Linea Abierta Programming: August 26, 2024

MONDAY, AUGUST 26
PROGRAM #10480 12:00 PM PT 

Trump v. Harris: Dueling Economic Plans. Vice President Harris rolled out economic proposals, including a federal ban on price gouging, a plan to end the housing shortage through the construction of new units and down-payment support to first-time homebuyers, and a plan to expand tax credits for kids. Days later former President Trump unveiled his own plan that would preserve the tax cuts he signed into law and are set to expire and push oil production as a way to slash prices, as well as carrying out sweeping tariffs of up to 20% on imported goods.

Guests: Maca Casado, Hispanic Media Director, Harris for President Campaign, Wilmington, DE; Héctor Barajas, Spokesperson, California Republican Party, Los Angeles, CA.

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 27
PROGRAM #10481 11:00 AM PT 

Extra Edition: “Hope and Dignity.” (Program Repeat). The Museum of Social Justice in Los Angeles is opening the exhibit “Hope and Dignity: The Farmworker Movement,” a collection of pictures curated by the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center at California State University, Northridge, that captures the faces of hundreds of men and women who made up the labor and civil rights movement. The exhibition includes images of marches, pickets, boycotts, elections, union meetings, and musical and theatrical performances during the early years of the farm workers’ struggle. This program was originally aired on August 22, 2024.

Guest: Dr. José Luis Benavides, Professor, Department of Journalism, Director, Tom and Ethel Bradley Center, California State University at Northridge-CSUN, Los Angeles, CA.

The Continuing Bombing in Gaza. More than 40,000 people, most of them women and children, have been killed after ten months of bombing in Gaza. Meanwhile, the US approves 20 billion more in weapons for Israel. What conspires against a ceasefire? Peace activists in Fresno convene a community hearing to seek answers.

Guest: Stanley Santos, Community Activist, Raza Against War, Fresno, CA.

PROGRAM #10482 12:00 PM PT 

Immigration Edition. The application period for “Keeping Families Together,” or Parole in Place, for undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens, began last week. A bilingual hotline is now in place. Are immigrants waiting to apply for the new benefit? Are they showing up? If so, how are they doing? In other news, congressional Democrats urged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to ensure DACA recipients can actually access health insurance during the upcoming enrollment period of the Affordable Care Act. Finally, starting in El Paso, the Mexican government is setting up legal clinics to help Mexican immigrants in the US with support from U.S. nonprofits and law firms. How to have access to those legal services?

Guests: Nuria P. Zúñiga Alaniz, Consul General, Mexican Consulate in Fresno, Fresno, CA; Laura Vazquez, Associate Director of Immigrant Integration , UnidosUS, Washington, DC; Luis Garza Zertuche, Legal Services and Capacity Building Manager, National Partnership for New Americans, Chicago, IL.

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28
PROGRAM #10483  12:00 PM PT 

Farmers to Retire Croplands in Baja California. Faced with the severe drought conditions in the Colorado River basin, the International Boundary and Water Commission of the United States and Mexico have agreed to possible cuts in water allocations for the Mexicali Valley. In response, to help the Colorado River system and pressured by low grain prices in international markets, farmers in the Mexicali Valley are proposing to take advantage of the compensation program for fallow lands. This historic land rest is designed for the long term and to help recharge the aquifer, say farming leaders. Meanwhile, in the neighboring Imperial Valley of California, growers are alleviating the impact of the drought impacting the Colorado River thanks to a number of water reservoirs. How dependent is the Mexicali Valley area from the Colorado River waters? What’s the plan? What lands and what farmers would be part of it? What are the alternative plans to save water and protect agriculture in the Mexico-US border area?

Guests: Dr. Carlos de la Parra Rentería, Retired Professor and Researcher, Urban and Environmental Studies, Colegio de la Frontera Norte, also Founding Partner, Luken Center for Water and Environmental Strategies, and President, Restauremos El Colorado, joining today in a personal capacity from Tijuana, Baja California, MX; Dr. Carlos Orozco, Consultant on irrigation water use and management in arid zones on both sides of the border, also Consultant in the production of various crops, Holtville, CA; Raúl Reyes, Farmer, Ejido Nayarit, Mexicali Valley, Baja California, MX.

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 29
PROGRAM #10484 11:00 AM PT

Extra Edition: Safeguarding Social Security Cards. A Senior Advisor in the Social Security Administration advises people that in many circumstances there is no need to present the physical Social Security card. With scams to steal personal information at an all-time high, SSA wants consumers, agencies, employers, and organizations to know the facts about how to protect Social Security cards and when the actual card is necessary, or when the Social Security number will suffice. Do you know where you have your social security card stored? And what it might be needed for? This and other topics are discussed in this edition.

Guest: Abigail Zapote, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner, US Social Security Administration, Washington, DC.

Sounding the Alarm Against Scams. Impostor scams remain the leading category of fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), while last year alone, more than 2.5 billion dollars were reported lost to impersonation scams. In this program, a consumer information expert explains the latest version of these scams, such as scammers adding complexity to get people to “move” their money to supposedly protect it, and offers practical tips on how to spot, avoid and report impostor scams.

Guest: Gema de las Heras, Consumer Education Specialist, Federal Communications Commission-FTC, Washington, DC.

Historic Klamath River Restoration Moves Forward. The demolition of four dams on the Klamath River, the largest river restoration project in U.S. history, is the result of decades of struggle by Native tribes and environmental groups. A reporter reports on how restoration work continues to unfold as tribes celebrate the recovery of salmon, a symbol of identity and an essential component of their families’ livelihoods.

Guest: Miguel Guerrero, Reporter, San Francisco, CA, joining today from Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, MX.

PROGRAM #10485  12:00 PM PT 

Calls for Investigation into Apparent Attempt to Suppress the Latino vote in Texas.

A Latino voting rights group called on the US Department of Justice to investigate the Republican attorney general of Texas after his office launched a series of alleged raids on the homes of Democratic activists and leaders over allegations of voter fraud. In a letter to the Justice Department’s civil rights division, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) called for “immediate action” by the federal agency while accusing state authorities of raiding the homes of some of its volunteers, confiscating phones and computers as part of the attorney general’s investigation.

Guest: Lydia Camarillo, President and Director, Southwest Voter Registration Project, and William C. Velasquez Institute, San Antonio, TX.

Democrats Sue the Georgia State Board of Elections Over New Election Rules.

Members of the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Party of Georgia and several election boards filed a lawsuit before the Fulton County Superior Court arguing that the rules passed this month by the Republican-controlled election board were intended to give election officials in each county the ability to delay or cancel vote certification. The complaint states that such rules introduce substantial uncertainty into the post-election process and invite chaos by establishing new processes that conflict with existing legal duties.

Guest: Adelina Nichols, Executive Director, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights-GLAHR, Atlanta, GA.

With Protests, Venezuela Marks One Month Since its Presidential Elections.

Supporters of Venezuela’s political opposition and supporters of the ruling party once again held rallies to mark the first anniversary of July’s disputed presidential election this week, as arrests of opposition figures continued. Venezuela’s electoral council and its top court have proclaimed President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, as the winner of the July 28 election, but have not released the full vote tally, while the Venezuelan opposition has released its own results, which show a landslide victory for its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 30
PROGRAM #10486 12:00 PM PT 

Mexico Edition. A conversation with scholar Viri Rios about her latest book, “Así no es. Don’t believe everything you hear about meritocracy, the middle class, classism, wages, and income.” In her new book, Rios seeks to debunk common myths about labor, fiscal and development policies through data analysis and investigative journalism. “Are the poor poor because they want to be? Are young people lazier than before and that’s why they earn less? Do those who receive social programs spend them on nonsense? Do the states in the north work more than those in the south?,” those are some of the uncomfortable questions discussed in the book. 

Guest: Viridiana Rios, Mexican Writer, Scholar and Journalist, Lecturer at Harvard Summer School, Mexico City, MX.