FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 17, 2011

Contact: María de Jesús Gómez, 559-455-5782, chuyag@radiobilingue.org

RADIO BILINGÜE AIRS DOCUMENTARIES EXAMINING CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRACY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 

Radio Bilingüe will air the Spanish-language radio series Centroamérica Despues de las Guerras: Nuevos Desafíos a la Democracia, a series of documentaries that provides an update and examines the state of democracy in Central America.

The first three half-hour programs will air on Monday, August 22^nd, Tuesday August 23^rd, and W e dnesday August 24^th at 1:05 PM Pacific Daylight Time over Satélite Radio Bilingüe’s national satellite distribution system. The fourth segment will air at a later time.

When the peace accords of the 1990s brought an end to Central America’s bloody civil wars, the world stopped watching. But the legacy of those wars continues to impact not only Central America, but also the social fabric of the United States, as the Central American population in the U.S. becomes the fastest-growing Latino group in the country. Centroamérica Despues de las Guerras: Nuevos Desafíos a la Democracia presents an in-depth and up-to-date look at the people of these nearly forgotten lands of our hemisphere, both at home and abroad.

This ambitious bilingual reporting project builds on the work of the award-winning bilingual public radio series  Despues de las Guerras: Central America After the Wars ( http://www.afterthewars.org ), a provocative series of documentaries first aired in 2006 and 2007 initiated in order to inform and educate regarding the many historical ties to a region which is home to many new immigrants to this country, and which little over twenty years ago was a key focus of U.S. foreign policy and a hot topic for all news media.

Centroamérica Despues de las Guerras: Nuevos Desafíos a la Democracia  is a four-part series in Spanish updating the political situation in Central America within the framework of recent challenges to the fragile democracies in the region, including the first military coup of the 21st century in Honduras, the attacks on women’s rights and a free press in Nicaragua, and the “failed state” status of other Central American countries as a result of corruption, crime, drug trafficking, gangs, and the continuing legacy of the civil conflicts of the 1980s. It also will examine the impact of recent U.S. immigration policy on the region as a result of diminishing remittances and increased deportations. 

One documentary in the series examines the impact of deportations and other anti-immigrant policies on Guatemala’s Mayan communities. Reported on-the-scene from a number of Mayan communities this story looks at the push factors still drawing Mayans north, and the social impact of immigration on Mayan families, education, and traditions.

Centroamérica Despues de las Guerras is a project produced by Maria Martin (GraciasVida Center for Media) and funded by the Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media.

Distribution in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico is possible through Radio Bilingüe, a community-based radio network that owns seven stations in California and reaches more than 100 affiliates throughout the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico via its satellite system. Radio Bilingüe’s programming is also available via webcast and multimedia services on: www.radiobilingue.org. Funding for Radio Bilingüe is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The James Irvine Fondation, and The Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr Fund.