Latino USA; No. 3; 1993-11-05

[Maria Hinojosa]: This is Latino USA, the Radio Journal of News and Culture. I'm Maria Hinojosa. Today on Latino USA, using The Day of the Dead holiday to focus on issues affecting the living. [David Zamora Casas]: It's one thing to read and learn and look at cultural traditions, but it's another thing to make them very personal, to make them hit home. Also, election results and analysis, salsa jazzman Eddie Palmieri and a commentary from the streets: [Eduardo]: Walking home from school, I saw that crime did pay. Just like in the movies, the neighborhood dealers that cars, girls, money, and respect, things I wanted. [Maria Hinojosa]: This and more coming up on Latino USA. But first, las noticias. [Maria Martin]: This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. Voters in New York City have elected, by the narrowest of margins, Republican Rudolph Giuliani as their new mayor.

Mandalit del Barco reports, the majority of Latinos cast their ballots for the losing candidate, incumbent Mayor David Dinkins. [Mandalit del Barco]: The city's Latinos, whom both candidates had quartered as the key swing vote, once again voted overwhelmingly for Dinkins. 60 percent of the Latino votes went for Dinkins, and many said they'd wanted to give another chance to the city's first African-American mayor. But the numbers just weren't high enough. Dinkins urged his supporters to respect the decision of those who voted for Giuliani. Giuliani also had a message to those voters. [Rudolph Giuliani]: What I think we both want to say to the people of this city is that it doesn't matter for whom you voted, whether you voted for me, for David Dinkins, or you decided not to vote, or you voted for any of the other candidates. Today, we're all New Yorkers. [Mandalit del Barco]: A federal investigation is underway to look into charges by Mayor Dinkins of dirty tricks by Giuliani supporters. Dinkins told of intimidating posters seen around the largely Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights, warning voters that poll watchers would be checking voters' passports, charges Giuliani has denied. For Latino USA, I'm Mandalit del Barco in New York.

[Maria Martin]: In Miami's mayoral race, candidates Miriam Alonso and Steve Clark face a November 9th runoff. And, as Melissa Mancini reports from Miami, voting there broke down largely along ethnic lines. [Melissa Mancini]: Former Metro Mayor Steve Clark dominated in white, non Hispanic areas and also won a sizable share of young Hispanic votes. Challenger Miriam Alonzo took two votes for every ballot captured by Clark in Miami's Hispanic areas. However, Alonzo trailed Clark by big margins in non- Hispanic neighborhoods, winning less than 15 percent of the vote. For the past two decades, Miami's mayor's job has been held by a Hispanic, a fact the Cuba-born Alonzo has repeated in Spanish language radio broadcasts. During Election Day radio appearances, Alonzo exhorted Cuban voters to keep the mayor's office in their hands. Those appeals apparently succeeded in Miami's Little Havana community, where voters turned out in greater numbers than in other neighborhoods. However, it remains to be seen if Alonzo can broaden her base for the November

9th runoff. For Latino USA, I'm Melissa Mancini in Miami. [Maria Martin]: Voters in Hialeah, Florida, meanwhile, will also vote in a runoff election between State Representative Nilo Juri and suspended City Mayor Raul Martinez. Martinez was convicted two years ago on corruption charges and suspended from his post by Florida Governor Lawton Chiles. In California, voters turned back, by a two-to-one margin, a proposition which would have given 2600 state government dollars to students enrolling in the private schools. Most Latino education organizations had opposed the controversial school voucher initiative. From Austin, Texas, this is news from Latino USA. [Congressperson #1]: We are not here to argue for NAFTA, we're here to find out what NAFTA does do about illegal immigration. [Congressperson #2]: But I think the argument is NAFTA... [Maria Martin]: The seemingly never-ending debate surrounding the North American Free Trade Agreement continues as Congress gears up for a mid-November vote at a congressional hearing chaired by Democrat Romano Mazzoli of Kentucky. The treaty's critics claim NAFTA doesn't do enough to limit unlawful immigration

Patricia Guadalupe has more. [Patricia Guadalupe]: Mazzoli and other members of his immigration subcommittee are not convinced that the treaty will be able to control unlawful entry into the United States by providing jobs in Mexico, as those who support the treaty have argued. However, there are those who believe that some in Congress are using the NAFTA debate as an excuse to jump on the anti-immigration bandwagon. Among them is immigration policy analyst Cecilia Munoz of the National Council of La Raza. [Cecilia Munoz]: Yeah, NAFTA is the best policy proposal we've seen in decades, which has a chance of controlling long-term migration. What those folks are engaged in is short-term strategies to try and bring attention to themselves on the immigration control issue. There's a lot of that going around. [Patricia Guadalupe]: The latest head count by the bipartisan leadership shows proponents of NAFTA need at least 48 additional votes for final passage. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington. [Maria Martin]: Teachers in Puerto Rico are out on strike to protest a school voucher program which they say jeopardizes the island's public education system.

And residents of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques are also protesting. The U.S. Navy, which controls two thirds of the tiny island, reportedly dropped several bombs near a residential area. Now residents are asking President Clinton to put the naval bases on Vieques on his list of base closures. [Myrna Pagan]: Preferably, if they would just close the bases on this island, period. But, priority: stop bombing exercises on this island. [Maria Martin]: Myrna Pagan of the Committee for the Rescue of Vieques. I'm Maria Martin, you're listening to Latino USA. [music] [Maria Hinojosa]: I'm Maria Hinojosa. The Latino vote had been predicted to play a significant role in recent mayoral elections in two major U.S. cities: New York, where Republican Rudolph Giuliani defeated the city's first African-American mayor, David Dinkins, in a very close race;

and Miami, where Cuban-born city commissioner Miriam Alonso will face former Mayor Steve Clark in a runoff on November 9th. With us to talk about these elections and the role of the Latino vote, our political analyst Gerson Borrero in New York. And from Miami, Ivan Roman, a reporter for El Nuevo Herald. Bienvenidos a los dos, welcome. Let's take a look at the numbers in these two races and where the Latino vote went and what difference it made, if at all. Let's look at Miami first. What happened in Miami, Ivan? [Ivan Roman]: Well, first of all, in Miami, the Hispanics are a majority of the vote. So, regardless of what happens with Hispanics, they are to play a major role. Interestingly enough, what you had was a race between Commissioner Miriam Alonso, who is Cuban and an Anglo former Miami mayor, Steve Clark. The vote was split among Hispanics, 60 percent for Alonso and 40 percent for Clark. And there are many reasons for that. Some analysts attribute a generational gap because Miriam Alonso

resorted to shrill ethnic appeals in the last week, that - they say, the younger generation and exit polls show - that the younger generation of Cubans and Cuban-Americans reject. So, there you have an interesting dynamic in which you have Hispanics and mostly Cubans who are splitting their vote and not necessarily voting Cuban, which is what the older time and the older Cubans tend to do. [Maria Hinojosa]: Hmm. Now, in New York, Gerson, the Latino vote was talked about for a very long time as being the swing vote. Did it, in fact, make the difference for getting Republican Giuliani into office this time around? [Gerson Borrero]: Well, the Latino vote came out and danced, but it certainly didn't swing. It didn't move anybody. It really had no impact, as far as I can tell, from the figures that have come out. We did come out at around 20 percent of the electorate. And it indicates to me that, however, it was crucial to maintaining Dinkins' dignified loss. He got 60 percent of the vote. Mayor Dinkins, the incumbent, as opposed to Republican Rudolph Giuliani, who got around 38 percent of the Latino vote, which is less than what

he expected. Certainly Latino vote in New York City turned out along the party lines, and that is being Democrats. The majority of the vote here in New York City from the Latino population are, of course, from Puerto Ricans. And just as blacks did, they voted along Democratic lines. [Maria Hinojosa]: Ivan, the interesting thing about Miami is that there is this generational split where you have younger Cubans going for the non-Cuban candidate and you have the older Cubans going for the Cuban candidate. This shows a lot about the complexity of the Latino, in this particular case, of the Latino Cuban vote. Do you think that people are picking up on that down in Miami? [Ivan Roman]: Definitely so. And not only the, I mean, you could say there's a generational divide in which younger Cubans, for instance, would not go for these ethnic appeals that have been so common here in politics. [Maria Hinojosa]: Well, what kind of ethic appeals are you talking about? [Ivan Roman]: Well, like basically Miriam Alonso and every Cuban politician you can think of was on the radio saying, "This seat belongs to us. We can't let the seat slip out of our hands."

And one thing is, to say that we deserve representation with the majority. And another thing is, to say that the seat belongs to us, because that was the kind of message that was rejected by Puerto Ricans and Nicaraguans who were saying, "Wait a minute, you're excluding everybody else. Why should I vote for somebody who is going to be so, so exclusive." [Maria Hinojosa]: Do both of you agree with the conventional wisdom that's being talked about, that this election was very bad news for the Clinton administration and for the Democrats in general? Or are you a little bit more skeptical? [Gerson Borrero]: I don't agree with it. I think that this has nothing to do with the Clinton presidency. It's too early on in his administration. This is only his tenth month in office. We have to remember that neither Whitman in New Jersey or Giuliani in New York received a mandate. It was only two percent in each instance. So there is clearly, it's not a mandate anywhere. I think people looked at the local issues and certainly our community voted as such. I mean, you can stretch this and say that Clinton did have an effect in the Latino community. Listen to the president.

So that argument could be made also. [Ivan Roman]: In Miami, that doesn't really apply because the race is not a partisan race. The dynamic happening here is mostly an anti-incumbency type of thing, where voters seem to reject people who had either been at city hall before or who are currently in city hall in favor of some newcomers that are giving them a struggle in the runoff next week. So here we have a different situation. [Maria Hinojosa]: Well, thank you very much for joining us, political analyst Gerson Borrero in New York and Ivan Roman of El Nuevo Herald In Miami. Muchas gracias. [music] [Maria Hinojosa]: In the 90s, death for many in this country's Latino communities comes

too early, often as the result of preventable causes like gang and gun violence and AIDS. To call attention to this, some community groups are using the traditions of El Dia de Los Muertos or The Day of the Dead, a centuries-old ritual commemorating friends and family who've passed on, as a springboard for social messages. From Austin, Texas, Latino USA's Maria Martin prepared this report. [Diana Gorham]: We have in this particular room altars that have been built by people, members of the community...[Maria Martin]: At an East Austin community center in the heart of the city's Mexican-American barrio, Diana Gorham of the AIDS outreach group INFORME CIDA shows a visitor around an exhibit of altars created to honor those who passed on in the tradition celebrated in Mexico and other Latin American countries. The structures are colorful, with flowers and photographs, candles, ribbons and incense. But some altars also have nontraditional decorations, like

condoms and anti-AIDS messages. [Diana Gorham]: This one was also built by a volunteer of INFORME CIDA who also lost her brother to AIDS in Houston. She and her brother were very, very close... [Maria Martin]: The altar exhibit in Austin isn't the only effort linking the traditional Mexican holiday to the reality of a growing cause of death in the Latino community, where AIDS is now the leading killer of young Hispanic men and the third leading cause of death among Latinas ages 25 to 44. San Antonio artist David Zamora Casas does the performance piece for El Dia de Los Muertos called Cuentos de la Realidad or Tales of Reality, which tells of a painful death from AIDS of his friend Jesse. [David Zamora Casas singing]: It is time for the angels to take you away to a different place, another time... [Maria Martin]: In the piece, Zamora Casas tries to make a connection between his loss to AIDS and all of the other losses, individual and collective, which may have been suffered by those in the audience.

[David Zamora Casas]: So I try to use things that that bring people down to a very fundamental basic level and related to situations that I've encountered dealing with homophobia within a family that's Chicano son has AIDS. And these families kind of like don't know how to react because of all the machismo and stereotypes and all the baggage that we've carried on from our childhood. We've got to to nurture and educate each other. [Maria Martin]: The traditions associated with El Dia de Los Muertos, according to AIDS educator Diana Gorham, provide an opportune forum in which to bring up difficult issues, ones often veiled in secrecy and denial. [Diana Gorham]: There are mothers, for example, who go to the priest and say, please don't let any of the community know that this is what's killing my son. That's what my son died of. And so what we try to do, in this particular event, is to break that silence. [Young person's voice]: Good morning and welcome. The Culture Wars presents El Dia de Los Muertos, The Day of the Dead...[Maria Martin]: In a warehouse housing an alternative high school called the Creative

Rapid Learning Center, a diverse group of young people, white, black and Latino, all wearing El Dia de Los Muertos T-shirts, perform a series of skits which come from their own experiences with death and loss of family and friends. [Young man's voice]: Hey, Uncle Paul, I wonder where you are right now, I miss you. There are so many things that I want to learn from you. I've changed a lot since you left. [Maria Martin]: The kids who make up this theater group call themselves the Cultural Warriors. Many of them had dropped out of school before coming to the Creative Rapid Learning Center. As part of a writing project two years ago, they were asked to write letters to deceased friends and family members as a way to complete unfinished business. Cast member Jon Gonzalez says that project, which eventually led to a whole series of skits dealing with a range of issues affecting young people from AIDS to drugs to racism, has helped him to cope with the pain of loss.

[John Gonzales]: Well, it kind of helps us out, bringing that kind of stuff out in the open, you know, instead of just keeping it inside. Like you heard, when they're in ?pig mixing?, they're saying about this guy that had died in a car crash. That was my friend. [Unidentified speaker#1]: Hey, what's up? What you been up to? [Unidentified speaker #2]: I don't, man, just been lying around, you know. [Unidentified speaker #1]:So you lost little bit of weight, huh? [Unidentified speaker #2]: Yeah, man can't get nothing to stick to the bones around here, man. [Maria Martin]: In this scene, a group of the kids visit the cemetery on the night of El Dia de Los Muertos, as is the tradition in Mexico. The kids say these presentations allow them to look at both life and death in a more positive way. [Passion Fields]: Metropolitan America or cosmopolitan America does not like to talk about death. It's something you whisper about, you don't talk about it, and we're the kind of people, we like to put things bluntly. Everything we say...[Maria Martin]: Passion Fields is 19 years old and an energetic member of the Cultural Warriors.

[Passion Fields]: But that's what we want, to put everything forward. We thought that bringing the culture thing over with, not too many people, even Hispanic, know about Dia de Los Muertos - Day of the Dead. [laughter] So we, so we thought that it was important that we bring this so everybody can know about it, see? So now, now there's white kids that know about it, there's Hispanic kids that know about it, there's black kids that know about it. And that's what we think is important. [Maria Martin]: And so an ages-old traditional commemoration for the dead has become a relevant way to look at issues facing the living. [Young person's voice]: So on this holiday of Dia de Los Muertos, we celebrate the Mexican folk tradition. Why, as we are born, we shall die. Life is temporary. So live it with honor, dignity, hope, and courage. Live it like a Cultural Warrior. [Maria Martin]: For Latino USA in Austin, Texas. I'm Maria Martin. [music] [Maria Hinojosa]: For over 30 years, pianist Eddie Palmieri has been pushing the creative

limits of Latin music. His unorthodox experimental style has defied musical categories. Reporter Alfredo Cruz of Station WBGO in Newark recently spoke with Eddie Palmieri, the musical renegade, and he prepared this report. [Alfredo Cruz]: Like his music, Eddie Palmieri is intensely energetic. His piano solos have been known to go from delicate, esoteric explorations to fist-pounding accents, all within the same phrase. He has developed his own musical identity. When Eddie plays, the sound of a note or a chord is immediately recognizable as unmistakably Palmieri. He admits, however, he didn't always want to be a pianist. [Eddie Palmieri]: Well, on the piano I started at eight years old and then by 11-12, I wanted to be a "timbalero," drummer, you know. And Tito Puente was my idol.

You know, by that time I started with my uncle who had a conjunto, "El Chino Y Su Alma Tropical." We had a ?Teresita y Trajita?, Mongo Rosero, Congero, my other uncle Frankie. I played timbale and I stood with them for almost two years until I couldn't carry the drums anymore, you know, I just couldn't do it. [music] [Alfredo Cruz]: One of Palmieri's earliest and most important musical influences was his older brother, Charlie, also a pianist, who not only served as mentor but helped Eddie get started in the business over 30 years ago. [Eddie Palmieri]: My brother Charlie used to play with Tito Puente, you know, that was one of the most important conjuntos that we've ever had here.

Wherever my brother would go and play, he would recommend me. And that's how I got into an orchestra called ?Ray Almore? Quintet. And first, Johnny Sigui in '55, then we see Tico Valdes. Pete Terrace, in the interim, you know, back to see Tico Valdes for summer in '58 in the Palladium and then in '58-60, with Tito Rodriguez. After that, I went on my own. [music] [Alfredo Cruz]: The big new trombone sound he had developed revolutionized Afro-Cuban music in the 1960s. Eddie Palmieri had found the perfect combination and called his new band "La Perfecta." [singing the song "Busca lo Tuyo"]: "Porqué te empeñas en destruir mi felicidad." [instrumental music] [continuing the song "Busca lo Tuyo"]: Busca lo tuyo y déjame en paz." [instrumental music]

[Alfredo Cruz]: They were a sensation at dance halls like the now legendary Palladium, where battle of the bands were common and Palmieri reigned supreme. [music with voiceover]: "Como, [music]: "Como Palmieri boogaloo. Arriba ..." [Eddie Palmieri]: This was done in 1968. [music in background] That's when La Perfecta breaks up, you know, in the beginning in '68, we did a tour of Venezuela. And after that, that was like the ending of La Perfecta, you know. Phase one, curtain down. That was it: Boom! [background music] [Alfredo Cruz]: Over the last twenty five years, many of Palmieri's recordings have become classics, and his orchestras have provided a proving ground for promising young Latino and jazz musicians, much like Art Blakey's Messengers was to jazz.

But in spite of winning five Grammy Awards, record companies have met his innovative musical experiments with skepticism. Recently, however, Palmieri finalized negotiations on a new contract with Elektra Asylum Records. [music] [singing] [Eddie Palmieri]: And we were going into a whole other direction, we're going into the Afro-Caribbean jazz, per se, my first attempt by writing specifically in that form. See, I have recorded in that vein as far as the compositions, like "Chocolate Ice Cream" or "17.1" or "VP Blues" that I have done, you know, and I'm always looking in that direction, in that country. But this time I'm really writing specifically in that vein. [music] [Alfredo Cruz]: As to what's in store for the future, whatever musical direction he might take, Palmieri says the core of his music will always remain in Latin rhythms.

[Eddie Palmieri]: Those rhythmical patterns will always intrigue me. They've been here now for 40,000 years, so they'll be here for another forty thousand, you know, for sure. But I don't, I will not be here that long. But in the time that I'm here, I'm going to utilize it to the maximum and then achieve and have a wonderful time doing that, and incorporating that into our music because it's something that certainly intrigued me and I and I must achieve that new role. [music] [Alfredo Cruz]: From Newark, New Jersey, for Latino USA, I'm Alfredo Cruz. [music] [music]: "Stoned is the way of the walk, stoned is the way of the walk..."

[John Guardo]: Friday night, I was hanging with my boys. We were chilling at this guy Chino's house, drinking 40s while he took care of his kid. I hadn't hung out in a while, so I didn't mind babysitting. But the rest of the guys seemed restless. When I finally asked what was up, they told me that they were expecting a delivery of "skis", also known as cocaine. John Guardo, who came to New York City from Colombia when he was 12 years old, just turned 21. But for most of his teenage life, he was a member of a crew. Crews are what gangs are called in New York City. Now, while Guardo is trying to leave that life behind, he sees many of his friends staying behind. [John Guardo]: It's hard for me to admit how much drugs have become a part of my life, but they have. And in a big way, the lyrics and the music I hear speak of drugs as a way to become popular or even rich. That idea is reinforced by how drugs are glamorized in the movies,

bad guys living large, selling cocaine with women around them and money to burn. As a little kid, I fantasized about someday living like them. Walking home from school. I saw that crime did pay, just like in the movies. The neighborhood dealers had cars, girls, money and respect, things I wanted. Time passed by, though, and a pattern became visible. I watched yesterday's big shot dealers become today's victim. Whether they got shot or went to jail, it was always constant. I saw those who came around to buy drugs deteriorate, transforming from regular people to beggars and criminals with each purchase. And then I realized everybody was a victim, that it wasn't worth it, because even if you ain't got nothing to do with drugs, you can still be mugged by a crackhead or catch a bullet from a dealer's gun. No one will ever really be safe unless this problem is solved. Until then, the only protection there is, is to be educated.

People like to sell or do drugs because they don't realize what harm they're inflicting on themselves or others. Not knowing leaves a void for curiosity to fill. Anyway, that Friday, as my friends got high, I chose to ignore what they were doing, numbing myself to the actions. I felt compelled to talk to them, but was afraid they'd start dissing me. Feeling out of place, I went home, got to bed and fell asleep with a bad feeling. The next day I woke up to a phone call. One of the guys I was with the night before had OD'd on cocaine and died of a heart attack. He was 21 years old and also my friend. I'm John Guajardo, speaking for the street. [Maria Hinojosa]: Commentator John Guardo, a writer and student, lives in New York City. And for this week, y por esta semana, this has been Latino USA, the Radio Journal of News & Culture. Latino USA is produced and

edited by Maria Amilia Martin. The associate producer is Angelica Luevano. We had help this week from Vidal Guzman, Dolores Garcia and David Goren. Latino USA is produced at the studios of KUT in Austin, Texas. The technical producer is Walter Morgan. The executive producer is Dr. Gilbert Cardenas. The theme music is by Ben Tavera King. We want to hear from you. So - llámenos - call us at 1-800-535-5533 or write to us at Communication Building B, the University of Texas at Austin 78712. 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. [Maria Martin]: Hello, stations. This is the modular segment for this week's edition of Latino USA.

Segment number one runs four minutes, 27 seconds. Latino USA host Maria Hinojosa speaks with two political analysts about the Latino vote in the New York City and Miami mayoral elections. And the introduction to that piece comes up in three, two, one. [Maria Hinojosa]: The Latino vote played a significant role in recent mayoral elections and two major US cities: in New York, where Rudolph Giuliani shut out the city's first African-American mayor, David Dinkins, in a close race; and in Miami, where Cuban-born City Commissioner Miriam Alonso will face former Mayor Steve Clark in a runoff on November 9th. [Maria Martin]: Coming up, Latino USA host Maria Hinojosa discusses the elections with Ivan Roman, a reporter for Miami's El Nuevo Herald, and New York City political analyst Gerson Borrero. That three-way comes up in three, two, one. [Maria Hinojosa]: Let's take a look at the numbers in these two races and where the Latino vote went and what difference it made, if at all.

Let's look at Miami first. What happened in Miami, Ivan? [Ivan Roman]: Well, first of all, in Miami, the Hispanics are a majority of the vote. So regardless of what happens with Hispanics, they are to play a major role. Interestingly enough, what you had was a race between Commissioner Miriam Alonso, who is Cuban, and an Anglo former Miami mayor, Steve Clark. The vote was split among Hispanics, 60 percent for Alonoso, 40 percent for Clark. And there are many reasons for that. Some analysts attribute a generational gap because Miriam Alonso resorted to shrill ethnic appeals in the last week that - they say, the younger generation and exit polls show - that the younger generation of Cubans and Cuban-Americans reject. So, there you have an interesting dynamic in which you have Hispanics and mostly Cubans who are splitting their vote and not necessarily voting Cuban, which is what the older time and the older Cubans tend to do. [Maria Hinojosa]: Hmm. Now, in New York, Gerson, the Latino vote was talked about for a very long time as being the swing vote. Did it, in fact, make the difference for getting

Republican Giuliani into office this time around? [Gerson Borrero]: Well, the Latino vote came out and danced, but it certainly didn't swing. It didn't move anybody. It really had no impact, as far as I can tell, from the figures that have come out. We did come out at around 20 percent of the electorate. And it indicates to me that, however, it was crucial to maintaining Dinkins' dignified loss. He got 60 percent of the vote, Mayor Dinkins, the incumbent, as opposed to Republican Rudolph Giuliani, who got around 38 percent of the Latino vote, which is less than what he expected. Certainly Latino vote in New York City turned out along the party lines, and that is being Democrats. The majority of the vote here in New York City from the Latino population are, of course, from Puerto Ricans. And just as blacks did, they voted along Democratic lines. [Maria Hinojosa]: Ivan, the interesting thing about Miami is that there is this generational split where you have younger Cubans going for the non-Cuban candidate and you have the older Cubans going for the Cuban candidate.

This shows a lot about the complexity of the Latino, in this particular case, of the Latino Cuban vote. Do you think that people are picking up on that down in Miami? [Ivan Roman]: Definitely so. And not only the, I mean, you could say there's a generational divide in which younger Cubans, for instance, would not go for these ethnic appeals that have been so common here in politics. [Maria Hinojosa]: Well, what kind of ethnic appeals are you talking about? [Ivan Roman] Well, like basically Miriam Alonso and every Cuban politician you can think of was on the radio saying, "This seat belongs to us. We can't let the seat slip out of our hands." And one thing is to say that we deserve representation with the majority. And another thing is to say that the seat belongs to us, because that was the kind of message that was rejected by Puerto Ricans and Nicaraguans who were saying, "Wait a minute, you're excluding everybody else. Why should I vote for somebody who is going to be so, so exclusive?" [Maria Hinojosa]: Do both of you agree with the conventional wisdom that's being talked about, that this election was very bad news for the Clinton administration and for the Democrats in general? Or are you a little bit more skeptical?

[Gerson Borrero]: I don't agree with it. I think that this has nothing to do with the Clinton presidency. It's too early on in his administration. This is only his tenth month in office. We have to remember that neither Whitman in New Jersey or Giuliani in New York received a mandate. It was only two percent in each instance. So there is clearly, it's not a mandate anywhere. I think people looked at the local issues and certainly our community voted as such. I mean, you can stretch this and say that Clinton did have an effect on the Latino community. Listen to the President. So that argument could be made also. [Ivan Roman]: In Miami, That doesn't really apply because the race is not a partisan race. The dynamic happening here is mostly an anti-incumbency type of thing, where voters seem to reject people who have either been at City Hall before, or who are currently in City Hall in favor of some newcomers that are giving them a struggle in the runoff next week. So here we have a different situation. [Maria Hinojosa]: Well, thank you very much for joining us, political analyst Gerson Borrero in New York

and Ivan Roman, of El Nuevo Herald in Miami, muchas gracias. [Maria Martin]: Segment number two runs five minutes, 48 seconds. Latino USA's Maria Martin reports from Austin, Texas, on the use of the Mexican holiday known as El Dia de Los Muertos or The Day of the Dead as a springboard for social messages. And the suggested lead comes up in three, two, one. In the nineties, death for many in this country's Latino communities comes too early, often as the result of preventable causes like gang and gun violence and AIDS. To call attention to this, some community groups in Austin, Texas, are using the tradition of El Dia de Los Muertos or The Day of the Dead, a centuries-old ritual commemorating friends and families who've passed on as a springboard for social messages. Latino USA's Maria Martin prepared this report, and that piece comes up in three, two, one. [Diana Gorham]: We have in this particular room altars that have been built by people. Members of the community...[Maria Martin]: At an East Austin community center

in the heart of the city's Mexican-American barrio, Diana Gorham of the AIDS outreach group INFORME CIDA shows a visitor around an exhibit of altars created to honor those who passed on in the tradition celebrated in Mexico and other Latin American countries. The structures are colorful, with flowers and photographs, candles, ribbons and incense. But some altars also have nontraditional decorations, like condoms and anti-AIDS messages. [Diana Gorham]: This one was also built by a volunteer of INFORME CIDA who also lost her brother to AIDS in Houston. She and her brother were very, very close... [Maria Martin]: The altar exhibit in Austin isn't the only effort linking the traditional Mexican holiday to the reality of a growing cause of death in the Latino community, where AIDS is now the leading killer of young Hispanic men and the third leading cause of death among Latinas ages 25 to 44. San Antonio artist David Zamora Casas does a performance piece for El Dia de Los Muertos called "Cuentos de la Realidad" or "Tales of Reality," which

tells of a painful death from AIDS of his friend Jesse. It is time for the angels to take you away to a different place, another time. [Maria Martin]: In the piece, Zamora Casas tries to make a connection between his loss to AIDS and all of the other losses, individual and collective, which may have been suffered by those in the audience. [David Zamora Casas]: So I try to use things that that bring people down to a very fundamental, basic level and related to situations that I've encountered dealing with homophobia within a family that's Chicano son has AIDS. And these, these families kind of like don't know how to react because of all the machismo and stereotypes and all, all the baggage that we've carried on from our childhood. We've got to to nurture and educate each other. [Maria Martin]: The traditions associated with Dia de Los Muertos, according to AIDS educator Diana Gorham, provide an opportune forum in which to bring up difficult issues, ones often veiled in secrecy and denial.

[Diana Gorham]: There are mothers, for example, who go to the priest and say, "Please don't let any of the community know that this is what's killing my son. That's what my son died of." And so what we try to do, in this particular event, is to break that silence. [Young person's voice]: Good morning and welcome. The Culture Wars presents "Dia de Los Muertos - the Day of the Dead..." [Maria Martin]: In a warehouse housing an alternative high school called the Creative Rapid Learning Center, a diverse group of young people, white, black and Latino, all wearing Dia de Los Muertos T-shirts, perform a series of skits which come from their own experiences with death and loss of family and friends. [Young man's voice]: Hey, Uncle Paul, I wonder where you are right now? I miss you. There are so many things that I want to learn from you. I wish I could hear your thoughts right now. I've changed a lot since you left... [Maria Martin]: The kids who make up this theater group call themselves the Cultural Warriors. Many of them had dropped out of school before coming to the Creative Rapid Learning

Center. As part of a writing project two years ago, they were asked to write letters to deceased friends and family members as a way to complete unfinished business. Cast member Jon Gonzales says that project, which eventually led to a whole series of skits dealing with a range of issues affecting young people from AIDS to drugs to racism, has helped him to cope with the pain of loss. [Jon Gonzales]: Well, it kind of helps us out, bringing that kind of stuff out in the open, you know, instead of just keeping it inside. Like you heard, when they're in the picnic scene, they're saying about this guy that had died in a car crash. That was my friend. [Unidentified speaker#1]: Hey, what's up? What you been up to? [Unidentified speaker #2]: I don't, man, just been lying around, you know. [Unidentified speaker #1]:So you lost a little bit of weight, huh? [Unidentified speaker #2]: Yeah, man can't get nothing to stick to the bones around here, man. [Maria Martin]: In this scene, a group of the kids visit the cemetery on the night of El Dia de Los Muertos, as is the tradition in Mexico.

The kids say these presentations allow them to look at both life and death in a more positive way. [Passion Fields]: Metropolitan America or cosmopolitan America does not like to talk about death. That is something you whisper about. You don't talk about it. And we're the kind of people, we like to put things bluntly. Everything we say... [Maria Martin]: Passion Fields is 19 years old and an energetic member of the Cultural Warriors. [Passion Fields]: But that's what we want, to put everything forward. We thought that bringing the culture thing over with, not too many people, even Hispanic, know about Dia de Los Muertos - the Day of the Dead. So we, [giggles] so we thought that it was important that we bring this so everybody can know about it, see? So now now there is white kids that know about it, Hispanic kids that know about it, black kids that know about it. And that's what we think is important. [Maria Martin]: And so an ages-old traditional commemoration for the dead has become a relevant way to look at issues facing the living. [Young person's voice]: So on this holiday, El Dia de Los Muertos, we celebrate the Mexican folk tradition For as we are born, we shall die.

Life is temporary. So live it with honor, dignity, hope and courage. Live it like a Cultural Warrior. [Maria Martin]: For Latino USA. In Austin, Texas, I'm Maria Martin. Segment number three one, six minutes, 27 seconds. Reporter Alfredo Cruz of Station WBGO in Newark, New Jersey, profiles the legendary Latin jazz pianist Eddie Palmieri. And the suggested lead comes up in three, two, one. For over 30 years, pianist Eddie Palmieri has been pushing the creative limits of Latin music, his unorthodox experimental style has defied musical categories. Reporter Alfredo Cruz of Station WBGO in Newark, New Jersey, prepared this profile of the musical renegade Eddie Palmieri. And that piece comes up in three, two, one. [music][Alfredo Cruz]: Like his music, Eddie Palmieri is intensely energetic. His piano solos

have been known to go from delicate, esoteric explorations to fist-pounding accents all within the same phrase. He has developed his own musical identity. When Eddie plays, the sound of a note or a chord is immediately recognizable as unmistakably Palmieri. He admits, however, he didn't always want to be a pianist. [Eddie Palmieri]: Well, on the piano I started at eight years old and then, by 11-12, I wanted to be a timbalero - drummer - you know. And Tito Puente, he was my idol. You know, by that time I started with my uncle who had a conjunto, El Chino Y Su Alma Tropical. We had a ?Teresita y Trajita? Mongo, Rosero, Conguero, my other uncle Frankie. I played timbale and I stood with them for almost two years until I couldn't carry the drums anymore, you know, and I just couldn't do it. [music] [Alfredo Cruz]: One of his earliest and most important musical influences was his older brother, Charlie,

also a pianist who not only served as mentor but helped Eddie get started in the business over 30 years ago. My brother Charlie used to play with Tito Puente. That was one of the most important conjuntos that we've ever had here. Wherever my brother would go and play, he would recommend me. And that's how I got into an orchestra called Ray ?Almore? Quintet. And first, Johnny Siguí in '55, then we see Tico Valdes. Pete Terrace, in the interim, you know, back to see Tico Valdes for summer in '58 in the Palladium and then in '58-60, with Tito Rodriguez. After that, I went on my own. [music] [Alfredo Cruz]: The big new trombone sound he had developed revolutionized Afro-Cuban music in the 1960s. Eddie Palmieri had found the perfect combination and called

his new band La Perfecta. [singing the song "Busca lo Tuyo"]: "Porqué te empeñas en destruir mi felicidad." [instrumental music] [continuing the song "Busca lo Tuyo"]: Busca lo tuyo y déjame en paz." [instrumental music] [Alfredo Cruz]: They were a sensation at dance halls like the now legendary Palladium, where battle of the bands were common and Palmieri reigned supreme. [music]: "Como Palmieri boogaloo. Arriba ..." [music] [Eddie Palmieri]: This was done in 1968. That's when La Perfecta breaks up, you know, in the end the beginning of '68, we did a tour of Venezuela. And after that, that was like the ending of La Perfecta, you know. Phase one, curtain down. That was it. Boom. [music] [Alfredo Cruz]: Over the last 25 years, many of Palmieri's recordings have become classics and

his orchestras have provided a proving ground for promising young Latino and jazz musicians, much like Art Blakey's Messengers was to jazz. But in spite of winning five Grammy awards, record companies have met his innovative musical experiments with skepticism. Recently, however, Palmieri finalized negotiations on a new contract with Elektra's Asylum Records. [music] [Eddie Palmieri]: And we're going into a whole other direction. We're going into the Afro-Caribbean jazz per se, my first attempt by writing a specific