MIAMI, FLORIDA — An old 1990s interview featuring Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is back in a Miami congressional race. Democrat candidate for Congress Eliott Rodriguez released a web ad this weekend that contrasts his own encounter with the former Cuban leader with that of Republican Representative María Elvira Salazar’s, in a district where Cuba is a defining issue.

The Ad

Rodriguez, a former CBS Miami news anchor who won the Democratic primary, released the video as early voting was about to begin. It shows him chasing Castro down a hallway in Cuba after a news conference in the 1990s. He asks about democracy, political prisoners and free elections, as a bodyguard blocks and shoves the then-journalist aside.

The ad sets that footage against clips of Salazar, then a television journalist, interviewing Castro. In the clips she describes him as the man who “captured the imagination of the world” in the 1960s and portrays the revolution in romantic terms.

Representative María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) in a sit-down CNN interview with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in 1995. Source: CNN

A column reporting on the ad says she also called him “a revolutionary per excellence.” Castro appears smiling and receptive, and Rodriguez, clearly making an attempt to portray Salazar as sympathetic to the Castro persona.

Salazar’s Response

Salazar has said the full interview lasted an hour, that she challenged Castro in other parts, and that she was trying to “play it down the middle.” Salazar has not released the other pieces of footage.

The clips are not new. They were also used against her in a 2018 Republican primary in what was then the 27th District’s open-seat race.

Her campaign spokesperson, Ana Carbonell, told the Miami Herald the ad recycles old footage. She also accused Rodriguez of supporting a democratic socialist Senate candidate and of taking donations from donors who favor engagement with the Cuban government.

The Race

Florida’s 27th District covers Miami-Dade County, including Little Havana and Coral Gables, and is more than 70% Latino. Cuban Americans are the largest group. The Cook Political Report rates the race “lean Republican.”

Polls have recently moved toward Democrats, but Republicans are still favored.

Salazar has been balancing her support for President Trump with criticism of his immigration agenda.

In a TV ad filmed in front of the White House last month, she told Trump he has “gone too far,” saying, “The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.” Trump shared a Truth Social post calling her a “back stabber.”

Salazar said she didn’t see the comments as attacks and that she later spoke with the president.

The ad aims to cut into Salazar’s strongest ground with Cuban American voters, who care about her record on Cuba and, in some cases, are also unhappy with the administration’s deportation policies.

The Castro warrant news this week keeps Cuba in the headlines as early voting opens.