Our Friday Sociedad Media Now daily newsletter looks into Miami’s most important stories impacting Miami’s Latino community.
Colombia Inaugurates a New President in Cali. Miami’s Colombian Community Has Been Celebrating Since June
MIAMI — Abelardo de la Espriella is sworn in Friday as Colombia’s 43rd president — the first time in decades that Colombia’s presidential transfer-of-command has been held outside Bogotá, a move he’s framed as a symbolic gesture toward the country’s Pacific region.
The moment caps a campaign South Florida’s large Colombian community and its Miami-area congressional delegation embraced early: Representatives María Elvira Salazar, Carlos Giménez, and Mario Díaz-Balart all publicly backed his candidacy, with Díaz-Balart accompanying Colombian voters during early voting and President Trump offering his own endorsement throughout the campaign.
But de la Espriella enters office from a position weaker than what the mood suggests as an Uribe-backed candidate won the Senate presidency with Petro’s own coalition’s support, leaving the incoming president without a cohesive legislative bloc as he begins pursuing his promised security crackdown and foreign policy overhaul.
Florida’s First Open Governor’s Race in Eight Years: What Miami’s Latino Community Should Watch For
MIAMI — Florida heads into its first open governor’s race in eight years, with Trump-endorsed Byron Donalds holding a commanding GOP primary lead ahead of the August 18 vote.
But general-election polling shows a nearly even Hispanic vote split (42%-41%) — notable in a state where Miami-Dade flipped Republican in 2024 — with property insurance costs and immigration enforcement carrying distinct weight for South Florida’s Latino community.
