President of Mexico’s Visit Marked by Protests – The presidents of Mexico and the United States started off 2015 with a meeting at the White House, in which the main topic was executive action on immigration. The visit sparked protests in several cities, by groups concerned about human rights in Mexico, after the disappearance of 43 teacher’s college students in the Mexican state of Guerrero. José López Zamorano reports from the nation’s capital.
High Speed Train Construction Breaks Ground in California – Governor Brown, of California, broke ground this week in Fresno in the construction of the first high speed rail system in the country. Voters decided to put $10 billion dollars in bonds toward paying for the project. On our national program Línea Abierta, we spoke with Elizabeth Jonasson, spokesperson for California High Speed Rail, about the importance of the project and the obstacles that lie ahead.
Master Muralist Paints with the Whole Neighborhood – The murals of Juana Alicia Araiza decorate many neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her paintings tell the story and characteristics of their neighborhoods, and her artistic work is now a reference in the history of Chicano and Latin American art in this country. As a professor, Juana Alicia has educated many generations of muralists and artists in folk art. Today, she calls many of them her colleagues. Fernando Torres visited this master muralist in one of her classes and in her workshop in West Berkeley and reports she involves the whole neighborhood when she paints a mural. This feature is part of our series “Raíces: Los Maestros. Stories About Artists Who Pass On Their Art to the Next Generation”.
