Democrats Abroad Hispanic Caucus Podcast

Originally recorded on June 3, 2020, this was a thoughtful and eye opening bilingual interview with Leo Perez Minaya founder of the Dominican Republic branch of Democrats Abroad. Leo Perez Minaya: businessman, Stanford University graduate, engineer, developer, and entrepreneur, internationally recognized for his proven track record of successful world class tourism - real estate endeavors such as Cap Cana. He is the President of the Dominican-Israeli Chamber of Commerce and senior member of the US consulate Warden Program. He currently resides in Dominican Republic. Pérez Minaya is the founder and former Chair of Democrats Abroad Dominican Republic, as well as the former Regional Vice Chair for the Americas Region of Democrats Abroad.

Here's a preview of next week's webinar with Dr. Ramona Houston. Dr. Houston enjoys a multifaceted career as a scholar, social impact strategist, and speaker. American race relations, social responsibility, and higher education are the principal spheres of her work. An American historian, Ramona, specializes in 20th century American history, civil rights, and race relations, specifically it's African American and Mexican American dimensions. Through her publications/presentations, Ramona explores Black/Brown relations, promoting the importance of diverse groups working together to increase their capacity and effectiveness in advancing social change and social justice. If you like this podcast, be sure to register for Dr. Houston's upcoming webinar at https://www.democratsabroad.org/bc_webinar_ramona_houston and subscribe to our podcast Be sure to join Democrats Abroad at http://www.democratsabroad.org/join Twitter: @DemsAbroadHC #DemocratsAbroad #VoteFromAbroad Hispanic Caucus participants in this episode: Amerika Garcia Grewal (Fiji) Podcast intro/outro music provided by Carlos Colao (Spain).

Barajas, Héctor: U.S. Army. Sabal, Roman: U.S. Marine Corps. Bailey, Howard: U.S. Navy. What do all of these people have in common? They've all veterans who've been deported. But not just them -- it's estimated that the true number of deported veterans is in the thousands. Michael Ramos, chair of the Democrats Abroad Hispanic Caucus, and Michael Lee, chair of the Democrats Abroad Veterans and Military Families Caucus, co-hosted this episode with a special guest located only steps away from the U.S.-Mexico border who's been fighting on behalf of America's deported veterans. While most veterans are just as patriotic as you and I, because they don't have a birth certificate that says the were born on U.S. soil they've been under relentless attack and deported to countries most of them have no knowledge of, no fluency with the language, and no known safe-haven connections. With seemingly no compassion for U.S. veterans despite many of them having shed blood and served in combat missions, they are still taken by the federal government to the border as a final "thank you for your service" goodbye message. Working tirelessly on repatriating our nation's veterans is Robert Vivar, co-director of the Unified U.S. Deported Veterans Resource Center based in Tijuana, México. Robert is a true activist who's been doing whatever it takes to get our nation's men and women who previously served in the military to allow them back into the United States to reunite with their families and loved ones, in addition to securing them a legal immigration status. Robert has organized petitions, communicated with members of Congress, partnered alongside other organizations, tracks the latest in court cases involving veterans and citizenship -- and still somehow manages to be a first point of contact for U.S. veterans shoved through the doors to Tijuana and provide them with needed resources and support. The bottom line is that deporting veterans is not in the best interest of our country. Thankfully, there are several take-action initiatives Americans abroad can take such as registering to vote, voting from abroad, contacting legislators, signing petitions -- and encouraging other Americans to do the same. Have a listen to this emotional episode and remember these former service-members not just on Veterans' Day, but every day until our government makes the needed reforms to provide our veterans with the legal status, VA benefits, and care that they deserve. Participants in this episode: Michael Lee (Germany), Thomas López (Australia), and Michael Ramos (Australia). Podcast music provided by Carlos Colao (Spain).

The amazing Martha Soledad (Twitter: @marthasoledad), an accomplished businesswoman, published author, and professional singer, took some time out to join the Democrats Abroad Hispanic Caucus in our most recent podcast. Like so many other Hispanic Americans, Martha can identify with two cultures, two languages, and fully knows the immigration struggle. In Martha's case, she is U.S.-born but has proud roots all the way from Oakland to Michoacán. In this episode, we speak to Martha about the absolute need for civic engagement from every available voter. While addressing the unique community of U.S.-born-but-foreign-raised Latinos, we explore this rarely-discussed community within the spectrum of Latinx identity. Our guest also shares her experience of people affected outside our borders and across Latin America. Finally, we discuss the urgency of the next presidential election in the U.S. and Martha encourages us all to not merely talk about "doing something," but to actually take action. Have a listen to this episode with Martha Soledad and we guarantee you won't be disappointed. ¡Sube el volumen! "Martha is a spitfire with superwoman energy in her professional life. Her passion for civic engagement is positively contagious." - caucusita Alison Maciejewski "With deep roots in the binational community that she loves, Martha connects with people on a personal level, on both sides of the border, in a way few others can." - caucusito Sam Stone Hispanic Caucus participants in this episode: Alison Maciejewski (DA Czech Republic), Sam Stone (DA Mexico), and Rebecca Lammers (DA United Kingdom). Podcast intro/outro music provided by Carlos Colao (DA Spain).

One of the lesser-talked about issues of our time is the serious lack of Hispanic representation in the upper-most ranks of the United States Armed Forces, such as generals and admirals. Among those fighting to raise awareness of this issue is Edward Cabrera, president of the Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance (https://www.casabagroup.net/). "Eddie" is a former U.S. Air Force aviator who's now trying to educate both the public and federal lawmakers on this important issue. With an April 17th letter to the Defense Department backed by a May 7th letter from Congress, Eddie and his Alliance have been busy in 2019 in not only pointing out the problems with Hispanics being absent from senior officer positions, but he's also been proposing strategies to key officials to increase Hispanic representation in these role-model and mission-critical positions. As someone who previously flew F-16 fighter jets and other combat-ready aircraft in addition to continuing to serve our country by working as a NASA programs manager, members of the DA Hispanic Caucus and the DA Military and Veteran Family Caucus were grateful that Eddie joined our podcast to spread his important messaging. As Eddie mentions on the podcast, Americans living abroad can help the cause in doing a take-action item by contacting your members of Congress - ¡Escúchalo ya! DA participants in this episode: Anna Marie Mattson (DA France), Michael Lee (DA Germany), Carlos Colao (DA Spain), and Michael Ramos (DA Australia). Podcast music provided by Carlos Colao, musician and member of the DA Hispanic Caucus.