Washington DC's Latino Civil Rights task force, and from California, professor Gloria Romero, chair of the Hispanic Advisory Council for the Los Angeles Police Commission. Welcome to both of you. Is there a problem, a historical problem between the Latino community and police departments across this country, or is it just a question of isolated incidents in certain areas?

In my mind, there's no doubt that it's a national issue, and I think that if we look at Washington D.C., if we look at Miami, Florida, if we take a look at Houston or Dallas or Albuquerque, Denver, LA, San Jose; in every community, historically, the issues of tensions between police and community have arisen. And that's not only in the contemporary period, but historically within the last 50 years. We can even go back to the Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles. So there is a legacy I think that's present.

Why is that legacy there? What is the root of the tension between police departments and the Latino community?

I think if you want to take a look at the underlying issues of police community tensions, you're looking at not simply the police, but what police symbolize. And to me, that comes down to taking a look at perhaps an institution of society that is there to maintain what people perceive to be an unjust order. And over the last 50 years, we have seen movements to raise the quality of life, to equalize conditions between Latinos and others in this society, and in that sense, as long as you're going to find inequity in just the day-to-day living standards of people, it's not surprising to find challenges to that order, which is there to maintain.

In Washington D.C. you saw a very large influx of new immigrants, which is the predominant group of Latinos here in Washington, that the city truly just wasn't prepared to deal with because the increase in the population has been exponential when compared to any other group. So that in the last 10 years, Hispanics have doubled in size here, especially with regard to the police department. So few Hispanics and so few bilingual police officers has led to the problem of cultural clashes as well as a language barrier.

In both of your communities, there have been studies and recommendations made about how to deal with the issue of police and Latino community relations. In the aftermath what has been done to address those issues?

Well, I think on one hand we still have to look at quote, unquote the aftermath. The aftermath is more immigrant bashing than ever. In Los Angeles you're looking at the picking up just recently of skinheads accu- basically ready to bomb. It was focused on the south central African-American community, but the issues around which this aroused the greatest sentiment was around issues of Rodney King police brutality. So I think we have to look at the aftermath. There is the criminalization of the Latino that is not new. We can go back 50 years again and it's still the Frito Bandito. You still have the Latino, the Mexican, the Salvadorian as the criminal illegal alien. That's the language that's being used. So I believe that yes, in Los Angeles and nationally we had the Christopher Commission report. We've had the Colts report, we've had the Webster's report and decades before we had the McCone Commission and the Kerner reports. We have had study after study after study, and these are significant and important, but the bottom line is I will continue to take a look at, until we as a society at all levels, federal and state and local, take a look at some of the underlying complications of economic, social, political, racial inequity. We can put all the reports we want in impressive array in our library shelves, but we're not getting to the root causes and consequences of tensions in the community into which police immerse themselves.

And in Washington D.C., Juan.

Not that different. One of the things that we found when we did our investigation was that officers would compete in the third and fourth police districts, which are the police districts with the largest Hispanic populations in the District of Columbia, would compete for what was known, Officer of the Month Award. The Officer of the Month Award is based on a number of different factors, one of which is number of arrests, and one practice would be that officers would routinely go into the poorer, most immigrant sections of the Latino community and pick up individuals on disorderly conduct arrests to basically hike up their own arrest records to be able to compete for that Officer of the Month Award, and would ultimately trump up charges against anyone for anything.

Well, thank you very much for joining us on Latino USA. Attorney Juan Milanes, legal counsel for Washington D.C.'s, Latino Civil Rights Task Force, and Professor Gloria Romero, chair of the Hispanic Advisory Council for the Los Angeles Police Commission. Thanks again, for Latino USA.

Before the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, jazz music flowed freely from this country to Cuba and back. That musical cross-pollination has been more difficult in recent years, though. However, Cuban jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba made history this summer when he was permitted to play in the United States for the very first time. Alfredo Cruz reports.

[Recordando a Tschaikowsky--Gonzalo Rubalcaba]

During the first half of this century, Cuban music was a very popular source of entertainment in the United States. The Mambo y cha-cha-cha, and other rhythms dominated radio waves and dance halls across the country. Cuban music was being heard here, and jazz over there. But in 1959, following the Cuban Revolution, all cultural and political connections between the two countries were cut. And in Cuba, jazz became a Yankee imperialist activity. Playing or listening to jazz was done in an underground clandestine manner. Since then, things have changed. For one, the Havana International Jazz Festival, now in its 14th year, has attracted world-class musicians and helped raise the social and political acceptance of jazz in Cuba. But as pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba says, it wasn't easy.

Bueno, principio en los años sesenta, y parte de los setentas…[transition to English dub] In the early '60s and through part of the '70s, it was very difficult getting people to understand the importance of supporting jazz and the increasing number of young Cuban musicians heading in this direction. Today, however, there can not be, and there isn't any misunderstanding or political manipulation of jazz or Cuban jazz musician [transition to original audio] …interpretación por parte de los musico Cuba.

[Mi Gran Pasion--Gonzalo Rubalcaba]

At 30 years of age, Gonzalo Rubalcaba is considered one of Cuba's premier pianists. His father played with the orchestra of Cha-cha-cha inventor Enrique Jorrín, and later became one of Cuba's most popular band leaders. Gonzalo himself played with the legendary Orquesta Aragón while still a teenager, but it is through his solo playing that Gonzalo has made his mark in Cuba and around the world. Because of political differences, however, the United States audience remained out of reach to Cuban jazz and musicians like Rubalcaba.

[Simbunt Ye Contracova--Gonzalo Rubalcaba]

Bueno Estados Unidos debió ser uno de los primeros escenario…[transition to English dub] The United States should have been one of the first places for me to play. But since 1989, there's been a mystique and anticipation surrounding my not being allowed to enter this country. Very simply put, it's been a politically motivated maneuver to not grant me a performance visa, and has nothing to do with artistic or musical considerations. But now, my first appearance in this country, I think signals that we are entering a new era. But that doesn't mean I haven't had any contact with American musicians, because I've played with many in Cuba and in festivals around the world [transition to original audio]…contacto con músicos Norte Americanos.

American bassist Charlie Haden met and played with Gonzalo Rubalcaba in Switzerland at the 1989 Montreux International Jazz Festival and brought him to the attention of Blue Note Records. Haden, along with Blue Note executives and Lincoln Center in New York City, negotiated with the US State Department to grant the young pianist a performance visa. And finally, in what seems to have been a political icebreaker last May 14th, Gonzalo Rubalcaba made his US debut performance before a sold-out audience at Lincoln Center.

[No name (Live at Lincoln Center)--Gonzalo Rubalcaba]

Nueva dirección, del viento, el aire lleva…[transition to English dub] There's been a change of wind, politically speaking, a relaxation of attitudes and perceptions that are now opening the doors to dialogue in an effort to eliminate tensions. And it seems to me that this is a common goal of both Cuba and the United States. Even though we still can't really speak of this in practical terms, but ideally, this could be the beginning of normalizing relations between the two countries [transition to original audio]…esto podría ser un pequeño parte de eso, un comienzo.

[Unknow Track--Gonzalo Rubalcaba]

Many artists in both countries do agree that a relaxation of political policy between Cuba and the United States would be a positive development. And Rubalcaba's US debut has generated a renewed optimism within the cultural community, even though the visa he was issued allowed him to play only one concert, and on the condition that he would not be paid. Recently, Gonzalo Rubalcaba's recording, entitled Suite 4 y 20, was released in this country on the Blue Note record label. For Latino USA, I'm Alfredo Cruz in Newark, New Jersey.

[Simbunt Ye Contracova--Gonzalo Rubalcaba]

Are we affirming Mexico as a dictatorship? That it's a dictatorship and it's the longest lasting dictatorship in this hemisphere, probably...

With increasing frequency opponents of the North American Free trade Agreement from labor to Ross Perot are attacking Mexico and the Mexican government. In Washington, Florida Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart joined other Cuban American representatives at a Capitol Hill press conference.

I don't see any change in the Mexican political system that leads me to believe that it's anything but the rotating dictatorship that it has been since the beginning of the pre-reign.

The Cuban American Congress members are concerned about what they feel is too cozy a relationship between the government of Carlos Salinas de Gortari and that of Fidel Castro. Since Premier Castro legalized the dollar and liberalized travel to Cuba in July, there have been indications some members of the Clinton administration favor negotiations with Cuba and that talks may actually have taken place, something the Cuban American delegation strongly opposes. Miami Congresswoman Illeana Ros-Lehtinen.

We have asked repeatedly for specifics on these negotiations. Where have they taken place? Who has participated in them? Have any agreements been signed? We get back generalities about, well, it's an ongoing set of negotiations which have been taking place through various administrations and we demand specific...

But according to another Cuban American Congressman Republican Lincoln Diaz Balart, the administration is not yet ready to ease relations with Cuba. He added the president may call for an oil embargo on the island as he did with Haiti.

In the intense anti-immigrant climate of California artists, David Avalos, Lewis Hawk and Elizabeth Cisco wanted to make a statement. They came up with a project called Arte Reembolso, Art Rebate in which the artists distributed marked $10 bills to undocumented day laborers to show how the immigrant's money circulates and contributes to the area's economy. That project though proved to be very controversial, so much so that the National Endowment for the Arts recently withdrew their funding with us to speak about the project is one of the artists. David Avalos is a longtime activist for immigrant rights and a professor at California State University at San Marcos. Now, some people might see this as a piece of art that was basically handing out money, giving away free money to undocumented immigrants. Can you tell us a little bit about what was the conceptual background behind this piece?

Well, interestingly enough, in the past, many projects that I've worked on have been criticized as a waste of taxpayer dollars. So Louis, Liz and I came upon the idea of taking the money for an art project and returning it to taxpayers who would think that anyone could criticize us for that? The only twist was that the taxpayers we chose to return the money to were undocumented workers, and that seems to be the problem in most people's eyes.

What exactly did you want to show by giving these undocumented immigrants money, though?

I think it's a very simple gesture. Louis, Liz and I pay taxes and we recognize that we're part of a tax paying community and we recognize the undocumented worker in the United States as part of that tax paying community. Many of them have taxes deducted, federal income taxes, for example, deducted from their payroll checks. Others pay taxes in a variety of ways whenever they fill up their car with a tank of gas, whenever they buy a pair of socks or a bar of soap in a Kmart. This is something that's been forgotten in all the hysteria and all the hatred that's been whipped up by politicians like Pete Wilson against the immigrant. So we think it's ridiculous when people criticize the undocumented for using taxpayer dollar supported services. Hey, they're taxpayers too. That's all we're saying.

Well, is this really an art project? Or is this more of using art to make a very definitive statement about immigrants' rights in this country?

It's definitely an art project. I think if you look at the $10 bill as a material of this project, instead of using bronze or marble or oil paints, we used as a material for this project, this $10 bill, I think it's pretty easy to realize that the monetary value of the bill has been replaced in the public's mind with a symbolic value of the bill. $1,250 is what we're talking about in terms of the NE's portion of the $5,000 commission.

We're talking about a molecule in the bucket, not a drop in the bucket, but what people are reacting to is not the monetary value, they're reacting to the symbolic value and I think they're reacting because it is so painful for many of us who want a simple answer to the economic problems in this country. It's so painful for many people to recognize, "hey, the undocumented are part of our community." Like it or not, they're part of the tax paying community like it or not. So we're dealing with symbols. Unfortunately in this country, the quote illegal alien has become a media symbol, a media celebrity. The hard-earned tax dollar is another cultural symbol in this country, and we put those two symbols together. We juxtapose them just as artists, juxtapose symbols and images all the time, and the reaction that we've seen is a reaction that is all out of proportion to the amount of money that we're talking about.

Pues, muchas gracias. Thank you very much. David Avalos, who along with Louis Hawk and Elizabeth Cisco have come up with a project called Arte Reembolso, Art Rebate in San Diego. Muchas gracias.

I'm Maria Martin. Reaction to and debate about President Clinton's Health Security Act of 1993 began long before the act was unveiled officially and is still going strong. Latino USA's Patricia Guadalupe spoke with Latino legislators and policy makers in the nation's capital. She prepared this report.

In what is called by analysts the most ambitious economic and social reform since President Franklin Roosevelt proposed social security more than half a century ago, President Clinton delivered his long promised plan to reform the current healthcare system. In a joint session of Congress, he outlined what he called six guiding principles. Security, simplicity, savings, choice, quality and responsibility, with the focus on universal access. Although President Clinton offered very little detail, particularly on how to pay for the new system, it was welcomed by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Democratic representative Ed Pastor of Arizona called this a first step in the right direction.

People want change and I'm happy that he took this bold step. It'll probably be the only step we'll have to change our health system and now it's up to us. He made the challenge to us. He said, "Here's a blueprint. Congress a year from now, give me the legislation back that makes every American secure in their in that they know they have health service available to them." And now the challenge is to us, and I hope we do it in a very nonpartisan way and get it done.

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.

But when President Clinton speaks of universal access, he doesn't include undocumented workers. Under his plan, only US citizens and legal residents will be included. Ira Magaziner, our chief advisor to the president on healthcare, explains why.

We're guaranteeing something to all American citizens. And they're not American citizens, they're not here legally and there's something that we think is not quite right about saying people who are illegally here should get a legal benefit from the country.

Activists have complained that this will actually cost more in the long run. Some go a step further and say excluding undocumented workers is discriminatory. Cecilia Munoz, Senior. Immigration Policy Analyst at the National Council of La Raza is one of them.

It's pretty clear that the decision's politically motivated, that the administration doesn't want to find itself in a position of having to defend taxpayer dollars being used to cover undocumented immigrants. Unfortunately, that decision's really not in the best interest of the public health in the United States.

Unlike some of the president's earlier speeches. Republican response to this one was generally favorable. While some said the proposed changes would create a huge unmanageable bureaucracy, most said they recognized the need for change. Republican representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Florida, says he wants to see change but not at the expense of what he calls the best system in the world.

And that's one of the problems when you have these socialized systems like in England where I hear that the people in Great Britain are extraordinarily dissatisfied with their system now because of the lack of quality and also the total bureaucratic morass.

In the next few weeks, president Clinton is expected to present to Congress details on how he plans to pay for the new system. It is on that particular issue where much debate is anticipated. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

NAFTA will bring more jobs and better jobs.

Labor Secretary Robert Reich launched the latest effort by the Clinton administration to push the North American Free Trade Agreement through Congress. While a coalition of Hispanic organizations and elected officials urged the president to adopt other measures to, in their words, ensure Latino support for NAFTA.

I have to be able to tell my constituents that it's a good agreement.

California Congressman Esteban Torres joined other Latino office holders and organizations such as the National Council of La Raza to announce their support for NAFTA is contingent on the adoption of provisions for dislocated workers or regional development bank, and fair opportunities for minority-owned businesses. Without this, Torres NAFTA doesn't really address the needs of Latinos.

And certainly without the enthusiastic support of Latinos and their elected officials, NAFTA has little, if any chance, for passage. It's going to be a very tough battle in Congress, and every vote counts.

At a hearing on AIDS in the Latino community held recently in Los Angeles, health officials said Hispanics constitute the fastest growing segment of new AIDS cases. One out of every three people with AIDS in Los Angeles County is Latino. In the last year alone, there has been a 95% increase in the incidence of AIDS/HIV among Hispanic men. This is news from Latino USA.

The House of Representatives in Washington recently approved a bill extending unemployment benefits to millions of out of work Americans, but at the expense of legal immigrants. It was the battle the Hispanic Congressional Caucus fought and lost. From Washington, Patricia Guadalupe has more.

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus were angry when they found out their colleagues in the House were going to pay for the latest extension of unemployment benefits by requiring legal immigrants to wait five years instead of the usual three in order to qualify for government benefits. Although it would save the government more than $300 million, members of the Hispanic Caucus said there had to be other ways to fund the extension. Democratic representative Luis Gutierrez, Illinois.

We said, "Well, why are we changing the rules in the middle of the game and now doing this on the back of those that least can afford to do it? The disabled and then immigrant community to this country."

After heated debate, much of an antagonistic toward immigrants, the Hispanic Caucus didn't have enough votes and lost. Gutierrez says a lot of it is due to the increasing levels of bigotry and intolerance in the Congress and the rest of the country.

The immigrants in 1993 are no longer spoken of in the grand tradition of the grand mosaic of American society where each immigrant group obviously adds because of the diversity and their new strength to building America. But they are attacked and casually accused of being responsible from everything to the drug infiltration in our country to people not being able to get jobs, to the crisis in healthcare.

The bill to extend unemployment benefits is now under consideration in the Senate. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

I'm Maria Hinojosa. November 2nd is election day in many places throughout the country. In California, voters will decide on a controversial initiative known as Proposition 174, a school voucher proposal, which advocates say is right in step with parents fed up with the state's troubled public schools, but which opponents call, a thinly veiled attempt to bankrupt the public education system, in which 36% of the students are Latino. Isabel Alegria has this report.

Proposition 174 would give each student $2,600 in state education funds, to use toward tuition at participating private or religious schools. Advocate Sean Walsh says, "Simply put, the voucher initiative would give parents, especially those stuck in inner city schools, the power to ensure their children get a good education."

It says, okay, here is $2,600. Walk into your principal's office with this $2,600 and say, "Mr. Principal, either you do a better job of educating my child, or I'm going to go to a school that will." And if the school does not improve, then you can say, "I'm out of here."

Opponents of the measure say, if it were that simple, Californians would be embracing Prop 174 wholeheartedly. But recent polls show they're not. Rick Ruiz is a spokesperson for the No on 174 campaign. He says one of the measure's main problems is that it would give all students a voucher, including 500,000 already enrolled in private schools. That means a drain of more than a billion dollars in public education funds to private schools over three years. Ruiz says advocates of the voucher plan are unconcerned about the effect on public schools.

They seem to be more interested in punishing the public schools than in reforming them.

Prop 174 has been rejected by many Hispanic civil rights groups, including MALDEF, LULAC and the Latino Issues Forum. Ruiz says there's no question that voters in California, especially Latinos and African Americans, want to see education reform, but not at the expense of public schools. In interviews outside Lazear Elementary School in Oakland, parents, most of them Latinos, express this same sentiment. But there is another concern over Prop 174, says Edgardo Franco, who was at Lazear to pick up his little sister and says he'll vote no on the measure.

I don't think we should be giving them money for they want to open their own school without a license. And then someone, the government probably, is going to give them money to do it. So I don’t think that's right. I think they should give the money to the public schools better.

Franco is expressing a widespread concern about the voucher plan that opponents say may result in the measure's defeat. Polls show most voters don't want public money to go to private schools that aren't required to hold to state standards on academic safety or teacher training. Rick Ruiz of the No on 174 campaign says even if parents did believe that private schools were better, most of them would be hard-pressed to send their kids to the private schools of their choice.

The really top quality private schools that are enjoyed by the wealthy charge anywhere from $7,000 to $15,000 a year and more. A $2,600 voucher is not going to provide anybody access to that kind of education.

Proponents of Prop 174 say these negative arguments are based on false information. Advocate Sean Walsh says surveys show most private schools, like parochial schools, would be accessible with a voucher. As for state supervision of schools, Walsh says it has hardly resulted in a top-notch public system. But Walsh says, what will influence voters the most to support the voucher plan is their disillusionment at the pace of school reform.

And again, we feel confident that when those parents go into that voting booth and they pull that little lever, that they're going to stand there before they do and say, "You know something? I can't afford to have my child go another 10 years without any sort of educational reform, that my child will be out of school by then and my child will have lost his or her future."

Opponents of Prop 174 are convinced voters will reject the measure, but they're not as quick to say that a no vote on November 2nd should be considered the final word on the idea of school vouchers. For Latino USA, I'm Isabel Alegria in San Francisco.

In the aftermath of the defeat of New York City's first Black mayor incumbent, David Dinkins, Latino leaders in that city are beginning to assess the significance of Mayor-elect Rudolph Giuliani's election for their communities. As the transition period proceeds, both critics and supporters of Republican Giuliani are keeping a watchful eye as to how he might address Latino concerns. From New York, Mario Murillo reports.

New York City Mayor-elect Rudy Giuliani will take office in January, facing the same problems David Dinkins confronted in his four years as mayor, a massive budget deficit, high unemployment, an education system in crisis, and a crime problem that won't go away. Giuliani will also be facing an uneasy Latino electorate which overwhelming voted in favor of his Democratic opponent.

He's going to have to really demonstrate despite the fact that he has a good number of Latinos around him as part of his campaign that he's going to have to work hard at reaching our community.

Angelo Falcon is President of the Institute for Puerto Rican Policy, a nonpartisan think take that explores issues affecting the Latino community. According to its statistics, Giuliani won the election, attracting only 27% of the Latino vote, down from the 33% he received in 1989. Falcon says Giuliani must avoid making some of the same mistakes of his predecessors when dealing with the Latino community.

One of the problems that Dinkins had, and I think any mayor is going to have, is that particularly dealing with Latino issues is that a lot of people don't understand the level of poverty and the level of problems. When I tell people that the poverty rate in the Puerto Rican community is higher than that in the African American community, a lot of people don't believe it.

Latino leaders are looking at three areas and measuring Giuliani's response to their concerns, his appointments, how he handles the police department, and his economic development agenda. One of the people making sure Giuliani doesn't overlook these concerns is Sada Vidal, Co-Chair of Dominicans for Giuliani and a member of the Meyaro Transition Team. Vidal says Giuliani got off to a good start by first asking every political appointment of Dinkins to step down.

The second is that his transition team will be reflective of New York City. We're included in that, and we know that he will include us. He's already doing so. By using our voice and our strengths, we know that we'll be able to build a government that will respond to the needs of our community.

But critics of Giuliani are concerned about what they call "business as usual" in the transition process.

One of our problems is that every time there's an election, we have sectors of our community that swear that the messiah has come, and are quick to denounce anything except accomodation-ism.

National Congress of Puerto Rican Rights spokesperson, Richie Perez, points to certain Latino members of the Giuliani transition team as evidence of a Conservative agenda being followed by the Mayor-elect.

These are people whose views are relative to the Right of Center, who have opposed a number of initiatives supported by the entire community and education. For example, HIV/AIDs curriculum in the public schools.

Another issue of concern is how Giuliani will deal with criminal justice and the police department. Some observers fear a Giuliani Administration would be insensitive to the issue of biased crimes against Latinos. Others express concern about how the former prosecutor would deal with police brutality, especially against the Latino and African American communities. Richie Perez recalled one moment during the campaign which he says may be an indication of things to come under a Guilani Administration.

We were asking him to respond to the firebombing of a home in Howard Beach, where he has a lot of constituents, where he got a lot of votes. We wanted him to go out there and speak on racial healing and harmony to his constituents. There's a major contradiction with being a candidate campaigning on safety and crime issues, and not speaking on biased crime and the safety of people to be free from buying a home in an area and getting bombed because they're Puerto Rican.

Yet supporters of Giuliani say he's been unfairly characterized as insensitive. They believe Giuliani will make the streets of New York safe by applying a strong law and order approach to crime across the board. Apaulinal Trinidal of Dominicans for Giuliani says that for him, this was the most important thing in the election.

I've been active in the community for many years, and I saw the condition of life in New York City, particularly in my neighborhood in Washington Heights, deteriorate and it was shocking to me, up to the point where my son was afraid to walk in the streets. When the pardon is confronted with our reality and you have a government that the only thing they'll find is excuses, and don't want to accept responsibility for the conditions which exist in our barrio, I say, this is enough.

So far, there have been mixed signals from the Guilani team. Immediately after his election night victory, he met with leaders of the Latino community, including Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, the highest Latino elected official in New York City. At the same time, he failed to initially make contact with representatives Jose Serano and Nidia Velasquez, Puerto Rican Congress members with a strong base in the community. Nevertheless, it's just a matter of time before we can see if the forecast, both supportive and critical of Giuliani, come true. For Latino USA, I'm Mario Murillo in New York.

A delegation from the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, the site of a US naval base, came to Washington to ask Congress to close that base. Robert Rabin, head of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques says the Navy's presence on the island has had a negative impact on the economy and environment.

The US Navy has been bombing the island of Vieques for the last 50 years, and they also use the Western and the Vieques as giant ammunition depot. So we are asking now that the Vieques Navy bases be included in the base closure program, which is part of the Clinton administration's plan for reducing military expenditures.

A spokesperson for the Navy says moving the personnel station on Vieques could cost the Navy much more than it paid for the base in 1940. You're listening to Latino USA.

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.

We're doing a survey to find out how people feel about the repeal of the anti-bilingual ordinance, making Dade County bilingual again.

Estamos de acuerdo con esa ley de que sea bilingüe, no?

Why should we have to learn two languages where we stay here in America?

60% of the county speak Spanish, so yeah, I approve it.

Yo cuando comenzó la le ese estaba trabajando…

I remember when the law began and I was working, speaking Spanish with a coworker and some people came over and told me it was absolutely forbidden to speak Spanish.

From my understanding, is that I think it would probably better if anything because the government's going to be understood by more people.

And in case of a hurricane or something, these people got to know where to go, what to do.

I'm Maria Hinojosa. You've been listening to a sampling of opinions from Miami about the recent repeal of a 13-year-old English-only law, which prohibited the official use of Spanish in Dade County. The law was enacted in 1980 in the wake of the Maria boat lift from Cuba and the arrival of thousands of Haitian refugees. One observer said the repeal of the English-only amendment signals a new era of bilingualism and bi-culturalism in South Florida.

With us to speak about, if indeed this is a new era, and what it symbolizes, are Ivan Roman, a staff writer with El Nuevo Herald, Nancy San Martin, a general assignment reporter for the Sun-Sentinel, and Emilio San Pedro of WLRN Radio and a Miami correspondent for Latino USA. Welcome to all of you and muchos gracias, thank you for joining us. Many people are talking about this, in fact, as the dawn of a new political and cultural era in South Florida. Does this, in fact, set the stage for a whole new political reality in that area?

It's not so much the repeal of the ordinance that's going to foster that change. I think that a lot has happened in Miami and this is just a step in the right direction. It's the first concrete example of working together in unity, if you will, from the standpoint of politicians or leaders in the community taking a certain position with this issue. I think a lot will follow.

Well, the people were saying that in fact this could, in many of the reports there were questions of whether this was going to increase ethnic divisions. What is the reality there? Is this in fact going to divide more groups? Or has this brought together the minority groups in the Miami area to say, look, if we work together, we're not a minority, we're a majority and we have political clout and can do things?

I think we can look at a combination of factors there. If we look at the new composition of the county commission, we have six Hispanics and four Blacks on it. In addition, three non-Hispanic Whites, and the commission has made it clear, everyone on that commission, that they're looking towards change, they're looking towards working together. One of the ways to do it is with repealing this law.

Another thing that has happened in the last few weeks was the ending of the Black Boycott of Miami, the Black Convention Boycott. There are just a series of factors in which basically what's happening is a realization of the changes in Dade County and just getting rid of the vestiges to reflect the reality in Dade County that's been happening for the last 10 years, that it is a community with a bunch of different groups that need to work together and the leadership is finally saying, look, let's work together and let's deal with all these different vestiges that keep us apart.

Was there any one specific thing that really set the stage for these groups beginning to work together and as you say, Ivan, realizing that this is the reality in the Miami area?

I think the redistricting of the county commission and the way that the commission is set up and voted on, I think that was this very significant focal point and that was when things started to really perhaps change because of the way that the commission has changed and the diversity on the commission, as Ivan was mentioning, has made it possible for all these things to come up again, things that were had become law and were not discussed for quite a while.

People realize that to get anything done, you need a coalition. If you have six Hispanics and four Blacks and three Whites on a commission, you realize that you have to establish coalitions to get anything done. You just can't not do anything. I think another thing that happened, is the success of the boycott was finally making the leaders here realize that something needed to be done to ensure the economic health of the county, and at the same time, the hurricane I think was very helpful in making everybody realize here that everybody needed to work together to help.

What was interesting for me was that there was not only divisions on the issue of the English-only law between for example, Latinos and African Americans or Anglos, for example. We also saw heated confrontation between Latino groups. Not all Latinos wanted to repeal the English-only law.

Well, I think it's good that they can speak their own language, but I don't like to walk in a place where nobody speaks English even though I do speak Spanish and I'm Cuban.

I think you're right, that both sides had a combination of Latinos or Blacks and non-Hispanic Whites did speak on both sides of the issue, but I was at the meeting and the pro or anti-repeal folks were certainly a lot smaller. The interesting thing also was that just using Hispanics and Haitian as an example, in recent events, those two particular groups have been on opposing sides, and for the first time in recent months, you saw both facets fighting for the same thing, and that was to repeal the ordinance. I think it was clearly a demonstration of unity that had not been seen in recent months here, and I think it's a good sign.

I also think that younger generations of Hispanics here in Miami, because of increased immigration, daily immigration every day, and a strong identification of Hispanics in Dade County with their culture and with their ancestry, especially in the Cuban community, that it's much harder to have a particular Hispanic group that would be against a law that in essence attacks or sub-estimates Spanish, which is part of what they are. So, I think that, of that group that you're mentioning, I think is a very minor thing in this community.

However, in many cases, I think the discord in relation to the law that was just passed is because a lot of people don't really understand what the law really means. I mean, when you ask them, when you go out and interview them and you talk to them about it, to many people it's a matter of pride. It's a matter of defining your stake in this community. And I think for them when they talk about it, they say things like, I don't want to be forced to learn Spanish. That's one of the things I hear all the time, and I don't think the law is about forcing anyone to learn Spanish or Creole or any other languages spoken here. Also, among the Haitian community, they don't really know what role this will play in their language, Creole being also spoken or translated or, and used in county documents.

You know, it's not that the law is really going to change anything. It's not that the previous law really did anything that would change much that was of substance. It's largely symbolic. It's people trying to define what American culture is. We're still hearing all of these catchphrases about, well, people should adapt to what American culture is, and everybody's trying to define what that is. And in Dade County, people are saying, no American culture is not necessarily what you would define as American culture in the Midwest. It's reflective of different groups that are here and we all have something to contribute. So it's a redefinition of American culture, and people who don't want to define it that way and want to resist any change to what they understand as American culture, take this as a very symbolic and important issue when, in essence, practically, it really means nothing.

Thank you for joining us from Miami, Ivan Roman of El Nuevo Herald, Nancy San Martin, a general assignment reporter for the Sun-Sentinel, and Emilio San Pedro of WLRN Public Radio.