Some South Floridians might be bothered by the Biden Administration鈥檚 decision last week to hold this summer鈥檚 Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and not Miami. After all, we鈥檙e the 鈥渘exus of the Americas.鈥� The New World鈥檚 crossroads. Those heads of state should be coming to Calle Ocho, not Rodeo Drive.
Let me offer one explanation why the triennial hemispheric huddle is going Hollywood 鈥� their Hollywood, not ours:
Miami really isn鈥檛 the forum of the Americas it claims to be.
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Sure, we do enough trade with Latin America and the Caribbean to choke an Amazon anaconda. Pollo Tropical feels as ubiquitous as McDonald鈥檚. Argentine inflation refugees seem to own as many condos here as New Jersey snow exiles do. You can hear reggaet贸n, konpa and samba just by crossing an intersection. As the U.S. media tell us over and over: Miami is 鈥� 隆肠补濒颈别苍迟别!
But what isn鈥檛 so hot is Miami鈥檚 image as a center of serious, open-minded discussion about hemispheric affairs. The kind of deliberation the Summit of the Americas was designed for. Why? Look no further than the bill Miami鈥檚 Cuban-American Congress members 鈥� Republicans Carlos Gimenez, Maria Elvira Salazar and Mario Diaz-Balart 鈥� introduced this week to create a new State Department position: a 鈥淪pecial Envoy to Combat the Global Rise of Authoritarian Socialism and Communism.鈥�
READ MORE: Didion and democracy's degeneration. Why Miami 鈥� and 'Miami' 鈥� matter this week.
The last time I looked, combating global authoritarianism was already on the State Department鈥檚 to-do list (see: Ukraine crisis). But this legislation has about as much to do with foreign policy as anti-critical race theory bills have to do with education. It鈥檚 about South Florida politics 鈥� about stoking the fury of Latino voters here whose families fled tyrannical left-wing regimes in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, and Marxist guerrillas in Colombia. And about making Democrats look soft on those evil-doers when they balk at this redundant proposal.
It鈥檚 just the latest of myriad examples of Miami鈥檚 leadership compromising Miami鈥檚 leadership in the Americas. Who but left-wing loons 诲辞苍鈥檛 want the U.S. to confront governments like Cuba鈥檚? By the same token, however, who but right-wing nuts 诲辞苍鈥檛 want the U.S. to confront governments like Brazil鈥檚 and Guatemala鈥檚 and Haiti鈥檚? Yet the Miami troika鈥檚 bill makes no mention of authoritarians like far right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has malevolently undermined his country鈥檚 democracy and sabotaged its pandemic response.
Miami's refusal to acknowledge broader realities in the Americas beyond "socialismo" casts a shadow as long as I-95 on its ability to provide broader leadership on the Americas.
The problems the U.S. faces in this hemisphere are the product of authoritarian left- and right-wing governance. It鈥檚 no coincidence Honduras became the largest source of desperate asylum-seekers on the U.S.鈥檚 southern border in the past decade 鈥� when the country was governed by the brutal and corrupt right-wing National Party. Miami鈥檚 refusal to acknowledge broader realities like that casts a shadow as long as I-95 on its ability to create a broader summit atmosphere.
Bigfooting Latin American studies
I鈥檒l acknowledge the White House鈥檚 decision to host the summit in Los Angeles carries its own political baggage: it wants to avoid the Miami minefield regarding Cuba (it's unclear if Cuba will be invited) and Latinos here who call President Biden, absurdly, a socialista. I鈥檒l also concede former Democratic President Bill Clinton chose Miami to host the first Summit of the Americas in 1994 in part for political reasons: he wanted to thank Cuban exile leader Jorge Mas Canosa for giving cubanos a green light to vote for Democrats.
But all that just proves my point 鈥� that Miami鈥檚 Latin America discussion isn鈥檛 really about Latin America. It鈥檚 about one island in Latin America 鈥� Cuba 鈥� and a few other leftist-ruled countries whose exile causes are a supplement to the Cuban exile cause.
This also hurts Miami鈥檚 ambitions to be an Americas arena beyond the Summit of the Americas. There are of course a number of top-flight Latin America scholars here, especially at Florida International University and the University of Miami. But academics have long complained about Miami鈥檚 Cuba-centrism bigfooting UM鈥檚 larger Latin American studies project.
And ask yourself how many nationally recognized, independent hemispheric think tanks 鈥� like the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington D.C. or the AS/COA in New York 鈥� are headquartered in Miami. There aren鈥檛 any.
It鈥檚 not because you can鈥檛 hear a wider range of Latin American culture here. It鈥檚 because you too often can鈥檛 hear a wider range of Latin American concerns here.
