Cubans in Miami take serious pride in their fellow countrymen and no one can doubt their resilience in the face of adversity.

When José Antonio García, better known in Miami as Joe, was appointed executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation at the beginning of the new century, he didn’t even know what Cuba smelled like. Now, two decades later, he has been to the island five times and has conversed with important officials and academics. Those trips have allowed him to polish his vision of the land of his parents and grandparents. Joe was born in Miami Beach in 1963. He was a Democratic leader and a congressman from that party in the federal House of Representatives. He is a controversial politician in Miami because he tends to advocate topics that most disagree with. He does not hide that the economic embargo is counterproductive for both countries, and since the last decade he has been advocating the normalization of ties between the two countries and, even more, for an improvement in the treatment of Cubans residing in the United States. Whenever Barack Obama, as a presidential candidate and later as the president, visited South Florida, Joe García was usually his host. One day it occurred to him to take him to eat Cuban fritters. Later, he organized a lunch for...

Alejandro Mayorkas, born in Havana, who emigrated to the United States with his parents in late 1960 and negotiated security agreements during the thaw with Havana.

Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio is the next high-value target for Democrats now that Joe Biden is president-elect. Two Democratic strategists have launched a super PAC (Political Action Committee) to raise funds to remove Rubio from the Senate in the next legislatures in two years, when he runs for re-election. The super PAC is accompanied by a website called “Retire Rubio” and an account on the social network Twitter created a few years ago and which was reactivated. The idea launched by Democratic strategist Ben Pollara has more than 13,000 followers on Twitter and was presented as an effort “to singularly focus on defeating this weak, sad, disappointing and absent senator in 2022.” The group’s first ad, titled “Little Marco,” shows Trump himself questioning Rubio’s eligibility and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, also a former presidential contender, criticizing Rubio’s absences from the Senate. “Little Marco” is an old nickname coined four years ago by Donald Trump when he confronted Rubio in a crowded Republican primary for the 2016 presidential election. After being defeated by Trump in the primaries, Rubio ran for re-election at the last minute, which he won for a second period. Since then, the 49-year-old Cuban-American has been a...

He came, he saw, he spoke, but he couldn't make it. Although it was known that President Donald Trump had his traction in Florida, among the opposition hosts there was hope that former Vice President Joe Biden could regain the state. This did not happen, the president obtained 51.24% at the state level and Biden 47.85%. This places the victory protected by the rural vote, its traditional breeding ground. But in an urban area like Miami-Dade County, it was the other way around. Trump lost by 45.98% and Biden won with 53.31%. No Republican has won the presidency in Miami-Dade since 1988. Photo: Marita Pérez Díaz But the most important thing, in Cuban-American terms, is that Trump's victory dragged down the defeat of the Democratic vote at the local level. Democrats lost almost every vote for councilors, state representatives and senators, judges, chiefs of police. The only truly significant local victory was that of Daniella Levine-Cava, who as a rookie Miami-Dade County Commissioner defeated the veteran Republican operative, an old local political fox, Esteban Bovo, who also as a county commissioner tried to get to Mayor. It was a historic moment. https://oncubanews.com/mundo/ee-uu/momento-historico-el-condado-miami-dade-elige-por-primera-vez-una-alcaldesa-en-toda-su-historia-y-no-es-cubanoamericana/ For the former mayor...

This election day, by dawn in Miami, almost all the voters had already voted. About 2-thirds exactly, 1.1 out of just over 1.5 million registered voters. That had never been seen. It is true that since the 2000 presidential elections, the number of voters in South Florida has grown gradually, accompanying the country's political polarization that began with the controversial duel between the then-Republican Governor of Texas, George W. Bush, and the former Democratic Vice President Al Gore, which ended up being decided by the Supreme Court. It continued with the election of Democrat Barack Obama, in 2008, when the Republican party suffered a process of dismemberment that woke up the far-right forces and the radicalization of the party, and with the election of Trump in 2016. “This avalanche still amazes me. We expect some 200,000 to 300,000 voters to come to the polls today, ”explains the spokesman for the Miami-Dade County Elections Board to a group of journalists. There were no incidents by closing time, and no problems with the voting machines. "I don't think there are reasons for concern," he adds. Miami-Dade tends to count votes fairly quickly, with fewer than a third of voters remaining at the...

In the parking lot of the John F. Kennedy Library, where a voting center has been installed for the 2020 elections, all existing rules are violated in an electoral process. Electoral propaganda is biased, only in favor of President Donald Trump. It is located less than half the authorized distance, which is 150 feet. Political sergeants proselytize close to the voting line. Voters appear with caps, t-shirts or masks in favor of the president. Anyone who favors Democratic candidate Joe Biden is rejected immediately and with disdain. “The Democrats are traitors,” explains Héctor, a Nicaraguan evangelical who proudly displays a Trump propaganda mask and begins a short conversation with reporters trying to explain his reasoning. When asked why they are traitors, he answers: “They are traitors to God.” How? “I don’t know,” interrupts a lady who stands next to him carrying a “Trump 2000” banner. Hector, the Trump supporter who accuses Democrats of being traitors to God. Photo: Alfredo Prieto Héctor tries to resolve the matter with a long paragraph. “The president is the one who is going to liberate us Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans. He is our president.” And the matter goes no further. When the...

Less than a month from a controversial and difficult presidential election, marked by practically unprecedented problems such as a coronavirus pandemic, this Monday Democratic candidate Joe Biden went down to South Florida for the second time to tell Cubans and Venezuelans certain things. For example, if he is elected, he intends to allow Cubans stranded on the other side of the border to enter the United States. And that he will grant Venezuelans the temporary residence status to which they aspire so much, and protect them from Nicolás Maduro’s abuses. “We need to rebuild our ability to work with our partners throughout the Western hemisphere to confront those who continue to oppress the rights of their people. Maduro is a dictator, plain and simple,” stressed Biden. If he reaches the White House, he assured, “I would immediately grant temporary protective status to Venezuelans” and will bet on sanctions against Venezuela as a “comprehensive strategy.” About Cuba, Biden said at a rally in José Martí Park, in the center of the city and on the edge of Miami River: “We also need a new Cuba policy” since “Cuba is no closer to freedom and democracy than it was four years ago,”...

Although there are those who call them windows, the windows are perhaps the Cuban invention that has had the most social impact in Miami. And also in the community life of cities with a large Hispanic population. These are small or medium-sized windows, transformed into counters that usually face directly onto the street. All kinds of sweets, croquettes, small sandwiches and, above all, coffee are served in them. Many liters of coffee throughout the entire day. Some take the opportunity to smoke a little cigar while savoring the “aromatic drink,” as it is customary to say in Cuban journalism on the island, because inside you can’t smoke. But the window is also a place for socialization, meetings where friendships are consolidated and new ones are forged. I met my best friend in Miami at the window of the Versailles Restaurant, on the famous Calle Ocho in Little Havana. This is a place also frequented (or did so before the pandemic) by people who coming out of the movies or the theater, sporting events or family parties. “The Versailles window has an interesting feature in these turbulent times in politics. People disagree as only Cubans know how to do it, but...

In two years, Cubans living in Miami-Dade County have taken a turn to the right, especially the young. Despite demanding the preservation of basic ties with the island, especially family members, they have adhered to many Republican postulates. In general, the latest poll by Florida International University (FIU) indicates that Republican support has increased and that in these elections Cuban-Americans are going to vote overwhelmingly for Donald Trump. https://oncubanews.com/cuba-ee-uu/los-cubano-americanos-en-miami-divididos-en-sus-puntos-de-vista-hacia-cuba/ Donald Trump According to the poll, 68% of Cuban Americans approve of Donald Trump’s Cuba policy, something that spans the entire spectrum of the community―ages and arrival date―but not with bipartisan unanimity, since it is opposed by those who define themselves as Democrats. “Cubans are not very different from people in Ohio, these Cubans are part of the narrative of the country. Republicans have gained strength again because what Trump has done gave them new airs. Now, the big surprise is that Republicans have increased, but it is not surprising that Cubans continue to vote for Republicans,” explained Professor Guillermo Grenier, one of the authors of the poll that has been running for almost twenty years. This is the second FIU poll since Trump arrived in the White House. The first,...

The first presidential debate began with a soft tone. From a distance, President Donald Trump greeted his rival, Joe Biden, with a wave, and the Democrat replied amiably, “How you doing, man?” From there, the dialogue, if you can call it that, went downhill. It often became a veritable exchange of insults, shouting that eventually made it impossible to hear what was being said. Perhaps the most red-hot issue was that of violence in the streets. Trump refused to condemn white supremacists. “This is not a right wing problem this is a left wing,” he said. Contrary to Trump’s narrative, experts on domestic terrorism, including FBI Director Christopher Wray and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, have testified before Congress that white supremacist violence constitutes the most persistent and dangerous domestic terrorist threat facing the country. But the racial issue also came up, in which Trump was hyperbolic, as usual. “No one has done more than I have for the black community. I’m releasing people that you put in jail and treated badly.” The president was referring to a legal reform that Biden promoted in 1993 in the Senate Judiciary Committee and that the African-American community received very badly....

The United States Department of State has added the Cuban remittance company American International Service (AIS) to its “black list,” considering that it is an institution controlled by the Cuban Armed Forces and, as such, is at the service of the island’s “repressive apparatus.”  The news was released in a press release issued today, in which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, ratifies that “The Cuban military also uses AIS, its parent company FINCIMEX, and other entities to charge fees and manipulate the remittance and foreign currency market as part of the regime’s schemes to make money and support its repressive apparatus.” https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1310593901850394625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1310593901850394625%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Foncubanews.com%2Fcuba-ee-uu%2Festados-unidos-suma-a-su-lista-negra-la-empresa-cubana-de-remesas-ais%2F “The profits earned from these operations disproportionately benefit the Cuban military, furthering repression of the Cuban people and funding Cuba’s meddling in Venezuela,” the text explains. Pompeo said on Twitter, from Greece where he is visiting, that AIS steals money from remittances sent to the Cuban people. The U.S. secretary of state recalled that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has already made it “clear” that he is on the side of the Cuban people “in their longstanding struggle for freedom and against the communist regime in Havana.” “The Cuban people deserve to live in freedom...

Last Saturday two Cubans were arguing heatedly at a Hialeah window over two cups of coffee. The setting may seem childish, ordinary, and picturesque. Even cinematographic, if it’s about common places in the Cuban neighborhoods of Miami. But no. At a nearby table, I closely followed the details of the conversation between two old friends who met in Havana and met again in Hialeah. What immediately caught my attention were two things: they were talking about politics and they had opposite positions about the man who came to Miami this Friday to say that he loves a Free Cuba and that “Cubans owe it to him.” I mean Donald Trump. Of course, last week we still didn’t know what that president that some exiled Cubans love so much was going to say. Perhaps if they had a crystal ball they could make an effort, but they would also discover that what they consider a “free country” in Cuba is going to be delayed. It will take some time longer. Maybe because of their age they can’t see anything. They can be content to travel to the grave and that life remains the same. They were arguing heatedly, as only Cubans...

Forty days before the presidential elections, the Donald Trump administration has just closed the circle of restrictions on Cuba by prohibiting Americans who travel to the island from staying in hotels owned by the government and from bringing bottles of rum and boxes of cigars upon their return home. Until now, the only accommodation restrictions covered facilities under military administration that came into effect last November with the creation of a “black list.” This new list will encompass what was left out of the previous one, government-owned hotels and restaurants, and includes establishments run by government officials, members of the Communist Party, their family members and other relatives. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced in a new resolution that it has just created another “black list,” the Cuba Prohibited Accommodations (CPA) List to register the names and addresses of government properties. Both lists are the responsibility of the State Department. This new package of measures was designed to prevent Americans and residents who travel to the island from frequenting facilities owned by the Cuban government and also make changes to some details of the travel to Cuba categories. For example, the general license for participation in academic conventions,...

Two decades ago, when the price of gasoline in the United States soared and surpassed the barrier of two dollars a gallon, there was speculation on how much more it would increase. The media was filled with specialists with all kinds of ideas. Some were right, as it would be seen later; others, absolute nonsense. One of the faces that became popular in those days on the small screen was that of Máximo Álvarez, owner of a fuel distribution company, a respected businessman of Cuban origin and with a fortune estimated at 80 million dollars. His explanations stood out for being accurate and professional, and for demonstrating that he had complete knowledge of the problem. But he never stood out publicly as a political figure. However, this week it came as a surprise when he was one of the speakers at the Republican Convention, fighting tooth and nail for President Donald Trump’s re-election. One of his most prominent phrases was: “Beyond defining ourselves by a political party, we must think that we are Americans and choose to defend the country.” Although it may seem like a call for unity―which the president never did―Álvarez finished off his thought by accusing the...

In Miami-Dade County, where Trumpism ended the gentlemen’s agreement to hold elections without partisanship, politics would return to normal.

Help us keep OnCuba alive The last local elections of the second decade of the 21st century in South Florida were expected to be the least attended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Big mistake, but not for the anticipated reason: that people would not go to the polling stations. The voters answered the call, but by mail. For the first time in the records, attendance was 28.23%. More than half exercised their right to vote by mail. The above showed an unprecedented participation. According to county data, published the day before the elections, 72,797 Republicans would have exercised their right in this way, 121,414 Democrats, 1,631 undecideds and 50,305 without political affiliation. Many other residents preferred to attend the precincts in advance. This is how 29,184 Republicans, 30,317 Democrats, 316 undecideds and 8,253 voters without political affiliation voted. “This makes for a very interesting reading. In the November elections, if we continue with the pandemic, voting by mail will have its importance. It is going to be a massive method of voting and it is going to become popular,” analyst Herminio Ramos explained to OnCuba. In their opinion, this reality tends to be reinforced in a state like Florida, where...

Help us keep OnCuba alive Florida's death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has risen again after a three-day setback, the state Health Department confirmed Tuesday. The deaths have always been on the rise during the last seven weeks until the authorities interrupted the tests due to the near presence of Hurricane Isaías. As expected, the number of new cases dropped then. Resuming testing on Monday, the situation returned to normal and the statistics rose again. And with greater intensity in the Miami metropolitan area, where 1,507 new cases and 35 deaths were reported. https://oncubanews.com/mundo/ee-uu/florida/disminuyen-nuevos-casos-de-covid-19-en-florida-debido-a-suspension-de-las-pruebas-por-el-huracan/ In the rest of the state, on Tuesday the authorities revealed that during the last 24 hours there were 276 deaths, 185 more than on Monday, which points to a new record, reaching 8,553 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. In terms of new positive cases of coronavirus disease, Florida reports 5,831, which means 1,676 more than on Monday, for a global total of 542,792, the second-highest number of cases in the country, following California, which registered almost 575,000.

Help us keep OnCuba alive A French bank has decided to comply with an order from the U.S. Treasury Department and suspend the transfer of remittances to the island originating in the United States. The decision came after the Trump administration decided to include in the list of Cuban assets a London-based banking entity, Havana Internacional Bank (Havin), to which now other financial entities should not have access due to the danger of being sanctioned by Washington. The French bank Crédit Mutuel had a commercial relationship with Cuba: it transferred remittances directly in dollars to another Cuban bank, Fincimex, an entity under military administration subject to a strong U.S. embargo. Crédit Mutuel recently began that relationship through three companies with direct business with Havana, such as Havanatur, Cubapack and American International Service, the latter based in Panama. But the French bank’s decision barely affected remittances through the first two agencies. The Panama-based financial company normally continues its activities with other companies involved in bank transfers to Cuba, which obviously largely come from its emigrated citizens. Last May, Washington banned Western Union from facilitating transfers to Cuba from all countries except the United States. This policy is still in force, but...

Help us keep OnCuba alive Employees of the Broward County Education District, bordering Miami-Dade, have been given strict orders not to speak to anyone about the impact of COVID-19 on the system, be they teachers, students, or administrative workers. This Monday, District Chief Security Officer Brian Katz sent out a memo called “Employee Confidentiality and COVID-19,” instructing them to “respect the medical rights of other employees and not reveal who may be contaminated with the pandemic.” “As district representatives, employees must also refrain from disclosing their own situation, both at their workplace and on social media,” the document said. The reaction of the teachers and the union was immediate. They consider this to be a violation of workers’ rights. “It’s very difficult to understand. If I can tell anyone that I am diabetic or have a cold, why should I not tell others that I am contaminated with the coronavirus?” asked Sonja Lacourciere, a teacher at Forest Hills Elementary, in the city of Coral Springs. “After all, the school district cannot control my First Amendment rights just because I work for them.” Anna Fusco, president of the Broward Teachers Union, told the local Fox network...

Help us keep OnCuba alive George is a Miami City police officer. In recent weeks, he has a new responsibility. In addition to his daily patrols in the eastern part of Little Havana―an area that has more and more Central American immigrants every day, where he deals with petty crimes, domestic disputes, young people roaming the street during school hours and fights in the markets―, he has now been ordered to fine people who go outside without a mask to protect themselves from COVID-19. The mayor of Miami the mandatory use of the facemask two weeks ago, but the measure didn’t have great results because they were sold out in pharmacies. The authorities were not demanding enough when applying the fines, a first one of 50 dollars, followed by 150, 500 and jail time. In both the city and the county, there was no ordinance approved by commissioners and councilors, but only an order from the mayors. As a consequence, the epicenter of the pandemic moved to South Florida and the contaminated and deaths increased. Not only because of that, but also because the political authorities in the area, pressured by Governor Ron DeSantis, decided to open the economy and...

Help us keep OnCuba alive Some 15,300 new COVID-19 cases were detected in the state of Florida in 24 hours. This is the highest number in the United States in a single day. The previous record was 12,274 in New York and was recorded on April 4. In turn, on July 4, Florida had reached 11,458 new cases in one day. In total, this hot summer the sunshine state has already recorded 269,811 coronavirus cases since they started being counted in March. The increase started being consolidated last week in Florida with 119,700 cases and an overall positive test rate for the disease that has increased from 9.1% to 10.5%. The Center for Disease Control and Detection maintains that economic activities should close when the rate exceeds 10%. The state’s daily average positive assessment rate for the past seven days was 14.2%. The week before it was 14.5% and 9.9% before, the Florida Department of Health reported this Sunday. Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties accounted for 6,547 of the new cases and 28 of the 45 recently reported deaths, bringing the total deaths to 4,346. The numbers may drop slightly earlier in the week because throughout the pandemic,...

Help us keep OnCuba alive Given the unstoppable increase of COVID-19 cases in Florida, local authorities will close public spaces starting this Wednesday and the curfew will be maintained indefinitely. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez announced this Monday that restaurants will be closed as of Wednesday until further notice, including outdoor service―not takeaways―, bars, gyms, clubs and apartments for rent. The curfew is still in effect from 10 pm to 6 am. The beaches, closed last weekend, will be reopened on Tuesday. But “but, if we see crowding and people not following the public health rules, I will be forced to close the beaches again,” warned the mayor. For their part, private and public spaces continue operating, but with restrictions such as the compulsory use of masks, social distancing and the limit of attendees. “I am signing an emergency order that will close restaurants (except for takeout and delivery services), along with ballrooms, banquet facilities, party venues, gyms and fitness centers, and short-term rentals,” said Giménez in a press release. The mayor is also going to keep summer camps and child daycare centers with strict capacity limits, requiring masks and social distancing. Retail stores and grooming services will remain open,...

Help us keep OnCuba alive Over the weekend, 13,833 new cases of COVID-19 were detected in Miami-Dade County, the total number of infected people now rising to 35,222 since the beginning of March, when the patient registry began. The death toll has almost reached 1,000. An all-time record, according to the Department of Health. This has led local authorities to decide to close all the beaches during the next weekend of July 4, the date on which the founding of the United States is commemorated. As the increase in cases has also occurred in other counties, and Florida is the third state with the highest number of patients (146,341) and deaths (3,447), other counties have chosen to do the same. Governor Ron DeSantis ended up having his arm twisted. https://oncubanews.com/mundo/ee-uu/florida/alarma-en-florida-casi-9000-nuevos-casos-de-coronavirus-en-un-solo-dia/ A follower of President Donald Trump, who doesn’t want to back down on business, the governor was reluctant to close the beaches again, but yesterday he ended up admitting that it was the best for the moment. “We have a very serious situation, and it is increasing. We have nothing else to do to protect the population,” he said at a press conference. One of the reasons for the shutdown...

Help us keep OnCuba alive here The COVID-19 pandemic’s comeback in Florida seems to be the never-ending story. This Wednesday the highest figure was reached in absolute terms: 5,508 new cases, 2,222 more than the previous day, with which the state increases the figure to 109,014. “This reality points to two alternatives. Or the coronavirus is reaching its second wave and the economic and social reopening has contributed to it. Or the political authorities don¡t have any strength to protect the population from an almost unknown and very, very serious disease,” epidemiologist Jesús de Armas clearly tells OnCuba. When he speaks of force to enforce compliance with protection measures, De Armas refers to the fact that the police is unable to control the activities of young people on the streets. Although the use of the mask is mandatory, many young people still don’t wear it even in the crowded streets, as in Miami Beach. County Mayor Carlos Giménez warned Tuesday night that he was going to be very tough, but did not refer to a particularly dissuasive measure, as authorities in Broward County, north of Miami, did, who this Wednesday announced fines of 15,000 dollars for anyone caught on the...