'Cold war narratives': why Miami's Cuban Americans remain staunch Republicans (Guardian)
Republican politics centering on opposition to Cuba’s late dictator Fidel Castro continue to resonate in Florida, even as they have faded in the rest of the US
Salomé Gómez-Upegui
Tue 18 Oct 2022 02.00 EDT
It was a rainy Tuesday morning in South Florida, and two men in their 80s were deep into conversation and cafecito at the iconic Versailles Cuban Bakery in Miami.
Born in Cuba and now retired, the pair – who would only give their first names Manuel and Juan – have lived in the area for more than 60 and 20 years, respectively. And when asked about their political stance, they shy away from the Republican label many of their neighbors proudly embrace and instead simply describe themselves as deeply anti-communist.
“We believe the government should be small, everyone should have the right to work, and private companies are what make a country grow,” the more outspoken of the two, Manuel, said.
He and Juan prefer to call themselves conservatives and haven’t considered backing a Democrat since the 70s, saying – without much evidence – that the party is full of the Marxist ideas embraced by the Cuban regime which they fled from and which took the belongings of many refugees’ families.
Manuel said he and Juan supported the Donald Trump White House because he opposed communism, and his talk on the economy attracted them. “If we had the chance,” said Juan, who spent 10 years as a political prisoner in Cuba, they would send Ronald Reagan back to the Oval Office.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/18/florida-miami-cuban-americans-republicans
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