Colombians are the third largest Latino community in Florida, behind Cubans and Puerto Ricans. Yet you don鈥檛 see U.S. presidential candidates making pilgrimages to Kendall to eat Colombian bu帽uelos the way they trek to Little Havana to drink Cuban coffee.
That lack of attention to Colombians seemed to change a lot last week.
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President Trump鈥檚 National Security Adviser, Robert O鈥橞rien, traveled to Bogot谩 to meet with Colombian President Iv谩n Duque and discuss Trump鈥檚 new multi-billion-dollar financing initiative to promote democracy and economic growth in Latin America鈥攅specially in Colombia. But politically, O鈥橞rien鈥檚 more important stop was the day before鈥攊n West Palm Beach, where he unveiled the initiative to Colombian expats.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking now about the power of the Colombian vote,鈥� said Fabio Andrade, a Colombian-American Republican in Weston who heads the business nonprofit that helped organize O鈥橞rien鈥檚 visit to South Florida.
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Andrade supports Trump; in his native Colombia he supports conservative President Duque鈥攚ho is popular with most Colombian expats. An estimated 150,000 of them are registered to vote in Florida. Andrade helped convince the White House that Trump could win more of that electorate if he helped out Duque鈥攁 prospect that matters in a state where just 100,000 votes tipped things for Trump four years ago.
鈥淲e have brought attention,鈥� said Andrade, 鈥渢o the fact that Colombia is in a very vulnerable position in regards to getting infiltrated by the leftist, socialist regimes around Colombia,鈥� like Venezuela鈥檚鈥攚hich the Trump Administration is trying to help overthrow.
Andrade said the increased attention from Trump is helping to rouse Colombians here as a more assertive voting bloc.
鈥淲e were the sleeping elephant,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow, the elephant is awakening.鈥�
But Democrats say Trump鈥檚 attention to Colombians is much less about genuinely helping Colombia and much more about cynically grabbing Florida votes.
In the past I could not get more than 20 Colombians to go to a political event. Now, in less than 48 hours I was able to submit a list of more than a hundred to the White House, ready to go.Fabio Andrade
鈥淓ighty days before an election, to all of a sudden pretend like you care?鈥� said Florida State Senator Annette Taddeo, a Colombian-American in Miami. 鈥淎ll we have to do is remember how badly Trump actually spoke about President Duque.鈥�
Taddeo was referring to harsh and controversial remarks last year about the Colombian president, one of Washington's most important allies in the hemisphere:
鈥淢ore drugs are coming out of Colombia right now than before he was President,鈥� Trump said of Duque. 鈥淪o he has done nothing for us.鈥�
Taddeo believes U.S. Colombia policy matters to Colombian expat voters, but not as much as U.S. domestic policy does 鈥� which is why, she said, Colombians register Democrat here more than Republican or independent, even though they take more conservative stands on politics back in Colombia.
鈥淔or Trump to do this photo-op kind of situation with Colombia, it鈥檚 insulting 鈥� because the last [he wants] to do is talk about what鈥檚 truly on Colombian-American voters鈥� minds,鈥� Taddeo said. What most preoccupies them, she said, is 鈥渃oronavirus, the economy, the problems of small business owners鈥� because so many Colombian expats are small-scale entrepreneurs.
COLOMBIAN ACCENT
Andrade responds that it's disingenuous to think politicians of any stripe don't try to garner votes as Trump is doing, and that "it's then up to us to make sure they follow through."
At the same time, Latino activists say the Democratic Party itself has a history of taking groups like Colombian-Americans for granted. So one thing Joe Biden鈥檚 campaign is doing differently this time is to approach Latino communities more individually.
鈥淲hat I like to call micro-engaging,鈥� said Evelyn Perez-Verdia, a Colombian-American political strategist and communications consultant in Fort Lauderdale.
Perez-Verdia helped the Democrats devise a new Spanish-language media strategy鈥攐ne that personalizes the party鈥檚 message by employing devices such as different Latino accents, including distinctly Colombian voices.
Perez-Verdia also helped create the campaign support group , or Colombians With Biden. Last month, it organized a Zoom celebration of Colombia鈥檚 independence day. It was also attended by Biden advisers who discussed issues important to Colombian-Americans.
Those include the sort of Colombia concerns the expats hope Biden will engage if he鈥檚 elected鈥攍ike more investment in that nation鈥檚 economy and infrastructure, which China is eager to bring, instead of the U.S.鈥檚 narrower obsession with its drug war.
鈥淚 think that Colombians realize right now that in order to have a place at the table we cannot only be on the menu, we have to be sitting at the table,鈥� said Perez-Verdia. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e getting now to where we鈥檝e always wanted to be, but weren鈥檛 aggressive enough to get there in the past.鈥�
That particular question鈥攚hy the Colombians鈥� large population in Florida has never really translated into the sort of political clout they鈥檝e watched Cubans and even Venezuelans carry鈥攊s being asked more earnestly now within the community.
Colombians realize now that in order to have a place at the table we cannot only be on the menu, we have to be sitting AT the table.Evelyn Perez-Verdia
Some explain that it鈥檚 taken more time for Colombians to feel comfortable about projecting themselves as a bloc in the U.S. because the term 鈥淐olombian鈥� has for so long carried the stigmas of drug lords and Marxist guerrillas.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 changed over the past decade and it鈥檚 giving us more of a voice here,鈥� said Andres Ocampo, a Bogot谩 native who came here 20 years ago and is the CEO at a Latin American food importing firm in Fort Lauderdale.
Eduardo Gamarra, an expert on South American politics at Florida International University, also pointed out that unlike Cuban and Venezuelan expats鈥攚ho are politically galvanized largely by their desire for regime change in their home countries鈥擟olombians 鈥渉ave never really had the unifying factor of a Fidel Castro or a Hugo Ch谩vez."
鈥淭hey鈥檝e spent a lot of time here watching the Cubans,鈥� said Gamarra, 鈥渁nd the question is whether that鈥檚 now starting to change their historical apathy about voting in elections here.鈥�
To win Florida, Trump doesn鈥檛 have to secure as many Latino voters as Biden does, because Republicans typically have an advantage with so many other Florida voters. Andrade in Weston feels the President, whose pro-business policies he says are especially popular with expats, is doing enough to get the Colombian votes he鈥檒l need. He pointed to enthusiasm for last week鈥檚 West Palm Beach event with O鈥橞rien as an indication.
鈥淚n the past, I could not get more than 20 Colombians to go to a political event,鈥� said Andrade. 鈥淚n less than 48 hours I was able to submit a list of a hundred Colombians, ready to go.鈥�
Trump and Biden have less than 10 weeks now to win over Florida鈥檚 鈥渁wakened elephant.鈥�
