On an early morning in Aspen, Colorado, Maria Hinojosa met up with three super-star Latino journalists at Aspen Public Radio; John Quiñones, Maria Elena Salinas, and Paola Ramos. They all gathered in Aspen for the 4th Annual, Raizado Festival—celebrating Latine excellence and representation. And we at Latino USA, thought there was no better time than right then and there, to talk to three of the most influential journalists who have covered the Latine community for decades.
For years, John, Maria Elena, and Paola have been on the ground watching the Latine population grow in places you wouldn’t expect. Like in North Dakota and Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, where Latinos are one of the fastest-growing populations, making them “the swing within the swing states,” as Maria Hinojosa points out.
For a long time, Latine voters have favored Democratic candidates in presidential elections. Those margins of support have varied. Paola Ramos, who has just published “Defectors. The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America,” a book about uncovering what motivates conservative Latino voters to support issues that seem at odds with their self-interest. Paola says: “For 30 years, we have all believed that to be adjacent to the immigrant community meant a certain set of values. It turns out its not that way.”
In 2020, 61% of Latino voters cast their ballots for President Joe Biden, while 36% voted for Donald Trump, a narrower margin than in 2016 between Hillary Clinton and Trump. Maria Elena, arguably one of the most well-known Latina journalists in the United States, attributes this growth toward the right, to the lack of understanding within the Democratic party of Latine communities, and their histories with repressive governments.
In 2020, Salinas explained, many Latines were fed with a campaign arguing that Joe Biden was a communist. “Democrats didn’t do anything. They just kind of let it happen,” she added. But speaking about Cuban immigrants specifically Salinas argues that, “when it comes to the one issue of Cuba, the younger generation Cubans are going to go with their parents. That’s the one issue. And Republicans did a good job in exploiting the very real pain that these communities feel from having left their countries.”
Always an optimist, John Quiñones, host of the show “What Would You Do?” argues that both parties need to invest time organizing on the ground and spending money on battling misinformation and disinformation on social media. Quiñones said, “21 percent of Hispanics rely on social media for their news. And we all know that social media is not journalism. No one’s vetting.”
For our ongoing 2024 political coverage, “The Latino Factor: How We Vote,” this roundtable of Latine journalists get frank about the state of journalism, partisan politics, and which 2024 Presidential candidate will capture the Latino Vote.
Graphic made by Monica Morales-Garcia.
This episode was produced by Monica Morales-Garcia and Maria Hinojosa and edited by Peniley Ramírez, Andrea López-Cruzado and Ariel Goodman. It was mixed by Julia Caruso with engineering support from J.J. Querubin.
Special thanks to James Barrs and Aspen Public Radio.
