The Mexican American Experience, a radio program produced by the Longhorn Radio Network, includes interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns. Program summary: Host Alejandro Saenz interviews Bobby Maggiani on his efforts with the Chicano Legal Defense Fund in Austin, Texas to determine and publicize the extent of government spying on the Chicano Movement. Maggiani explains that he and Dr. Armando Gutierrez founded the legal defense fund in 1973 to determine if government agencies had interfered in Chicano political activities. They filed several requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for government documents relating to various Chicano organizations. They received so many documents that they decided to expand the project. With the financial support of several public and private foundations, they established an office and paid a staff of three to determine if the government spied on Chicano organizations. The legal defense fund also publicizes their findings and advocates for stricter control of domestic spying. In this pursuit, they continue to file FOIA requests, and the ACLU is helping them to initiate a lawsuit against the FBI. Maggiani explains that although many of the documents are heavily redacted, they still reveal that informers infiltrated the Chicano movement and reported on their activities and meetings, especially those with Mexican officials. Keywords: ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, American GI Forum, Armando Gutierrez, Bill of Rights, Bobby Maggiani, Brown Berets, Chicano Legal Defense Fund, Chicano Movement, Church Committee, CIA, Citizenship, Committee for Rural Democracy, Democracy, Democratic ideals, Domestic spying, DPS, Dr. Jose Angel Gutierrez, FBI, First Amendment, FOIA, Free Assembly, Freedom of Information Act, Government Interference, Government Spying, Government Transparency, Illegal Intelligence, Jimmy Carter, La Raza Unida, MEChA, Mexican American Youth Organization, National security, PASSO, Police, Political Association of Spanish Speaking Organizations, Political monitoring, Privacy Rights, Romeo Rodriguez, Socialist worker party, Watergate. Broadcast date: 1977-05-20.
Creator/Contributor:
Longhorn Radio Network (creator), Saenz, Alejandro (host), and Maggiani, Robert (interviewee)
Date Created/Date Issued:
5/19/1977
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin