damian trujillo: hello, and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo, and today once again, we celebrate the legacy of cesar chavez on your "comunidad del valle." ♪♪♪ cc by aberdeen captioning 1-800-688-6621 aberdeen.io damian: we begin today with the monthly visit of the consulate of mexico in san jose. with me is ambassador alejandra bologna, who's the consul general of the consulate of mexico in san jose. ambassador, welcome back to the show. alejandra bologna: thank you so much for having me. damian: well, you know, you provide services for the mexican nationals, but you're also providing american services because you have tax prep help. tell us about what you're doing when it comes to taxes and the help you're providing.

alejandra: well, what we are doing is to our community, we have our nationals that they are paying taxes. and we know that it is a period that they need their documents for paying taxes. so, what we are doing, we have opened for these two weeks important number of appointments for using their passport and the matricula consular. but at the same time, what we--our nationals, they can do instead of sending their original document, their passport, or the matricula, they can come to the consulate and we can make a certified copy of their documents. so, that will help at not losing the document. damian: oh yeah, that way people can prove their identity. in fact, that they are because it's certified by the consulate, by the mexican government i should say. so, that's good news for them. there's also people who tend to go to mexico, ambassador, to celebrate holy week, spring break.

you're telling us that they should know something when they come back. what should they know when they come back from their spring break, easter break when they go to mexico? alejandra: well, it's important that they know what are their rights because sometimes--and we can see when they arrive by car, they don't know, for example, that they need to declare the cash if it's superior to $10,000. so, also if they go back to the united states and they have more cash than $10,000, they need to do a declaration. and for example, sometimes they want to go to mexico and they have a lot of gifts or something that it's new, but it's superior to a certain $3,000 or maybe superior to $500. it's important to know that each passenger has--

they can't arrive with $500 of merchandise. and after that, they need to declare it if it's new. they can go with their belongings, as you know, their clothes or some medicines that they are needing in that moment, or electronical and digital devices, computer, but the ones that are for their personal use. also, some supportive articles and different--well, their pets, they can also arrive with their pets. but if they, each passenger has more than $500, they need to declare it at the aduana, at the custom. damian: yeah, customs, that's very valuable information because a lot of families are going to be traveling for easter break over to visit loved ones in mexico.

in our studio, ambassador, employees are back, everything's getting back to normal. we don't have guests, that's why we're still doing this virtually. no guests yet, but how is it at the consulado? things are back to normal now or getting there still? alejandra: no, things are back to normal. we are serving more than 250 people daily. we still continue using the mask. i have here with me. we know that it's a recommendation, it's not mandatory, but it's important to keep personnel safe and also customers from the consulate. and what is important to tell to our community that with this new system for doing appointments through mi consulado, what we can see is that some other people is trying to do business. they say that they're helping our community to get their

appointments, and they do the same process. they call to the call center, but they are charging our nationals with money. but it's that--not only that, it's because they are using their emails and information that they give to make appointments for another people. so, our recommendation is to try directly to mi consulado or citas.sre.gob.mx to do their appointments. and do not, please do not look for that business places where they say that they can get the appointment for the consulate. any person can get it free without any problem. we know that we are--there are some days that for that week, we don't have more space because we have some limits for attending persons daily. but if they continue searching, we open on tuesday, they can do it by their self.

what is important that maybe we can also cancel appointments that are not done or people pay for appointments. and if we need to move them, we don't know who are they. so, they can not only lose the appointment that they pay, but also what is very important is that the information that they use for doing these appointments with some other people and not through the call center of the consulate, what happen is that they are giving sensitive information to others that they are using because we already know that they are using it to make other appointments. so, it's just to get the word for our community to try to do it by themselves. damian: all right, good information today, we thank you so much. yeah, so if you got to make an appointment with the consulate, do not go through an intermediary, do not pay a broker to get you in because you can do it yourself for free, and you're only exposing yourself to pay more money sometimes to fraud.

ambassador, thank you so much for being on our show. we'll see you once again here next month. alejandra: thank you. damian: thank you. and again, the consulate of mexico in san jose, it's right here on enzo drive in the south end of san jose. you can log on for more information. again, you can have your appointments, you can make those online yourself. you can call the number for more information. we'll be back here on "comunidad del valle" and talk about the legacy of cesar chavez. stay with us.

damian: we're celebrating the legacy of cesar chavez here on "comunidad del valle." his birthday was back on the 31st on thursday, but this whole weekend is about celebrating his legacy. we want to take you back to before the pandemic, when we sat down face to face. boy, we miss that, don't we? face to face with the family of cesar chavez. so, here is an interview with the family of cesar chavez. damian: we're now joined by rudy chavez medina, the nephew of cesar chavez on "comunidad del valle." and rudy, first your thoughts. i have your lovely mother here.

she's a walking history book. rudy chavez medina: yes, you know, she is. she has so much energy, she has so much excitement. you know, she motivates all of us, you know? at 91 and a half years old, she's still going strong. i call her the energizer bunny because she just doesn't stop. you know, even when she was hurt, she was still communicating with us, she was still moving, getting us to move too. so, it's a delight to have her here. your thoughts, the same question, rudy. your thoughts when yhathey can to celebrate si se puede, cesar chavez, and whatnot. is picking up that torch. rudy: i think that's excellent, you know. when children are growing up, you know, we were fortunate to have cesar. and he was a motivator, he was inspirational. and for the younger generations to see, and hear, and learn about his history, and capture some of those characteristics

from him, it's just absolutely amazing. and it really feels good 'cause that's the way legacies will continue is when each generation learns and develops around those characteristics, those disciplines. and they see what he did as a very poor, poor farm worker to become a national, international symbol of workers's rights, of social justice. it hopefully motivates the younger children so that when they have decisions to be made in their lives and their careers, they'll make the right decisions. damian: and i know, rita, that cesar didn't want bridges, streets, buildings named after him. but i mean, that's how--that's the only--one of the only ways we know to honor him. but it's got to be humbling tambien to see cesar statues here, plazas named after him. talk about that. rita chavez medina: the one thing that really got me is when they named the ship after him. oh, that was a night.

i mean, it was really--i don't know, i can't explain what we felt, you know, after we see the ship. and there was an admiral of the navy by us. as he was crying, he says, "you know what? i see a lot of ships go, but i've never cried. and i'm crying today," 'cause all the family was crying of happiness, you know? we were the--it was--i don't know, it was so beautiful to see the ship under his name and going all over. so, the navy told us that's our ship. so, whenever it lands, we can go to our ship. damian: oh, there you go. that's awesome. so, when they inaugurated the ship, it took off on its first mission right there and then, huh? rudy: well, it was launched, and then they did a test run around san diego bay. and then it--like several days later, it took off and went right into action. and there was a conflict in i want to say it was some place in the mediterranean area, and the cesar chavez--usns cesar chavez went there and supplied our ships with the food and gear and

stuff that they need 'cause that's what it is, it's a supply ship, it's not a destroyer or anything. rita: it's a carrier 'cause he didn't fight so long. although he was in the ships in the navy, but-- damian: it goes in line with his nonviolence. are we taking baby steps, rudy? are we kind of jumping when we're talking about progress and where we've come since '93? rudy: well, i think it started off a little bit slow 'cause we were still all shocked. but arturo rodriguez, as you mentioned, has really done an awesome job in keeping cesar's legacy in terms of the fields and organizing farm workers and keeping that going. and then paul chavez, who was cesar's son, also runs the national farm workers service center. so, they've done housing for farm workers, affordable housing for farm workers. and i think that's a big step. cesar always wanted to do that, you know? he felt that that's a way to help families so that they can unite, so that they can have a sense of stability. and then from there, they can go on and prosper in a variety of

other industries, not just agriculture. so, i think we're taking now some good major steps, and it just continues. the work is gonna continue. cesar once said, you know, "my work is going to be done at the end of my life," so it continues. and it continues in a strong fashion, so we're really proud of that. damian: and he--i mean, he was such an eloquent writer and speaker for a guy who had minimal education. rudy: eighth grade education, didn't get a chance to go on because he was helping the family. but the thing about cesar, and i tell people this all the time, he always had a book with him. and if it wasn't in his hand reading, he always kept it in the car when they were traveling up and down the state of california, arizona, washington, and texas. and so, he was a self-educated man. so, when javier was talking about how important education is, oh, it's extremely important. you know, so it's real important that when we give these

scholarships to these young students that they--it's just another kind of help, push to get them to that next level. eventually, hopefully, we're gonna get even bigger scholarships and more scholarships, so we'll get the help of other philanthropists. damian: boy, we miss the in-person interviews. we miss cesar. we're thankful for the family. again, that was before the pandemic. hopefully, we'll get back to those in-person interviews. we'll be back. we'll hear a little bit more from rita chavez medina, so stay with us. -come on! come on! ready? -all: universal! announcer: from the magical... to the jurassic... to our newest ride, the secret life of pets. picture the best day ever

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♪♪ ♪ let's go out of town for the summer ♪ ♪ i wanna go across the trees ♪ ♪ just take my hand ♪ ♪ we will have fun till the sun goes down ♪ ♪ and we'll start over again ♪ ♪♪ damian: we're gonna go back to our interview now with the sister of the late cesar chavez. here is rita chavez medina. ♪ and we'll start over again ♪ rita: thank you. damian: rita, we were talking before the lights came on that it's like yesterday you were gathered here celebrating last year's cesar chavez holiday, and here you are. rita: i missed last year 'cause i had surgery. and i barely got out of the hospital a day

before the breakfast, so i missed the march, the breakfast, everything. damian: now, in 1993, i was a senior at san jose state when we lost cesar. but a lot of the kids nowadays, they didn't grow up knowing about cesar, but yet they did. because talk about the inspiration that cesar was for even the younger generation now, the kids, you see them in alum rocdoanwhatnot, and carrying the button that you h up the torch and walking with it. rita: yeah, i always tell, especially the family kids, they have to carry on 'cause i'm old anyway, i'm getting old. everybody's getting old, going to die or go, whatever. and they have to follow, they have to keep the legacy going. they can't let it die, you know. damian: and we have a video of the actual ceremony that--the us navy ceremony because cesar was a navy veteran. and this is a ceremony over at his burial site in la paz. rita: i'll never forget that day. damian: well, talk about the image here when you see your brother like that and the way

he's been celebrated after his death. rita: it's always, you know, sometimes i just can't help it. i have to--it's so--'cause i remember, you know, when we were very close all the time, very, very close. i remember when he joined the navy, he went to the post office and he got a letter, and it says, "report to fort mccarthy in la," army. and he got the letter and said, "i'm not going to army. let's go to bakersfield." 'cause we lived in delano. "what are we doing? come on, let's go to bakersfield." so, i go, i go. he went straight to the naval thing, and volunteered himself, and said, "see, i want volunteer in the navy. warships with supplies and whatnot, named after cesar. since cesar passed, as a society? rita: it's been going, you know, it's been going a lot. i don't know too much about it except, you know, i hear, they tell me. but i understand they are doing, you know,

everything from what i hear. i already talk about-- in fact, last week, we were at a party and it was talking about the progress they're doing. the radio station, now it's going into vegas. they have it in five different states now. so, different things, you know, that they do. ♪♪♪ [singing in spanish] ♪♪♪ [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish]

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damian: if you'd like to get ahold of us here on "comunidad del valle," you can follow me on twitter. my handle is @newsdamian. on instagram, it's @newsdamiantrujillo. we thank you for sharing your cesar chavez holiday weekend with us here on "comunidad del valle." and we're gonna leave you now with a little

bit of entertainment. you know, a big supporter of the united farm workers, little joe y la familia. we'll see you again here next week, buenos dias. ♪♪♪ [singing in spanish] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish]

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[singing in spanish] little joe: sing it with me, please. ♪♪♪ [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish] [singing in spanish]

when families and coun anything is possible. this is "george to the rescue." [music playing] scott: hi, i'm scott. audrey: hi, i'm audrey. and we're the colton family. [music playing] scott: we have two children. eric is 23, and rebecca is 21. go beck! eric: my sister rebecca is loyal, she's adventurous. audrey: very, very bright. fun, beautiful, loves to go, go, go, go.