Linea Abierta - English Description - Show in Spanish

ARMED GUARDS IN SCHOOLS. After the massacre in a Connecticut school, Los Angeles children returned from the holidays to 600 armed patrols at their schools. Sheriff Joe Arpaio put armed volunteers at schools in Maricopa County, Arizona. And Senator Barbara Boxer introduced legislation to send the National Guard to schools around the country. How will more armed guards and police in schools impact what some describe as the criminalization of Black and Latino students and the “school-to-prison pipeline”? Guests: Manuel Criollo, Director of Community Organizing, Strategy Center, Community Rights Campaign, Los Angeles, CA, www.thestrategycenter.org, www.communityrightscampaign.org; Joao Da Silva, Spokesperson, Dignity in Schools Campaign, New York, NY, www.dignityinschools.org

REPORTING ON MEXICO’S WAR. More than 40 journalists have been killed or disappeared in Mexico over the past six years, since the war against drug cartels began. The film Reportero: Reporting from Mexico's Drug War, that was recently aired on PBS, focuses on journalists struggling to produce investigative journalism in a country plagued by violence, self-censorship, and an ever-diminishing freedom of expression. This edition includes interviews with the director of the documentary, and with a top journalist who recently won an award from Harvard University for her coverage of the war against drug trafficking and her role in protecting and training journalists in Mexico. Guests: Bernardo Ruiz, Director, Reportero: Reporting from Mexico’s Drug War , Atlanta, GA, http://www.pbs.org/pov/reportero/ ; Marcela Turati, Winner of the Louis M. Lyons Award, given by the Harvard University Nieman Fellows, Co-founder of the network Periodistas de a Pie (Pedestrian Journalists), Mexico City, Mexico, www.periodistasdeapie.wordpress.com

MEXICO EDITION. After Mexico's Congress reformed the labor law in 2012, many remember with longing the days of the labor movement in 1931, when workers, employers, and the Mexican government came to consensus about Constitutional Article 123. Those were post-revolutionary times, and a young dock worker named Valentín Campa Salazar was beginning to organize railroad workers in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas and take them to the first general strike in 1927, which would be repressed by the Mexican Army. The work of organizing railroad, cement, textile and steel workers cost Campa 15 years in jail. A character of his time, promoter of Mexico's Worker Central (CTM) and the Block of Proletarian Defense, who would support President Lázaro Cárdenas to nationalize oil industry, Valentín Campa is narrated by his biographer and remembered by his daughter, in the context of a campaign in Mexico City to put his name on the Buenavista metrobus station, where trains used to arrive in the capital city. Martha Elena Ramirez hosts Voz Publica from Mexico City. Guests: Rosalío Hernández Beltrán, President of the Center for Law and Union Advice, VValentín Campa Salazar, Mexico City, Mexico; Geologist, María Fernanda Campa Uranga, daughter of Valentín Campa, Mexico City, Mexico, geoatea@hotmail.com Campaign to collect signatures to add the name of Valentín Campa to the Buenavista Station.

NEWTOWN AND GUN CONTROL. In the wake of the Newtown school massacre, there is a public outcry for tougher gun control laws and to stem gun violence. Sen. Dianne Feinstein pledged to introduce gun-control legislation, including banning assault weapons, as soon as the new congress is back in session. What are the chances Congress will act on gun control? Will President Obama use his executive powers to close gun-sales loopholes? Guests: Dana Sanchez-Quist, Spokesperson, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Larry Pratt, Executive Director, Gun Owners of America, Springfield, VA, http://gunowners.org

FISCAL CLIFF VOTE. After a prolonged and intense battle, the U.S. Congress approved an agreement to avoid tax increases for most Americans and postponed the debate on multimillion dollar cuts to the Pentagon and other programs, the so-called “fiscal cliff.” This new bill, President Obama announced e will sign into law, will raise taxes for the wealthiest 2 percent of residents, while maintaining tax cut extensions for middle class families. This deal will also extend emergency unemployment benefits for a year. Some are criticizing the pact as not enough. Guests: Rafael Fantauzzi, President and CEO, National Puerto Rican Coalition, Washington, DC, http://www.bateylink.org ; Leticia Miranda, Senior Policy Advisor, Economic Security Policy, National Council of La Raza, Washington, DC, www.nclr.org ; audio excerpts of President Obama’s remarks on the deal.

LAS HERMANAS PADILLA. This Holiday special program features an exclusive interview with María Padilla, from the legendary duet Las Hermanas Padilla. Beginning their career in the 1930s, Las Hermanas Padilla broke ground popularizing the bolero ranchero genre and impacting canción ranchera with their unique singing style. The Padillas was the first Mexican duet from the U.S. who earned wide recognition in Mexico and internationally. This program also includes historic Hermanas Padilla recordings from Arhoolie Foundation’s Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings. Guests: María Padilla, singer, Las Hermanas Padilla, Los Angeles, CA; Margarita Padilla, singer, Las Hermanas Padilla, Ciudad de México, México (interview excerpt).

THE YEAR IN REVIEW. This special year-end program provides a review of some of the most memorable news events of 2012, as reported on Línea Abierta. Program excerpts include the election of President Obama with a record number of Latino voters, the Affordable Care Act survived a chalenge before the Supreme Court, and the Mexican poet Javier Sicilia brings to the U.S. the quest of Mexico’s victims of drug violence for gun control. Guests: Audio clips from various Linea Abierta programs.

MEXICO EDITION. Journalist Gustavo Castillo Garcia talks about the costs of Mexico's drug war. Among his comments: it's been six years since the government declared the war against the drug cartels, with an unofficial cost of more than 60 thousand deaths, including civilians, cops, troops, gunmen and suspected criminals. Partnership of the US and Mexican administrations in a war that has left untouched the networks of money laundering, weapons traffic and drug traffic. A drug war with local cops who work without guns and training, and with low wages, and police chiefs who are infiltrated and bribed. Countless executions, without a judicial system that allows investigation and punishment. Martha Elena Ramirez hosts this Voz Publica edition from Mexico City. Guest: Gustavo Castillo García, journalist of the daily newspaper La Jornada. México, DF; María Rivera, poem *Los Muertos*, read at Mexico City's Zocalo plaza on April 6, 2011 (audio recording).

LEGALIZE IT? Two states passed laws in November legalizing marijuana for recreational use. What implications might these laws have for the drug war in Mexico? What would happen if Mexico legalized marijuana? Guests: Claudio Lomnitz, Anthropology Professor at Columbia University, and Columnist for La Jornada, New York, NY, http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/11/14/politica/025a2pol ; John Gibler, journalist and author “To Die in Mexico," Mexico City, Mexico.

WEAKENED UNIONS. Michigan's Republican governor Rick Snyder signed “right-to-work” legislation into law, banning union dues from being automatically deducted from workers’ payroll. Unions call this legislation "right to work for less". There are now 24 states with similar laws. This edition looks at what impact such laws will have on union workers and middle and low-income workers. Guests: Ana Avendaño, Assistant to the president of AFL-CIO Richard Trumka and Director of Immigration and Community Action, AFL-CIO, Washington, D.C., www.aflcio.org ; Israel Ortega, Editor of Libertad.org, Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C., www.heritage.org , www.libertad.org

TEX-MEX SOUNDS. Accordion great Flaco Jiménez inspired Max Baca to play conjunto when he was just a kid. Years later, they formed Los Texmaniacs. The award-winning group released their second album with Smithsonian Folkways this year: Texas Towns & Tex-Mex Sounds, blending polka, boleros, ballads, and Western swing. This special holiday edition includes exclusive interviews with both Flaco and Max. Guests: Flaco Jimenez, Celebrated conjunto accordion master, Los Texmaniacs, San Antonio, TX; Max Baca, Founder, Singer, and Bajo-Sexto player, Los Texmaniacs, San Antonio, TX, http://www.texmaniacs.com/index2.html

HEALTHY HOLIDAYS. Christmas Eve is a day in many Latino families for traditional holiday dinners, such as pozole, tamales, and hot guava cider. An influential Latino chef shares easy ways to make traditional holiday recipes healthier, by substituting ingredients and reducing fats, without compromising flavor. Guest: Alfredo Oropeza, Chef and Recipe Book Author, Miami, FL, www.cheforopeza.com.mx

MEXICO EDITION. The demonstrators charged in connection with the violent incidents during the inauguration of president Peña Nieto could be exonerated of the "attacks against public peace" after relatives and activists got the local congress to agree to discuss the annulment of a critical provision in the local Criminal Code. According to the defense, there is no evidence to incriminate the 14 individuals who continue in detention. Additionally, environmentalists urge action to stop industrial waste that continues contaminating their areas. In Alpuyeca, Morelos, six years after the local dumpsite was shutdown, local officials have not completed a bioremediation program to clean up lands and water. In Tula, Hidalgo, after 40 years, a dam that was supposed to supply drinking water to Nahuatl and Otomi indigenous communities is now a repository of industrial waste. Martha Elena Ramirez hosts this edition of the Voz Publica series from Mexico City. Guests: Attorney Juan de Dios Hernandez Monge, spokesperson, Liga de Abogados Primero de Diciembre, member of La Otra Campana - EZLN; (Pre-taped) Guadalupe Sáyago, member, comisión representativa de la comunidad de Alpuyeca, Morelos; (Pre-taped) Yuri Zaret Uribe Montero, member, Federación Independiente de Obreros Agrícolas y Campesinos (FIOAC), member of Coordinadora Plan de Ayala Movimiento Nacional. Tula, Hidalgo.

NO PAPERS, NO AID. Immigrant workers living in New York City lost homes, property, and jobs to Hurricane Sandy, but they report obstacles to receiving federal and state aid. Many disaster survivors are returning to flood-damaged homes contaminated by mold and other hazards. This edition includes interviews with residents of Rockaway Beach and emergency agency authorities, collected by reporter Marco Vinicio González. Guests: Marco Vinicio González, Correspondent, Noticiero Latino, New York, NY; Carmen Rodríguez, Spokesperson, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), New York, NY, www.fema.gov ; Sofía Gallisá, Organizer, Occupy Sandy, Rockaway Beach, Queens, NY (pretaped interview); Pretaped interviews with victims of Hurricane Sandy, Rockaway Beach, Queens, NY.

DREAMERS IN THE FIELDS. About one million and a half people could qualify for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, but hundreds of thousands in rural areas do not yet meet the education requirement. A researcher joins this edition to discuss ways for rural youth to overcome obstacles, such as budget cuts for community colleges, ESL classes, and vocational programs, as well as a lack of information and resources. Also, a philanthropic foundation set aside an unprecedented one million dollars for scholarships for undocumented students at the prestigious public university UC Berkeley. Guests: Jesus Martínez, Coordinator, Central Valley Deferred Action Project, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Fresno, CA, www.ilrc.org ; Rubén Elías Canedo, Coordinator of research and mobilization projects, Educational Opportunity Program, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, www.berkeley.edu ; Carlos Hernández, Student and Student counselor for Undocumented Students, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, www.berkeley.edu