Communications Landscaping - North and Latin American Transnational Communities: Interviews

Elements of the Enquiry

5. Interviews

Taking the contacts obtained, we selected those whom we considered most relevant, based on their geographic location and field of study, to build a network of experts and initiate a dialog with them, to enrich the answers to the query made with their various points of view.

Out of a group of 53 persons, among them professionals and academicians, (see list of candidates) most of whom expressed their interest in intervening, we now boast the participation of 19. They were:

• Abelardo Morales Gamboa
• Haroldo Shetemul
• Carolina Escobar Sarti
• Fundacion Acceso
• Daniel Pimienta
• Elias Hernandez Tapia
• Francisco Sierra
• German Vargas
• Ilan Stavans
• Jorge Durand
• Jose Luis Benitez
• Julio Varela Jara
• Katharine Andrade Eekhoff
• Maria Aysa Lastra
• Scott Robinson
• Yacine Khelladi

These persons were informed about the nature of the project and, as a springboard for dialog, were given access to the "Document for Exchange and Dialog" that gave a general synthesis of the main findings of our study. We proposed a series of topics to be taken into consideration, which are listed below.

• Trends observed regarding the role of communications in the dynamics of transnational communities


• The role of the mass media in performances, fiction works, rapprochement to the different cultures, "the far away brother"


• Every day activities, home activities: the use of the telephone, e-mail and snail mail, personal messages, messenger service


• Setting up a space for communication to defend the dynamic nature of identities and cultures; formulating innovative proposals for the communications of these communities


• Proposals for queries in this field, with the future in mind.

Suggestions and Contributions by Participants in the Dialog

• Abelardo Morales Gamboa: [top]
"As to my observations, with all due respect, I think it important to give emphasis to the proposal and the dialog that are the production conditions for both migration and communication. In order to better clarify the socio-cultural problem stated therein, I believe it is convenient to do a migration location exercise as well as an exercise on the communication processes used in this work called "the global political economy" by Vertovec. I apologize if this observation sounds overly "academic", but I refuse to accept the functionalists' views and the phenomenological descriptions contained in many of the studies on ‘transnational nature'."


• Haroldo Shetemul: [top]
"A departure to the United States means a break with the local culture, the family, the society, and the country. Therefore, communication becomes important to the family and to the immigrant, as it is the only link between both parties. It enables feeling a part of a social conglomerate.

I think that if we investigate and establish a communications map, this could later be used to understand this phenomenon and may help us seek less time-consuming transactional communication alternatives.

In the case of the communications media, radio, TV and newspapers do not largely reflect the migration phenomenon. It is mainly covered as a news event, hot item or a sociological phenomenon for reportersÅf interviews. However, these media are not considered communication services between immigrants and their families in the country of origin.

As to the possible work proposals, I think it would be convenient to promote an interview program with communication media management (newspaper, radio and TV) in order to become familiar with the emigrants and their familiesÅf priorities regarding communications."


• Carolina Escobar Sarti: [top]
"The entry of communication scenarios that enable including "the others" has been successful in terms of recalling distant yet similar voices (reader opinion sections in the press, open telephone lines on the radio, programs produced and broadcast through local cable channels where community inhabitants see themselves on TV...). Internet, and mail services are effective but insufficient for the specific conditions of our country.

Even in the most adverse circumstances, human beings have created original survival mechanisms and novel communication methods. Migrants are not the exception; they are the persons one must resort to in order to "discover" innovative communication proposals, to establish "customized" communication scenarios and to learn about the process through which they restate and change their identities.

Regarding the question ‘How do people communicate', we could talk about communication processes differentiated by genre, or maybe the topic could be part of a later work. It is a fact that women (whether here or there) are the people who keep more contact with their children, parents and other relatives."


• Fundacion Acceso: [top]
"How do the historical variables work in each case analyzed? In my opinion, the inventory (or list in the best scenario) provides an overview of media use, but I think that it is important for each group of immigrants to delve further into the motivations and circumstances that forced its migration. This determines how the media will be used and how each group will establish its identity.

Regarding media use and ownership in the countries of destination and in the communities of origin... these may also be explained using an unequal economic, social and cultural exchange logic (including generational differences). It is clear that the digital gap plays a very important role in the limited use of Internet se in the countries of origin."


• Daniel Pimienta: [top]
"No data is available on the communication phenomenon of migrants and the use of e-mail. We suspect that there is a fatal statistical correlation:

- Migrants usually come from low-economic social levels. - The digital gap mainly exists in low-economic level populations.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the obstacle lies on the family located in the country of origin, where there is no financial means or educational level to allow them to receive an e-mail."


• Elias Hernandez Tapia: [top]
"We should contact emigrants located in some destination communities and visit them to find out, among other things, how and where they communicate with their families, what methods they use, for example, Internet and telephone access establishments.

How do emigrants living in the US adapt to new technologies such as the Internet? What type of abilities do they have or acquire for handling and using Internet? What type of groups or persons are available in the US to provide advice to immigrants for them to achieve an effective use of these technologies? As to the government, are there any perspectives in US local governments regarding the communications maintained by these transnational communities?

As to the impact that is causing migration and the communication media itself in the communities of origin, it seems correct to me that we should ask what impact this has, in cyber cafes for example. How do the media, in this case Internet, change the habits, representations and effects among the various users?"


• Francisco Sierra [top]
"Communication and migration constitute an international communication area that, in spite of what globalization would like us to believe, that leads to serious ruptures and colonial concentration, control and development problems that the transnational reality cannot let us forget.

There is no doubt that citizens' means of communication are nomadic, mobile means, but this mobility goes hand in hand with the accelerated capital circulation and the need for a migrant labor force to connect to the networks. We do not share the idea of the migrant population network action that isolates the communication use of global control, circulation and power networks.

One of the strategic challenges for research is to learn about the use and receipt of media images, contents and informational discourses regarding the real situation of these communities. Especially, a careful study of the use of NTIC by immigrant population is required and urgent in order to plan behavior for intercultural development."


• German Vargas [top]
"Actually, immigrants are "covered" and "rebuilt" by the media basically in the current events sections; that is to say, they exist only as part of tragedies, hot items, or talk shows where melodrama and over-exaggeration prevails. We rarely, but very rarely, see in the information media any indication of migrant human qualities, values and contributions to the national society. The only space open to these groups are the "letters to the editor" or the open telephone line on a live TV program or radio, where sometimes it is possible to read or listen to an immigrant commenting in defense of his/her position; however, it is well known that access to these spaces is very restricted. Nonetheless, I must clarify that these negative, biased representations are very subtle: no direct statements are made in the media, everything seems to be an "objective real life interview". This is different from other Central American countries where xenophobia is direct and evident.

Therefore, the trend of the media is the exclusion or limited representation that supports the economic and political trends associated to the groups of power who own the information media."


• Ilan Stavans [top]
"I recently read an article written by a Salvadoran in El Salvador about how Salvadorans in Los Angeles complain that they are always taken for Mexicans because of the number of Mexicans in California, so every Hispano has to be Mexican. And that makes them feel even more uncomfortable than the discomfort they feel towards the ‘Anglos'. This situation had never been mentioned before: a certain rivalry among the Latin minorities because the smaller groups want to be acknowledged for themselves.

I think that there is no doubt that the telephone is the most accessible bridge because the system has been democratized by the presence of cellular phones and due to the fact that calls anywhere now are even more inexpensive using long distance calling cards. But I think that the telephone – and in this I agree with you – is much more advanced than other communication means.

Radio has a verbal presence that goes way beyond even TV or theater, not to mention movies. Radio here is perhaps the most democratic communication medium– the telephone is not a communication medium but an instrument -, but radio is quite impressive.

We are presently seeing a mix that is not only racial but also a language mix that is not Spanish or English, but somewhere in the middle and it precisely describes what Latin Americans are. It is the announcement of a civilization within the North American civilization that belongs to here and there, but is not completely from either here or there."


• Jorge Durand [top]
"The social networks topic is not addressed, and they are the most efficient communication media between communities of origin and communities of destination. The networks support immigrants mainly with information regarding the "know how" required to migrate, job opportunities, contacts, supports, legal advisory, etc... It is an informal method but certainly a fundamental one when discussing the migration phenomenon.

At present, the video is a communication medium very commonly used by migrants. All celebrations are taped and sent to the places of origin or of destination. This is how migrants boast where they live, their friends, the way they celebrate, etc...

In the case of Mexico, every year small-town priests visit their followers in the United States to provide religious services, to ask for contributions, etc... However, the priest is the communication method for a series of issues that concern a family and he is the intermediary among those who stay and those who have left. I think that this method should be used more often.

Likewise, religious brotherhoods and festivities are another means to communicate and socialize. Migrants travel with their devotions and beliefs, and transfer them to their places of destination where they are reinforced by the arrival of new members. Many times, religious socialization occurs more often in the place of origin than in the place of destination. For example, many immigrants come back home for the first communion, confirmation, etc... and there is a series of messages implicit in all of those religious activities.

Migrants use the newspaper to send messages, especially to relatives whom they have not been able to locate, and rewards are offered to those who give information in that regard. This practice was used early in the twentieth century in many Mexican newspapers, and I have just noticed it in Ecuadorian newspapers."


• Jose Luis Benitez [arriba]
"In summary, it seems that there is a combination of these processes from top to bottom, where it is important to know how cooptation and hybridizing dynamics are created and expressed among popular, massive cultures (cultural industries).

Last year I noticed how these representations are dominated by news that refers to Salvadoran government actions, in favor of legalization processes of Salvadorans who migrate to the US, and there was an equal percentage of negative immigrant images (immigrants captured, injured or dead in their attempt to arrive in the US) as well as positive images (entrepreneurs, public images and participants in local politics in the US). Based on this example, I think it is necessary to examine a series of mediation programs to understand how transnational communities are represented and how the group identities and dynamics of local and transnational power behave in these representations.

EVERYDAY HOME COMMUNICATION. This area is also important to research as it may particularly require all aspects related to ethnographic studies that indicate how people use the different communication media, the mail, packages, and telephones to communicate in the transnational environment."


• Julio Varela Jara [arriba]
"In spite of technological advances and a more common use of e-mail and Internet, the use of snail mail is still important as a means of communication. For example, in the case of Costa Rica this is so common that Correos de Costa Rica has become a money transfer medium from Costa Rica to Nicaragua.

It is also worth investigating the informal migration communications networks to find out not only about their communications but also about their entry into the labor market."


• Katharine Andrade Eekhoff [top]
"It may be useful to add something more, not about how people communicate, but about the content of their communications sent through the different media. By far, how can a person be a head of household or manage businesses or solve marital problems or find the soul mate?"


• Maria Aysa Lastra [top]
"Cellular telephony is largely used in the United States and has now entered into the Latin American markets. We could expect that new, additional communications media and channels will increase the communications flow between emigrants and their communities of origin.

There are studies about Dominican communities in Spain that indicate that religion is one of the elements to which emigrants relate. This is fundamental for them to establish their identity abroad.

Money transfer systems abroad have a small space where people can send messages. It would be very interesting to take advantage of said data to do a qualitative study. We could invite ASOCAMBIARIA and its members to provide an anonymous sample of such data."


• Scott Robinson [top]
"If the communication processes can be established within the context of these migration and remittance economies, then the orthodox thinking regarding this topic may be redirected...

I deem it convenient to mention interconnection rates that significantly increase the cost of calls and also, as a separate item, the emerging Internet protocol voice technology (VoIP) that is presently threatening the near-monopoly markets of traditional fixed telephony..."


• Yacine Khelladi [top]
"The liberalization of telecommunications is sort of a myth, most of the Caribbean continues with de facto monopolies. The Dominican Republic is a special case, as the monopoly company was privatized, it has cellular, Internet and long distance service competition, but no competition in local telephony.

Chats are commonly used but I noticed no reference to them; it is important to learn how people relate to each other in open chat spaces."

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