CLOSE-UP

Maria Laria, the Cuban-born hostess and producer of Telemundo Network’s “Cara a Cara” (“Face to Face”), is being touted as the “Spanish-speaking Oprah Winfrey.” “Geralda” would be a lot more like it.

Turn to the 50-plus regions of your TV dial at 11:30 p.m., and you’ll find Laria tickety-ticking in stiletto heels, fearlessly cross-examining curanderos (witch doctors), wildly bereaving adulterees or tummy-tuck experts. “(Oprah’s) not my favorite,” says Laria, struggling to be diplomatic. “What I don’t like about her is that she includes her own life in the show too much. On ‘Cara a Cara,’ the star of the show is not me but whomever I’m interviewing--whether it be (former Nicaraguan) President Daniel Ortega or a homosexual.”

“Cara a Cara” used to be Los Angeles’ own late-night jewel. But last year, the 3-year-old program went national. Now the entire country can tune in and groove on the pro-wrestlers, white supremacists and transsexuals who end up on Laria’s fishpond-sized stage. (Those who don’t understand the language will find the visual circus entertainment enough. But one episode cried out for comprehension: Laria caught in a marital spat that climaxed with the wife storming off stage and Laria sweet-talking her back to the show’s overstuffed turquoise couch.)

Laria’s preparation for airwaves fame began 13 years ago when she lucked into a job chatting up celebrities on a community-access station in Los Angeles. By 1987, she was co-anchoring Telemundo’s nightly news and hosting “Cara a Cara,” the first U.S.-based Spanish-speaking panel-discussion show.

Knowing what her viewers like, Laria, a four-time Emmy nominee, schedules spicy segments, although she prefers the more “serious”-themed shows (politics, immigration, et cetera). But the discussions of taboo topics are more than ratings-generators. “The Hispanic community is very traditional,” she says. “They never talk about sex, never argue openly; everybody is polite. They just hide everything underneath. Mothers don’t even explain anything to their daughters when they have their first period. At least 75% of the time, I am trying to educate. Sometimes you settle for entertainment.”