On the eve of an election that Republicans believe will affirm their growing popularity in Miami-Dade County, Spanish-language social-media influencer Alex Otaola led another of his patented caravans across the county on Saturday, rallying Republicans on behalf of GOP candidates and against Democrats. Otaola, whose Cubanos por el Mundo YouTube channel has 253,000 subscribers, live-streamed the event, held on the final weekend of early voting before the Nov. 8 election.
He stood halfway through a sunroof at times, shouting “¡Vamos!” through a bullhorn as a parade of cars adorned with American flags and Trump 2024 banners trailed behind him, blaring their horns in the eastbound lanes of Southwest Eighth Street. Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar, running for reelection against Colombian-American state Sen. Annette Taddeo, was among the participants.
She rode inside a brightly colored Colombian Chiva bus and encouraged her supporters to go out to vote early rather than wait for Election Day to cast a ballot. TOP VIDEOS × “It’s very important that people get out to vote,” she said. “It’s the only way ... to cut off the head of the political class that isn’t doing what you need” to address problems like inflation or the rising cost of housing and gasoline.
Monitoring misinformation: What’s being said on Spanish radio in Miami before election? Otaola, whose caravans became fodder for national news during the pandemic and 2020 election — a contest in which former President Donald Trump significantly improved his standing in Miami-Dade County, particularly in majority-Hispanic neighborhoods — called on his viewers during recent shows to participate in what he described as an effort to “save America from communism and socialism.”
“Say no to negotiations with dictatorships. Say no to open-border policies implemented by the Biden administration and all the insecurities that are all over the American nation,” Otaola said during a brief interview outside the early voting center at the former museum of science in Coconut Grove, where he stopped to take photos with fans at the caravan’s endpoint.
Social media, influencers are Cuban Americans’ main source of Cuba news, FIU poll finds Critics have blamed Otaola and politicians like Salazar for exaggerating the influence of socialism on the Democratic party. Otaola has accused Democrats of spreading hateful rhetoric — a charge often lobbed at him by his own detractors, who accuse him of frequently promoting misinformation. Saturday afternoon’s caravan took place one day before Trump is set to rally with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and other Republican officials at the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition in west Miami-Dade. Republicans believe they’ll continue to improve their performance this year in Miami-Dade County, which has in recent history been a Democratic stronghold for top-of-ticket candidates.
Hundreds of South Florida Residents joined influencer Alex Otaola on a ”Salvemos America” (Let’s save America) caravan along the streets of Miami from Krome Avenue to Coconut Grove, in support of all Republican candidates On Saturday, November 05, 2022. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com As of Saturday morning, state data showed that Republican voters had cast several thousand more votes than Democrats in Miami-Dade County, due to a strong showing at early voting centers. This article is part of a project on misinformation in Spanish-language media by the Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald and researchers at Florida International University. It is funded by Journalism Funding Partners, which received support from the Knight Disinformation Fund at The Miami Foundation. The Miami Herald retains editorial control of the content.
Read the full Miami Herald report at:
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article268307547.html
