Latino USA Episode 19

This is Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture.

[Opening Theme]

I'm Maria Hinojosa. Today on Latino USA, the race is on for approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

If you are a Chicano entrepreneur in the border states, you're likely to do very well by NAFTA. If you are an industrial worker in the Northeast or in the Midwest, your company might find it advantageous to move your job to Mexico.

From East LA, an Elvis for El Pueblo. El Vez, the Mexican Elvis.

One of my favorites is [singing] ‘you ain’t nothing but a chihuahua, yappin’ all the time’. We start the show with the lighter easy songs, the familiar ones and then we hit them with the one-two punch.

That's all coming up on Latino USA, but first las noticias.

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

Today I'm pleased to announce that the governments of the United States, Mexico, and Canada-

Now that the governments of North America have agreed on labor and environmental accords to the North American Free Trade Agreement, President Clinton has named a NAFTA czar. He's William Daley, brother of current Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. It'll be his job as head of the administration's task force on NAFTA to push the free trade agreement through a still undecided Congress.

We're here today as a coalition of Latinos, leaders in our community, leaders in business, and leaders in the political arena to hold Governor Wilson accountable for his recent proposals to President Clinton.

As politicians throughout the nation from Washington to Texas come up with proposals to curb illegal immigration. A coalition of Latino organizations in California warned that immigrants are fast becoming the scapegoats of bad economic times. From Los Angeles, Alberto Aguilar reports.

In just 12 hours, this week, US attorney Janet Reno, two US Senators, Governor Pete Wilson, the state Senate, and the assembly put aside other issues to promote laws against illegal immigration. The rush to legislate and castigate illegal immigration has created a great deal of concern in the Latino community, which responded with its own open letter decrying Governor Wilson's recent initiatives to strip immigrants of access to health, education, and constitutional protection.

We know well in our community that this is a historical cycle. During the depression in 1931, immigrants were made scapegoats. In 1954, immigrants were made scapegoats. During the inflationary periods of the seventies, immigrants were made scapegoats. And the 1990s, in today's recession, guess what? Immigrants are being made scapegoats.

Arturo Vargas is the vice president of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund. MALDEF is part of the coalition who responded to what they feel is an anti-immigrant hysteria. Representing the Latino Business Association, Ed Vasquez disputes that immigrants are a public charge.

There's a hundred thousand, 100,000 Latino owned businesses in Los Angeles alone generating six and a half billion dollars in revenues every single year. For the politicians to blame the economic problems on immigrants it sends out a dangerous message. Immigrants did not take away the jobs in the defense industry. Immigrants are not taking away jobs from corporate America, bad economic policies are.

California leaders aware of the upcoming state elections strongly decry what they call scapegoating of Latinos for the sorry state of California's economy by both Republicans and Democrats. For Latinos USA, I'm Alberto Aguilar in Los Angeles.

And from Austin, Texas you're listening to Latino USA.

In New York City mayoral candidates are campaigning for what many see as the crucial Latino vote. Recent polls show the Republican candidate ahead of the Democratic incumbent. From New York City, Mandalit del Barco has more.

The latest Harris Poll by the Daily News and WNBC Television shows Republican-Liberal candidate Rudolph Giuliani beating Mayor David Dinkins, 54 to 41% among Latino voters. Of the Latino registered voters surveyed the same percentage said they were optimistic about the city's future. Both Giuliani and Dinkins have been courting potential voters in New York's Latino communities, appearing at the Dominican Day Parade and shaking hands in El Barrio. Campaign watchers note that Latino support will be critical to either candidate's victory this fall. Giuliani is running for office with city controller candidate Herman Badillo, the elder statesman among New York's Puerto Rican politicians. Mayor Dinkins discounted the latest poll saying, "His own campaign survey show he's ahead of his opponent." Dinkins also got a boost from Brooklyn Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, who promised to campaign for the mayor's reelection throughout the city's Latino communities. For Latino USA, I'm Mandalit del Barco in New York.

Latino students are enrolling in higher education in greater numbers than other minority groups. These numbers according to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, HACU, will continue to grow as the end of the baby boom results in fewer young non-minorities. But according to the National Institute of Independent Colleges and Universities, US institutions of higher learning are not doing enough to prepare for the upcoming influx of Latino students. According to the Census Bureau, the Hispanic population is expected to rise from 24 million in 1992 to 41 million by the year 2050. In the year 2010, there will be nearly 3 million Hispanics ages 18 to 21. I'm Maria Martin, you're listening to Latino USA.

[Transition Guitar Music]

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.

[Chile Sin Carne--Flor de Caña]

After months of protracted talks, negotiators for the United States, Canada, and Mexico have reached agreement on side accords to the North American Free Trade Agreement. But not everyone is happy with the final consensus, not labor, not environmental groups. Not even an organization called the Latino Consensus on NAFTA, a coalition of groups which generally support NAFTA. From Washington, Patricia Guadalupe has more.

The agreement reached includes oversight commissions that will monitor environmental and labor standards in Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Sanctions and fines are established for failure to obey labor and environmental laws. US trade representative Mickey Kantor called it, "A momentous pact that raises the standard of living for the three countries."

For the first time a free trade agreement covers workers' rights and the environment. This will serve as a model in the future.

But the same groups the negotiators were trying to appease are still not convinced. Labor and environmental groups attacked the agreement saying it didn't go far enough. Ron Carey is president of the Teamsters Union.

President Clinton made it very clear the protections that he would be looking at and the kinds of things that were important to him were raising the wages, protecting the environment, and providing good jobs for Americans. Well, these side agreements simply don't do that. American corporations through this agreement are encouraged more than ever to move to Mexico. So, when you look at that from our perspective and from working people in this country, what you see is that corporations get NAFTA and working people in this country get shafta.

There are even those who want a trade agreement but don't like the accords reached. One of those groups is the Latino Consensus, an Association of National Hispanic Organizations that support NAFTA. They are not happy with what the negotiators agreed to regarding the financing of border projects. The Latino Consensus wanted a bank that would not just finance border activity or just concentrate on environmental projects. The financing mechanism agreed to only addresses conditions at the border. Trade policy analysts, Mary Jo Marion of the National Council of La Raza, which is part of the consensus, said that, "This agreement was hastily put together and she doesn't feel it does enough to convince those members of Congress who remain undecided."

We have now formed a block in Congress of people that are on the fence that are part of this bill, they're saying, "If we get the NADBank or most of it, then we can vote for the free trade agreement." I don't think that the administration can afford to ignore that. I mean, they haven't got enough votes. They need to work with us and the proposal that they now have, even with the side agreements are not going to be enough.

A tough fight awaits NAFTA when Congress returns in September, especially in the House of Representatives, even in President Clinton's own Democratic Party. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

With us to discuss the implications of the agreement and the future of NAFTA are three reporters who have been keeping their eyes and their ears on free trade. Richard Gonzalez of National Public Radio, Jose Carreño of the Mexican daily El Universal, and Latino USA's, Washington correspondent Patricia Guadalupe, who's also a reporter for the Hispanic Link News Service. Bienvenidos to all of you. Let's look at to what was actually agreed to in this final round. What about the side agreements and what protections do they offer for labor and the environment on all sides of the border? Richard?

I think what they offer is basically a very complicated, long, convoluted process by which a government entity, a private company, a public agency or an individual might file a complaint saying that one country is not enforcing its own labor and environmental laws. It does nothing about addressing the inadequacy of any laws, but just talks about enforcing laws that are now in the books. And so it sets up this process, if one believes that the process can work, then one thinks that these side agreements are good. If you don't think the process is going to work, then you don't think that the side agreements are any good.

Jose Carreño, from the Mexican perspective will this be good? Will this work or are these more faults in the treaty?

God, that is a great question because it is a completely untried territory, this kind of agreements that has never been done before. So as Richard say, if you believe in those, you think that they will, you hope that they will work. If you do not believe in them, you think that they won't work, but it's completely unchartered territory. There is nothing like this as far I know anywhere else.

Well, the conventional wisdom has it that US based Latinos have a lot to gain from this treaty. Is that still the case with the final version of NAFTA? Are Latinos in this country going to benefit more or less?

I think it depends on who you speak to. I mean, the Latino Consensus, a group of Latinos who want further participation in NAFTA want a treaty, but some of the final details, they don't agree with us. For instance, the financing of a development bank. They agree with the idea, but they don't like the final outcome.

I think that's a very hard question because you really don't know how much it'll benefit the population in general or not, or how much will it harm it. The truth though is that at this point there is this sort of political haggling going around and, "Okay, if you want my support, you will have to give me something."

If the question is, will Latinos in the US say benefit from NAFTA? The answer depends on who you are, where you live, and what you do. If you are a Chicano entrepreneur in the border states, you're likely to do very well by NAFTA. If you are an industrial worker in the Northeast or in the Midwest, you're probably in a situation where your company might find it advantageous to move your job to Mexico, in which case you become a loser. And because of these various circumstances, you see that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus here in Washington up on Capitol Hill is very divided on NAFTA. As one caucus member said to me, "Whenever you bring up NAFTA, you really have to watch your table manners," because people have very strong opinions pro and against inside the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

What kind of a timeline are we looking at and will it be passed or will it not be passed by Congress?

Well, if you had the vote right now, no. Absolutely not. And then there's also the discussions of what healthcare reform and all the other issues that are going up on Capitol Hill. Then the average person here wants that before the treaty. I mean, I don't think the average person has been following NAFTA as much as the press and business people are.

Look, up to now I might say, I think that has been basically inside the beltway issue.

Absolutely.

The population in general has heard only slogans both in favor or against and has sort of decided its position in base of slogans, but the population hasn't heard hard facts, not as well. The Congress itself is, I could bet that most of some of the people who are in favor and some of the people who are against doesn't even have an idea of what they're talking about.

I think what we're seeing is that we'll find the administration will be ready to send this up to the hill sometime in early October after they've sent the healthcare package up to Congress and we won't have a vote until November, maybe even as late as December. So once they send it up to The Hill in October, there's 90 days in which Congress has to act and they're really pushing to get this done by January 1st. Whether it will pass, like Patricia said, today it would not pass. But the vote is not going to be held today. It's going to be held after two or three months of a very nasty, ugly debate. And so I don't think you can place of bet either way.

Well, thank you very much, muchas gracias, for joining us on Latino USA's Reporters Roundtable. Richard Gonzalez of National Public Radio, Jose Carreño of the Mexican daily El Universal, and Latino USA's Washington correspondent Patricia Guadalupe. Muchas gracias.

[Black Magic Woman--El Vez]

[Highlight--Music--El Vez] You're pretty el vez, stand in line, make love to you baby, till next time. Cuz I'm El Vez. I spell 'H' hombre, hombre...(Cover of I'm a Man--Bo Diddley)

16 years after the death of Elvis Presley. Elvis lives in many forms. For instance, the dozens of Elvis impersonators out there, the teen Elvis, the Black Elvis, the Jewish Elvis, flying Elvis's galore. Pues, what do you think of an Elvis con salsa, or the Elvis for Aztecs? With us on Latino USA is someone who's been called, not an Elvis impersonator, but an Elvis translator. He's Robert Lopez of East Los Angeles, also known as El Vez, the Mexican Elvis. So tell me about it, Robert Lopez. Why Elvis for the Latino community?

Well, I'll tell you, there are more than dozens. There's actually thousands of Elvis impersonators. There are more Elvis impersonators than people realize. Elvis impersonators in all United States and all over different countries. So, it's like we're our own minority.

[Está Bien Mamacita--El Vez]

I would say about 15% of Elvis's impersonators are Latino. You'd be surprised because all over California and all in Illinois, there are many other Latino Elvis impersonators. But I'm the first Mexican Elvis, I take my heritage and make it part of my show.

So when and how did el espíritu, the spirit, of Elvis possess you?

[Laughter] Well, I used to curate a art gallery in Los Angeles called La Luz de Jesus we were a folk art gallery. And I curated a show all on Elvis Presley. And I had always been an Elvis fan, but all this Elvis exposure just kind of made me go over the edge. And I had met some friends and they were saying, "Well, Robert, you should go to Memphis because every year they have this Elvis tribute," which is kind of like Dia de los Muertos for Elvis. It's like a big festival of swap meets, fan clubs, Elvis impersonators galore. And so I said, "Okay, I'm going to go." I had dared myself to go to Memphis and do the show. I would say, "Okay, I'll do El Vez, the Mexican Elvis." And I wrote the songs on ... Rewrote the songs on the plane, and my main idea was to play with the boombox in front of the people waiting in front of Graceland. But as luck would have it, I got on a Elvis impersonator show, and the showrunner was so big, by the time I got back in LA it was already in the LA Times. So, El Vez, the Mexican Elvis had been born.

[Transition--Music--El Vez]

Some people have called you a cross-cultural caped crusader singing for truth, justice and the Mexican-American way. So for you, it's more than just musical entertainment, you've got a message here in the music that you're bringing.

Yeah, well, first of all, I do love Elvis and I'm the biggest Elvis fan, and you can see that when you see the show. But it's like I do try to show the cross-culture. Elvis is the American dream or part of the American dream. I mean, there's many American dreams, but Elvis was part of the American dream. But I feel that American dream, poor man, start really with nothing to become the most famous, biggest entertainment tour of all the world is not just a job for a white man. It's for a Black man. It's for a Chinese man. It's for an immigrant. It's for a Mexican. It's for a woman. It can happen to anyone. And so rather than just say, "Okay, this is a white man's dream in a white United States," I change it and I show everyone they can make it fit to their story too.

[Singing] One two three four, I'm caught in a trap, do do do do. I can't walk out, because my foots caught in this border fence, do do do do do. Why can't you see, statue of liberty, I am your homeless, tired and weary...

[Immigration Time--El Vez]

What do you think Elvis would've thought of you singing and changing the words to the songs?

Oh, he would've enjoyed it very, he'd say, "El Vez, I like your show very much." He would like it.

Some of the songs that you've changed, I just want to go through some of the names because I think that they're so wonderful. I mean, instead of Blue Suede shoes, you have ...

Huaraches azul. Instead of That's Alright Mama, Esta Bien Mamacita. One of my favorites is [singing] ‘You ain’t nothing but a chihuahua, yapping all the time’. We start the show with the lighter easy songs, the familiar ones, and then we get them with the one-two punch and get them talking about political situations, sexual situations, and rock and roll situations.

[En el Barrio--El Vez] En el barrio, people dont you understand, this child needs a helping hand, or he's going to be an angry young man one day. Take a look at you and me-

Robert Lopez, also known as El Vez, is now negotiating with the producers of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for a possible TV sitcom. He'll also be playing Las Vegas for the first time.

[En el Barrio--El Vez] So he joins again. Ok if there's one thing he can't stand that's to have to join a mariachi band in el barrio...

For four days, recently, more than 150,000 young people gathered in Denver to see Pope John Paul II. Among them, many Latinos from across the country. Producer Betto Arcos, spoke to the young Hispanics about what was on their minds, issues ranging from the future of the Latino community to abortion, President Clinton's performance, and gays in the military.

The Hispanic community is not getting very well educated, okay? We need to push more for education.

We're working our way up, and I want to see us in power, not let everybody else walk all over us. We're going to be doing a lot of the walking, and we've got a lot to do.

President Clinton, up to this day, I feel that he takes in a lot of information from his public, from his staff, and he later he comes up with the plan out of that.

I think he's done a good job so far. I think he's the best president ever since John F Kennedy.

I'm sure he has good intentions. He can't please everybody all the time. He's looking out for the general welfare of the whole United States.

I do like the fact that he has let gays and lesbians in the army and stuff like that because I mean, that's their own private life, and nobody should get into that because it's theirs and it's personal. So I mean, we shouldn't hold that against them. Their preference is their business as long as they can do their work right. I mean, I think that's cool.

That's a tough situation. And the way it is right now there, we know that there are some gays in the military, but we don't know who they are, if they keep it quiet or ... Once you do know, I do know of one, a guy that was in my unit, and he seemed just like any other guy. So on a personal level, it's all right, but when you think about the overall picture, it's kind of an eerie feeling.

I don't know if you can say maybe the sixties, free love, everything like that was a part of it. And some of the people took that wrong as to what free love was, and they took it to the extremes with sex. And nowadays, you have a generation that holds nothing sacred.

Yeah, I believe that it's women's choice, even though in the case of rape, they should have an abortion, like incest and stuff like that. But I do believe it's women's choice.

Abortion is not a word for me. I don't believe in it.

Sex is not a game. It's not something we should play with. Responsible sex is knowing that you're going to have sex and knowing that the possibility of having a child is there and taking that responsibility if a child is in your womb.

I work in a neighborhood where the dropout rate is 75% of our high school and 75% of that, 45% of that is due to pregnancy. And I can't justify telling a kid for whatever reason, not to have abortion, not to have abortion, but I think it should be there to be addressed correctly.

And for this week, y por esta semana, this has been Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture. Latino USA is produced and edited by Maria Emilia Martin. The associate producer is an Angelica Luévano. We'd like to acknowledge our administrative staff, Dolores Garcia, Vidal Guzmán, and Dr. Gilbert Cardenas. We had help this week from Elena Quesada, Belinda De La Rosa, and Karyl Wheeler. Latino USA is produced at the studios of KUT in Austin, Texas. The technical producer is Walter Morgan. We really want to hear from you. So why don't you call us, llámenos, on our toll-free number. It's 1-800-535-5533. That's 1-800-535-5533. Major funding for Latino USA comes from the Ford Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the University of Texas at Austin. Y hasta la próxima, until next time, I'm Maria Hinojosa for Latino USA.