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Axios Latino is the newsletter that summarizes the key news for Latino communities throughout the hemisphere every Tuesday and Thursday.
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1. The topic to highlight: Ventanitas that are a "microcosm" of Latin life and influence
In Miami, practically all Cuban restaurants have them.
More and more they are visited by political candidates campaigning.
And they bring together people from many backgrounds every day.
These are the little windows, where coffee flows along with political ideas that in many cases influence national conversations and even legislation.
Why it matters
: Miami's small windows are a cultural pillar in a metropolitan area whose voters have enormous political influence, so they offer a look at how impact unfolds even though to people outside of Florida the city may seem like just a group. of beaches and highways.
Among those voters with growing influence, Hispanics have contributed to figures such as Donald Trump winning the state in 2016 (when he was elected president) and in 2020 (when he did not win re-election), as well as to the governor, Ron DeSantis, would have decisive victories in 2018 and 2022.
Current situation
: "Miami has been a fundamental part of the national conversation on many levels, whether for issues like mass incarceration, immigrant detention [or] the climate crisis," said Julio Capó, a professor at Florida International University, to Axios reporter Sommer Brugal.
"However, there are very few efforts to take this city seriously or [to] reach out to the community and understand what they want," laments Capó, also deputy director of the Wolfsonian Public Humanities Laboratory at the university.
Up close
: In Miami there are almost always people standing outside the restaurant window having a coffee or eating a pastry.
Among those people there are sometimes local and state politicians and even presidential candidates ordering something at the counter.
For this reason, the little windows are like a "microcosm" of the city and "a cultural phenomenon," says local photographer Gesi Schilling.
Although she believes that, until recently, little windows were given little credit for their importance.
That was part of the motivation that led Schilling and Daniela Pérez Mirón to publish the book
Ventanitas: A Window Into Miami's Coffee Culture
,
released last week in conjunction with the nonprofit O, Miami.
The book pays tribute to that panoramic view of Miami with photos and poems.
The windows
, particularly that of the Cuban restaurant and café Versailles, have not only hosted everyday conversations among the inhabitants of Miami, but are markers of historical moments in the United States.
There were celebrations there when Fidel Castro died in 2016, and in 2014 some angry Cuban Americans gathered when then-President Barack Obama announced a thaw with Cuba.
Years before, in 1999, there were discussions about what the future would be for Elián González, a boy rescued from a raft who is now a legislator on the island.
During the pandemic, the windows were meeting centers to the point that Hialeah authorities issued rules to maintain distance in places to prevent infections.
Former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Donald Trump (who went there last year after leaving the court where he received one of the criminal charges against him) have been at the Versailles window.
In 2013, when the Miami Heat won two consecutive championships, the people of Miami paraded and celebrated in front of Versailles and other windows.
Between the lines
: The windows represent a culture that emerged from immigrants who came to Miami and shaped the city, says Guillermo Grenier, a sociology professor at Florida International University and author of
A History of Little Havana
.
Grenier says that that is why the windows are a safe space for immigrant communities, but above all places where people can interact with cultural and political elements.
So they have been key to building community in Miami, adds Capó.
"It's not for nothing that politicians come," he says.
2. The Latino who would go to the Moon
A Puerto Rican pilot and astronaut is in line to be part of the team that will make the first human moon landing in decades.
News Boost
: Puerto Rican pilot Marcos Berríos is among the newest class of NASA astronauts, graduating on March 5.
With this, he became a candidate for the Artemis III mission, scheduled for the fall of 2026 and with which NASA seeks to put a woman and a non-white American astronaut on the lunar surface for the first time.
In his own words
: "It is a great responsibility that would be an indelible memory for the people of Puerto Rico," Berríos told Noticias Telemundo last week.
He added this message to other aspiring Latino astronauts: "If you see me here it also means that they can."
Berríos studied in Puerto Rico until high school and entered the US Air Force as a pilot.
He has a master's degree in mechanical engineering, as well as a doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics.
Overview
: Astronauts and engineers from diverse Latino and Latin American backgrounds have made important contributions to recent NASA missions.
Among them is Colombian Diana Trujillo, who was one of the flight directors of the Artemisa I mission, a lunar flight test in 2022.
Ada Limón, the poet laureate of the United States, also lent her voice to recent NASA missions by writing a special poem for the Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter.
3. More Latin podcasts
The largest network of podcasts designed for American Latinos announced that it is increasing its content production, ahead of its third anniversary.
This is My Culture Network.
Why it matters
: Podcasts are an industry with estimated revenues of $8.7 billion in the three countries that make up North America alone, according to market analysis.
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
Although the North American side of that industry has largely been dominated by non-Hispanic white English speakers, Latinos and Latin Americans have been successfully making inroads (even winning awards such as the 2022 Pulitzer).
For example, in addition to My Cultura there are Futuro Studios and Radio Ambulante Studios.
It should be noted that Latinos in the US are more likely than other audiences to listen to podcasts, according to Nielsen data.
News boost
: My Cultura Network, launched in July 2021 in partnership with iHeart Radio, will soon have 40 podcasts among its productions, senior vice president Gisselle Bances told Axios Latino.
The network's podcasts are in English, Spanglish and Spanish.
According to Bances, the audience is predominantly Latino people in the US who are between 20 and 30 years old.
"It's very important to talk about the fact that not all Latinos speak Spanish, that some of us are bilingual and some of us are not, but we still identify as Latino, which is great," says Bances.
4. Former advisors in the White House go for Latino consulting
Three American Latinos who worked in the White House under the current president, Joe Biden, will be at the head of a vertical focused on US Hispanics at a powerful political consultancy, as they told Axios Latino exclusively.
The vertical will be based in New York and will look for ways to more involve Latino people in American politics.
Why it matters
: Several political consulting agencies in the US have received criticism at different times that they leave strategies or approaches to Latino voters and voters of diverse demographics in the background, even when it has become more important for candidates to appeal to these voters for their growing participation.
Up Close
: Tusk Strategies is the consultancy that will launch a Hispanic vertical, which the company says seeks to better help clients take advantage of "the growing political, social and economic influence of the Latino community."
The idea is to help the consulting firm's clients develop "culturally competent marketing and communications in English and Spanish," and receive advice if they seek to do business or compete for government contracts in Puerto Rico or Mexico.
The team will be Cristóbal Alex, formerly Undersecretary of the White House Cabinet and founding president of the Latino Victory Project.
Bernadette Carrillo —former director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the US Secretary of Commerce— and María Restrepo, former chief of staff for Vice President Kamala Harris, will also be part of it.
5. Summary of key news in Latin America and the Caribbean
1. The president of Argentina, Javier Milei,
fired Omar Yasín as Secretary of Labor on Monday, after it was revealed that the presidential cabinet (Milei included) intended to give a salary increase.
The salary increase would have occurred when the Milei Government has been implementing budget cuts, removing subsidies and cutting government positions.
The president blamed Yasín for what he called a "mistake" for the salary increases, which were going to be given through an executive order signed by Milei himself.
2. Venezuelan campaign worker
Emill Brandt was arrested this weekend.
Brandt was part of the campaign in Barinas state of María Corina Machado, the opposition candidate for the July elections.
Machado said the arrest and continued attempts to prevent him from running are repeated violations of an agreement signed in October between the opposition and the Chavista regime promising that the elections will be free and fair.
Brandt was accused of being part of an alleged conspiracy to carry out an alleged assassination attempt against President Nicolás Maduro, for which no evidence has been offered.
6. Farewell smile: EIEIO
In this animal shelter in Mexico you don't hear barks or meows, because those who call it home are 86 donkeys, taken from situations of neglect or from the street.
Current situation
: The founders of Burrolandia, located in the State of Mexico, say they were motivated to create the sanctuary because there have been more slaughters of donkeys in recent years.
According to environmental groups, this is because donkey skins are being exported to some countries that use them as traditional medicine.
Burrolandia owners say the donkey population has also declined in Mexico as their use in agriculture, such as helping to plow, has been almost entirely replaced by machinery.
The maintenance of the shelter and the donkeys is financed through school visits and activities with visitors.
Thanks for reading us!
We return on Thursday.
And thanks to Carlos Cunha, Eulimar Núñez and Alison Snyder for editing and helping review.
If you want to share your experiences with us or send us suggestions and comments, send an email to
axioslatino@axios.com
.
Do you want to read any of the previous editions?
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“It's been pretty popular”: Why Latino Protestants are embracing ideas of white Christian nationalism
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