Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán

Photo: Flickr Photo by 5imon

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

For at least three millennia native communities have thrived around Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán. Long considered one of the most beautiful and picturesque lakes in the world, this large inland lake was designated a national park in the middle of the 20th century to encourage tourism. But in 2009, the Global Nature Fund designated Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán as its “Threatened Lake of the Year.” Producer Maria Emilia Martin reports on grass-roots efforts to save Lake Atitlán.

The movie “Avatar,” came away with multiple Oscar nominations this month. Latino USA’s Maria Hinojosa explores Native-American themes within the film with University of Texas at Austin professor Angela Valenzuela and Native-American journalist Kara Briggs.

A Question of Governance

Photo: White House Photo/Pete Souza

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

While President Barack Obama outlined a domestic agenda in his first State of the Union address, the post-address spin was more about partisanship and which side will give in to political demands. As CNN political analyst Candy Crawley observed, the Democrats cannot run this election year on a platform of “the Republicans didn’t let us” do anything and the Republicans can’t run on a platform of blocking everything. So how does one govern in this political environment? Latino USA’s Maria Hinojosa examines this question by bringing together Tea Party Activist Dan Maloney and Progressive Community Activist Ruben Castilla Herrera. Also, more Latino family stories from StoryCorps Historias.

The Haiti Tragedy

Photo: UN Photo/Marco Dormino

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The second oldest republic in the Western Hemisphere was born of a slave rebellion at the dawn of the 19th Century. As writer Edwidge Danticat says, Haiti had to be punished. A successful slave rebellion in a slave-owning world was a bad example. And as part of that punishment, Haiti was burdened by heavy debt, lack of trade, poverty, and social unrest throughout its history. This French- and Creole-speaking nation surrounded by Spanish-speaking Latin America has a complicated history. Author Michele Wucker provides insight on Haiti’s troubled relationship with the Dominican Republic, Haiti’s neighbor on the island of Hispaniola. And Haitian-American musician Daniel Bernard Roumain, aka DBR.