Little Havana

The history and character of Miami were radically changed when Che Guevara and Fidel Castro seized power of the island of Cuba, in 1959. Immediately following La Revolución, thousands of Cubans fled to Miami to live as exiles. They settled mainly in the Riverside neighborhood, which quickly became known as Little Havana. In the 1960s, “freedom flights” brought tens of thousands of Cubans to Miami, and by the early disco era, Miami was home to more than a half o’ million Cubanos. In 1980, the Mariel Boatlift brought 150,000 migrants in a period of six months. The exodus continues today, with Cubans risking their lives to touch ground in Miami.

Cubans are now the ethnic group of majority in Miami, and Little Havana is just one of many neighborhoods that are dominated by el sabor Cubano. La Calle Ocho, is Little Havana’s main street, and it’s easy to see the growing presence of Nicaraguans, Salvadorans and Hondurans, but the area is still clearly the geographic and symbolic center of the Cuban Exile community. Little Havana feels, probably not surprisingly, wedged solidly between Cuba and the U.S. There are traditional hand-rolled cigar shops next to Pizza Huts, ¡Viva Bush! bumper stickers and Santería sacrifices. The benches on the corners are filled with baggy-panted hip hop kids and old men playing dominos – all striving for the Cuban-American dream.