Julio: Last week, Hurricane Milton made landfall in central Florida. It brought tornadoes, floods, storm surges… And left more than 20 dead and hundreds of buildings destroyed. Authorities say that the total reconstruction of this part of Florida will take a very long time. From El Péndulo, we want to send all our solidarity to the people affected by this catastrophe.
We know that Milton hit hard… And, for that reason, we did not want to overlook a mention of what happened. But our story does not focus here, in central Florida. It begins somewhere else. A very particular place.
Zairenna: South Florida is like purgatory.
Julio: This is Zairenna Barboza, director of programming and content for Actualidad Radio. A local station that broadcasts on AM-FM and online.
Zairenna compares South Florida to purgatory because she says that everyone comes here to pay a penalty. Or they are in search of something.
Zairenna: In some way, most of all the communities that are in South Florida come here driven by an emotion.
So, we come running away from something and we come from being super passionate and we say that here we are extremists. I wouldn’t say extremist, I would say that we are all passionate with our points.
Julio: Well, now you talk about South Florida. But how is South Florida different from the rest of the state?
Zairenna: Because we feel that this is Latin America, still.
Julio: I have lived in South Florida for seven years. And the truth is that in some points I agree with Zairenna…
I think it is a desired area, right? It is a point that most people decided to arrive at voluntarily. They come from many parts of the world, but mainly from different places in Latin America. Some flee poverty. They seek work and progress. Others escaped totalitarian regimes. And a few came to invest the great fortunes of the continent. It is a place where Spanish is widely spoken and where political positions are largely defined by the origin of the people who live here. It is cosmopolitan, but also conservative —if we compare it with other large metropolises in the United States, of course.
All this makes South Florida a particular, complex place, different from the rest of the state… And above all, a very, very, very Latino place.
Julio: In these elections, there are two million Latino voters in Florida. That is, one in five voters. And the polls say that the state is still in play. Vice President Kamala Harris undoubtedly has a better chance of winning here than President Biden did. But former President Trump won Florida in 2016 and in 2020. In other words, everything is yet to be decided.
This is El Péndulo: the Latino vote from five states that will decide the presidential elections in the United States. A podcast from Noticias Telemundo and Radio Ambulante Studios.
Today… Florida.
Julio: One of the unique features of South Florida is its influential Spanish-language radio stations. If you are in Miami, get in your car and start changing stations, you will hear something like this:
Archive: Host: Friends, today is Friday and the body knows it.
Voice: But if we keep this attitude, we will not be heard by God.
Host: Listen, this controversy of the Castro dictatorship…
Host: A grandmother is not restlessly thinking about the abortion law.
July: A little bit of reggaeton. One or two Christian stations. A debate about abortion. News from Latin America and the world… etc.
The radio is the media per excellence for Latinos here in the United States. There are more than a thousand Spanish-language radio stations throughout the country. And the programming varies: sports, music, religion… A few also broadcast news and opinion.
And while some Spanish-language radio stations have been accused of spreading disinformation, for many, listening to the radio is almost a tradition. It connects them to the music they grew up with and informs them in their own language.
And this is especially true in South Florida.
Zairenna: Here, talk radio has a different power.
Julio: That is, they are the space in which political narratives take shape.
Zairenna: In this case, at least here at Actualidad Radio, we are a radio that entertains with information and our main characteristic is that.
Julio: In Miami, there are more than ten Spanish-language radio stations. Their audience is the Latin diaspora.
There is Radio Mambí. Radio Caracol. La Poderosa… a radio station created by Cuban exiles and recently bought by a Christian media company.
And of course, there is also Actualidad Radio.
Audio file jingle: Noticias Actualidad Radio…
Julio: A group of Cubans and Venezuelans founded the station 18 years ago. The headquarters are in a small building in the city of Doral, in Miami-Dade county. This is the most populated county in Florida. And almost 70% of the people who live there are Latino.
Zairenna: The radio’s slogan is one language, all the accents, one signal and that’s what we are.
Audio file, different hosts:
Host: Good morning, good morning, good morning
Host: Good morning, welcome at this time…
Host: Gentlemen, it’s 4:12 in the afternoon and we continue
Host: Good afternoon, thank you for joining us.
Zairenna: We have a program with diverse talents: Cubans, Venezuelans, Colombians, Argentines. There are Nicaraguan guests, there are guests of all kinds.
Julio: And the political visions are also different from one program to another?
Zairenna: Yes, all people have different political visions. For us, that’s normal.
Julio: That is, there is a host, a conductor…
Zairenna: There are some who are more liberal. There are others who are conservative. We don’t like extremes.
Julio: The dynamic works more or less like this: the most liberal hosts go on air in the morning. And the conservatives take the microphone in the afternoon. During the first hours of the day you hear topics like this:
Audio archive, AM programming
Host: Political analysts gave Kamala Harris the victory in the debate. And I think that, I think that’s how it was.
Host: What Chávez said became dogma and in Cuba it was the same.
Host: The UN woke up today saying that they are worried that Lebanon will become a second Gaza.
Host: The tariffs will have an impact on the American consumer. Even though in the statements made by the former president he says the opposite.
Julio: And the later it gets, you can hear things like this:
Audio file, PM programming
Host: Mrs. Harris could be a nice-smelling perfume. But after five minutes…
Host: Eau de cologne, I told you.
Host: After five minutes, she fades away. Behind this lady, there is no coherent proposal.
Host: Iran is on the verge of obtaining the uranium needed for a first atomic bomb.
Host: Trump could have told her, look, do you know how many people have been killed by criminal immigrants that you have let in?
Julio: Now, here in the hallways, when a program ends, do the hosts not fight? Do they not have disagreements over their political views, or does everything flow very well?
Zairenna: They meet and greet each other. And, for example, our morning talents, who at some point coincide with the afternoon talents, hey, how is Venezuela? Hey, how do you see this? And we look for the points that are coincidental and can unite us and not what separates us.
Julio: It is as if on this radio each show functions as an independent republic, where each host runs his territory in his own way and the programs are not connected to each other. But not everyone likes to hear such a variety of opinions.
At El péndulo, we read several comments from listeners on social networks. One of the ones that caught our attention was directed at the hosts of the morning show. Here I quote it: “During your time my radio does not turn on because for me you have no credibility whatsoever.”
Zairenna: When people call us, or write to us, or write to me, they say that you are communists, and I say: Ok. Or you are extremists, super hyper-right-wing and I… I mean, for some people we are one extreme or for others we are the other. It means that I am representing both things.
Julio: But, let’s see, how that looks in reality. Now inside the booth…
Zairenna: For example, this is something that was done for the debate, right? People have been invited from one side and the other, both in the morning and in the afternoon. And there have been debates with a Republican and a Democrat and different ideas are presented. And on the air, how do you hear it? Each one defends their position.
Julio: Does the debate get heated?
Zairenna: Oh, yes. But, South Florida is passionate.
Julio: Don’t the microphones get blown up?
Zairenna: Always. And people, many people call to say you are crazy, I don’t agree with you. How nice, welcome to the democracy club. And this is America, welcome here where thinking differently is the norm.
Julio: And this happens often. A couple of weeks ago, Zairenna was at the studio controls when a call came in from a listener.
Zairenna: And the listener disqualified the journalist who was on the air and told him, “Look, I’m going to have to take you off the air. Not because you’re saying that you disagree with me, but because you’re disqualifying me.”
Zairenna: We will never allow messages of racism, discrimination and violence. And if we make a mistake and have an inappropriate mention, it is corrected and let’s go.
Julio: And now that we are in an election year, is there anything that worries you? Anything that particularly calls your attention?
Zairenna: That the differences have been taken as a point not to solve the problems, but to create them.
Julio: After visiting the radio station, I was left with the impression that this newsroom is, in some way, a miniature version of South Florida. Where different accents, nationalities and political visions coexist. Some radical and others not so much.
But, despite having lived and worked in this state for years, it is impossible for me to analyze all the Latino communities that make life here.
I mean, one thing is to live in Miami and be a news anchor for Telemundo for a national audience… And another thing, very different, is to be a local reporter here. I don’t know much about the subject. But Syra Ortiz-Blanes does…
Syra: I am the immigration reporter for the Miami Herald. In these elections I am helping with the coverage. Looking at the Hispanic vote in Florida and at a national level.
Julio: After the break, Syra helps us understand how and why the diverse Latino communities in Florida vote.
We’ll be back.
[MIDROLL]
Julio: We’re back at El péndulo. I’m Julio Vaqueiro.
Julio: Sometimes it is said that the good thing about Miami is that it is very close to the United States. And well, in that sense, Syra Ortiz Blanes is fully authorized to talk about the local scene. She is not originally from Florida. Like so many, she was born and raised elsewhere, in her case in Puerto Rico. She has been living and working here for almost three years now, in South Florida. She still remembers what surprised her the most when she arrived.
Syra: The diversity of the Hispanic population. Because sometimes when you think about the Hispanic population in Florida, well, you think about what they are… It’s the Cuban community, which is very established here, which has been here for many years.
Julio: A little over 60 years… And yes, in the 90s, the majority of Latinos living in Florida were Cubans. But this is no longer the case.
Syra: There is everything here. In fact, so many populations exist here. The roots of the populations are different, right? In Florida, I think, there are more than 6 million Latinos.
Julio: There are Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Peruvians, Nicaraguans and Argentines. Just to name a few.
Syra: So there is a great variety of political interests at play. Because of the number of identities that exist in this population. And also something that is important to touch on is that many Hispanics here in Florida vote with their homes, with their countries of origin in mind, right?
Julio: And the thing is that when people migrate, when they arrive in the United States, they don’t just bring with them a couple of suitcases. They also bring their personal history. Their political ideology. Their ideas about what democracy is. And all of this translates into how they vote and also into what they expect from the candidates.
I asked Syra for an example. And she gave me the example of the Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans.
Syra: They are very anti-socialist, very anti-communist and they want their candidates, whom they support, to align themselves with those values that they have. In other words, it is very common and I would say that it is even an expectation that politicians and candidates talk about these issues, right?
Julio: For example, during his campaign Trump has repeated the words communist and socialist over and over again. Many times linking the Democrats with regimes like that of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, and saying that the United States could become a communist country if Kamala Harris wins the elections.
File:
Trump: Please, come up, thank you
Daniel: It is important that we understand that what has happened in our countries in Latin America can happen here.
Julio: This is Daniel Campos, a Venezuelan whom Trump invited to the stage during a rally in Pennsylvania. His speech focused on warning of what, according to him, can happen in the country.
File:
Daniel: Unless, we take a different step and that is why I think Trump is the best person to do it.
Julio: Since the time of Ronald Reagan, Republicans have taken a tough attitude against left-wing governments in Latin America: sanctions, denunciations and isolation… Following the strategy that Democratic President John F. Kennedy began in 1962 when he applied the trade embargo against Cuba, which remains in place to this day. These policies —although they have not managed to change regimes— have been very popular among some Latino voters. Especially among those who come from those countries.
But… let’s go back to the present.
Trump’s campaign is not the only one to use this rhetoric. The Democrats, in their own way, do it too.
Syra: For example, in 2020, there were ads that compared Trump, or positioned him as a leader, right? Which is a strongman in Latin America.
Julio: And the same thing happened this year.
Syra: A political action committee, right? What they call a PAC in English put up a billboard near Hialeah, which is mostly Cuban, and it said no to dictators, no to Trump. And on one side of the billboard was Fidel Castro, right? And on the other side was Trump and that has caused a kind of stir in the Cuban community here. Because many said this is offensive, right? Fidel was a murderer, nothing worse than Fidel. So to speak, right? And I mean, there were also real people who supported the comparison. People who are Democrats, people who are anti-Trump because they said, well, Trump is also authoritarian.
Music
Syra: But for me that’s an example of how many immigrants continue to live the stories of their countries even though they are far from them. And how that impacts the public dialogue, like what the politicians say here in South Florida.
Julio: But… what works with some voters, doesn’t work with all.
Syra: To the Puerto Rican, right? They don’t have that history with leftist governments or socialist governments in Latin America. So, I would tell you that as a member of that community who observes how people talk about these political issues, that is not on the radar.
Julio: For Puerto Ricans living in the United States, their main concerns are other things: the health system, corruption, crime… And the support they receive from the Federal Government. Especially on issues like the electricity crisis that has been going on in Puerto Rico for years.
Let us remember that Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States— some would say a colony.
So, these messages that link the Democratic Party with communism or socialism in Latin America do not work for all communities. And neither for all ages. Not all young Latinos are attracted to this issue.
Syra: I see them more focused on domestic issues like the economy and inflation, right? More than what is happening in the country where their parents —or grandparents— left and moved to the United States.
Julio: An example of this is the new generation of Cuban-Americans. They are much less interested in policies directed towards Cuba. And whose focus is not on punishing the regime on the island either.
And this is not the only thing that has changed. The political dynamics throughout Florida have been transformed over the years…
Syra: Well, we have definitely seen that the state has moved towards the Republican vote in recent years. And there is no single factor that has led to these political changes.
Julio: Syra says that this is because, in Florida, the Republican political machine is better funded and organized than the Democratic party.
Syra: And that has been demonstrated, right? In voter registration efforts. For example, in mid-August, 1 million more Republican voters were registered than Democratic voters.
Julio: That is to say… In Florida there are, currently, more than five million active Republican voters. And 4.33 million Democratic voters.
And this change occurred in less than 10 years. In 2018, Florida’s current governor, Ron DeSantis, beat Democratic candidate Andrew Gillium by less than 1% of the vote. At that time, Democrats still had an advantage over Republicans in terms of registered voters.
Syra: Regarding Hispanics in particular, they have launched initiatives such as civic clinics where they helped immigrants study for their citizenship exams. So even before they become citizens, right? They are already planting the seed that it is the Republican Party that is helping them.
Julio: Syra told me that certain demographic changes also influenced this state to change color.
Syra: The population in Florida has increased over the last four years. Governor Ron DeSantis has promoted the state as a Republican stronghold and that has certainly brought in new residents.
Julio: The fact that Trump is a Florida resident also helped bring about this change.
Syra: There are also a lot of older people who retire here. Many of them are conservative. There is one community that comes to mind, which is The Villages, which is close to Orlando. And they have seen a significant increase in their population in recent years. And it is a super pro-Trump, super Republican bastion.
Julio: Despite this, the truth is that the panorama here is still unclear.
Julio: After the break… In these elections, citizens will not only choose who will occupy the presidency. In states like Florida, it will also be decided whether or not to legalize abortion. We will be back.
JULIO: We are back at El péndulo. I am Julio Vaqueiro.
Julio: We have been talking about diversity in Florida… That there is everything here. It is practically a stew of Latin American countries.
And with that comes a spectrum of policies from our native countries.
As an example, we have an urgent issue throughout the hemisphere in recent years: the right to abortion.
The green tide, named after the green scarves that symbolize support for the right to abortion, has driven change in Latin America. The result is that in several countries there is more access to reproductive rights than before.
Charo Valero: Places like Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay.
Julio: This is Charo Valero, Florida state director for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.
In 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated constitutional protection for the right to abortion, many states —including Florida— changed their laws.
That same year, the 15-week ban was passed and the next year, the six-week ban was passed. So there have been many changes in Florida recently.
Julio: So, six weeks of gestation —when the vast majority of women do not know they are pregnant. The result, says Charo, is a contrast for many Latinas… between more access in their home countries… and more restrictions here.
You have your ideas about freedom and access and how things are going to be, how things are going to be here and you realize that we are much further ahead in our countries than we are here. In our countries, we are moving forward, we are fighting, we are struggling for reproductive justice and it feels like in this country we are going backwards.
Julio: Charo says that there are still many people who don’t know what the law is in Florida right now. Of course, it’s an understandable confusion: it has changed twice in the last two years. And it may change again in this election. Voters will be able to decide if they want to change the state Constitution to enshrine the right to abortion up to the point of fetal viability, around 23 weeks for many pregnancies. It’s called Amendment 4.
Julio: The group Charo works for is part of a coalition promoting that constitutional change, the amendment. It’s called Florida Protecting Liberty, and they want to convince Hispanic voters. They campaign in Spanish, and with a message that, according to them, is tailor-made for Latinos.
Charo: The values that we focus on are respect, autonomy, and freedom. Family. Compassion and non-judgment. Privacy. Those are the five values that we have seen that really connect with Latino communities in Spanish.
Julio: Our producer, Alana Casanova-Burgess, was in central Florida recently, in Osceola County, observing a group in that same coalition supporting Amendment 4. A group that is trying to convince voters face to face. Hi, Alana.
ALANA: Hi, Julio.
JULIO: Tell me. Where did you go in Osceola?
Alana: I went to a very well-kept suburb with a very beautiful name: Ponciana. This visit, of course, was before the hurricane… But let Lucy Rodriguez explain it to you.
Lucy: We are knocking on doors. That is the work that we are doing. Today we formally started the Osceola program.
Alana: Lucy is the state director of Mi Vecino, an organization that promotes voting rights. The week before, they had finished their program in Orange County, a nearby county where they knocked on many doors. That day they were in a hurry.
Lucy: We knocked on almost 60,000 doors and we hope to knock on a good few before the elections here and hoping that people get motivated to go out and vote.
JULIO: Ah, so they are canvassers – pollsters.
Alana: Yes, but at least when I think of canvassers, I think of campaign volunteers. For the Mi Vecino team, campaigning is their job all year, every year… Not just during election time. It has been that way since 2021. That is important, because they are trying to create a relationship with Latino voters that goes beyond asking for their vote every four years.
Lucy: I think one of the biggest mistakes that is made here in the United States, especially in Florida, is that the campaign is very weak. When we talk to voters, they don’t know who anyone is.
Mi Vecino leaders have raised the idea that there is something abusive in the way campaigns treat Latinos. And as evidence, they point out that in Florida there are more Latino voters not affiliated with any party than Latinos registered as Democrats or Republicans. They told me that, because of that, they try to be more conscious of how to speak to Hispanics, because they can be skeptical of what the campaigns want.
JULIO: And how are you doing, with that understanding?
Alana: Well, they have made a huge effort knocking on doors, talking to people… Many times for Democratic candidates and they have not yet won any election.
But they are planning for the long term. They have registered 40 thousand new voters in the state. Last year, Governor Ron DeSantis approved new restrictions on how voters can be registered, and some groups, like Mi Vecino, stopped doing it directly.
Lucy: In this QR code here, you can register to vote if you are not
Registered voters can update or even request their vote by mail. Okay. You? Dominican? Yes, me too. Take care of yourself.
Alana: For this year, they have focused on Amendment 4. They need 60 percent of the vote for it to be approved.
This day in Poinciana, the challenge was to connect with voters they had NOT contacted before.
Lucy: Good morning, how are you? That’s great.
When Harris replaced Joe Biden, they suddenly saw an opportunity among young voters who thought they would not go to vote because they were not enthusiastic about Biden. In other words, Harris’ entry into the race could have changed the fight for abortion rights.
They had a list of houses with registered voters, and pamphlets about the amendment. Many of the Latinos in Osceola are from Puerto Rico, where there is also more right to abortion than in Florida. I went to be a fly on the wall, if people would allow me to record the conversation.
Julio: Does Mi Vecino care about voters’ party affiliation?
Alana: No. Even Trump himself isn’t entirely clear on how he’s going to vote. In August, he said he was in favor of the amendment, because six weeks isn’t enough time for a woman to make that decision. He later said he would vote no. His wife Melania said this month that women should have autonomy over their bodies, free from government intervention. Mi Vecino has found that abortion rights are not a partisan issue, so they ring the doorbell if it’s a house with signs for Trump or Harris.
They stay away from the door, to be respectful. And…
We can’t answer the door right now, but if you’d like to leave a message, you can do it now.
Alana: And this is normal? People not answering?
Lucy: Yes.
Julio: I can already imagine it, walking for hours in full sun, in the humidity, without shade. Ringing doorbells and no one comes to the door.
Alana: Yes. It’s intense. And when someone finally opens the door, you have to handle a very delicate conversation about abortion.
Although, Lucy says it’s not abortion itself.
Lucy: Amendment Four is not just abortion, I mean, it’s not abortion itself, it’s about women’s health.
Alana: These conversations begin with a short survey. Question 1: What is the most important issue in this election for you? Economy, education, gun violence, immigration or abortion.
Lucy: What are you worried about right now?
Woman: Right now it’s education for children.
Lucy: Education. Perfect, perfect. There is an initiative for people to have the right to make their own decisions, in this case women. Do you think women should have access to abortion?
Woman: No.
Lucy: Ok, let me explain. In that flyer that you have there we are talking about Amendment Four.
Alana: The proposal is called “amendment to limit government interference in abortion”. Many of the groups that support it, like Mi Vecino, talk about freedom when they talk about women’s health.
Lucy: That government interference has nothing to do with that very important decision that is your health.
Alana: Lucy tells him that there are cases of pregnant women being denied medical attention.
Lucy: So I understand as a woman that it is not fair for us to be exposed to going through so much pain or discomfort, both emotional and physical, without any need. In other words, what is being sought with amendment four is that the Government does not interfere, that they are not the ones who make the decision, because it is not about the abortion itself, but about our health.
Julio: And? How did the lady react?
Alana: At first, with doubts.
Woman: If they accept it’s okay. Health, that is the first thing, that is the most important thing. But not everyone is going to know, so a lot of people are going to take advantage of that door to do things that I really don’t think they should do.
Lucy: I understand your part and I really agree with you. I’m a Christian and I have my point of view regarding that, but my main part here is women’s health and I also understand that we live in a free country. I mean, it can’t be that the government comes to my house to tell me what I have to do with my husband.
Alana: She ended up answering “I’m not sure.” They’ll call her for another conversation.
Julio: Does that happen a lot? People going from no to “I need more information”?
Alana: Well, Lucy tries not to debate the issue with people who are already super decided to vote no, but I saw versions of that same conversation several times when she saw an opportunity.
Alana: When you refer to health, um… Tell me a little more.
Lucy: When I say health, I mean if you end up in the hospital.
Alana: And what Mi Vecino and these other coalition groups hope is that voters think about the complications of the ban before they get to the polls. That “no” is their first response to the amendment, but not the last.
Julio: I heard Lucy share a bit of her religious perspective in her conversation. I’m sure there are a lot of people who are taking their religion into account when deciding how to vote.
Alana: Yes, many people receive messages against the amendment within the church. On the other hand, Catholics for the Right to Decide are campaigning in Florida with Mi Vecino.
Lucy: My faith is strong. I believe a lot in God. That is not negotiable. But that does not take away from me, on the contrary. I do not believe that God would do that. Let someone die. Do you understand? So, I understood the medical part. The health part that we are working for. The fourth amendment.
Alana: Lucy has changed her own perspective as well.
Lucy: I was lacking knowledge, really, yes. Because I was born in a Christian home. I had not gone deeper because like when they talk about abortion, they talk about abortion and that’s it, “I went to a party. I did not take care of myself”. People think about that. But here we are talking about something worse.
Alana: There is one case in particular that has affected her greatly. A 28-year-old mother, Amber Nicole Thurman, who died in Georgia because doctors waited 20 hours to treat her when she had an incomplete abortion.
Lucy: But by the time they made the decision, it was too late. They let her die. That was very bad.
Julio: Is the law in Georgia similar to that in Florida, right?
Alana: Yes. In Georgia and Florida, abortions are only allowed after six weeks if the pregnancy poses an immediate danger to the health of the woman and the fetus. State authorities have tried to clarify the restriction several times since May. But there are testimonies from doctors who say that the law prevents them from helping their patients. And there have been horrible cases in the state as well. In Florida, if a doctor performs an illegal abortion, he can face up to five years in prison and a fine of five thousand dollars.
Julio: Do these very delicate conversations always have to do with urgent cases or medical emergencies?
Alana: Not always. Some voters didn’t rate her answer that highly.
Man: Yes. Yes, yes. A woman should have, you know, the power of what she does with her body.
Alana: But there are a lot of people who are undecided. And when Lucy and others from Mi Vecino talk to men, specifically, they talk about the man’s responsibility to protect his family from the government and they notice that that also helps convince them, at least, to consider it.
Lucy: Do you think that people should have access to abortion?
Man: No.
Alana: That’s what happened with a young father from Brazil.
Lucy: So the issue that we are working on with the fourth amendment is because we don’t want the government to interfere in the decision of your home, when it is something that has to do with your doctor and a very personal decision between you. That’s what the fourth amendment refers to.
Man: It’s very complex, isn’t it? I think it has… I have to think about it.
Julio: The vote is coming in a few weeks. Do Mi Vecino know how Latinos are going to vote yet?
Alana: The group shared the results of their surveys with me. From 11,000 conversations with voters, they found that 56 percent would vote yes. Among Latinos alone, it was 52 percent. And that wouldn’t be enough. 60 percent is needed for the amendment to pass.
They still have more doors to knock on.
Lucy: Thank you, have a nice day.
Julio: Thank you, Alana.
Credits
Desirée: El Péndulo is a co-production of Radio Ambulante Studios and Noticias Telemundo.
Julio Vaqueiro of Noticias Telemundo is the host. This episode was reported and produced by Mariana Zúñiga and Alana Casanova-Burgess [bir-jess]. Editing is by Eliezer Budasoff and Daniel Alarcón.
I’m Desirée Yépez, the digital producer. Jess Alvarenga is the production assistant. Geraldo Cadava is an editorial consultant. Ronny Rojas did the fact checking. Music, mixing and sound design are by Andrés Azpiri. Graphic design and art direction are by Diego Corzo.
At Noticias Telemundo, Gemma García is the executive vice president, and Marta Planells is the senior digital director. Adriana Rodriguez is a senior producer, and José Luis Osuna is in charge of the series’ video journalism.
At Radio Ambulante Studios, Natalia Ramírez is the product director, with support from Paola Aleán. Community management is by Juan David Naranjo Navarro. Camilo Jiménez Santofimio is the director of alliances and financing. Carolina Guerrero is executive producer of Central and CEO of Radio Ambulante Studios.
El péndulo is made possible with funding from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, an organization that supports initiatives that transform the world.
You can follow us on social media as @ [at] central series RA and subscribe to our newsletter at centralpodcast dot audio.
I’m Desirée Yépez, thanks for listening.