Trump supporters gathered in front of the Versailles restaurant in Miami awaiting the results on November 3, 2020. -

AFP

Donald Trump's anti-socialist rhetoric has paid off in Florida.

Right-wing Spanish-American voters, led by anti-Castro Cubans, were decisive in the president's victory in the Sunshine State.

In Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, dozens of people listened to salsa and waved American flags on Tuesday evening, already celebrating the president's victory in the state the Republican needs to stay four more years in the White House.

A chorus echoed in front of the iconic Café Versailles: “I don't know about you, but I'm going to vote for Donald Trump”.

“Freedom for Cuba!

A woman shouted to the cameras that had come to film.

Watch Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County celebrate President Trump's strong showing in Florida along the iconic Southwest Eighth Street near Little Havana on Tuesday.

https://t.co/asXsOMDpph pic.twitter.com/7v962dBn8q

- The New York Times (@nytimes) November 4, 2020

Voters hostile to the left

Florida, with its 29 major voters, is famous for its tight results in the US presidential election.

Donald Trump's victory here, analysts say, is the result of his support in the rural white world as well as his anti-communist rhetoric, which has convinced Hispanics living in Florida, known for their hostility to leftist regimes. in Latin America.

“Democrats lost the Hispanic vote.

Not just that of the Cubans.

But also that of Venezuelans, Argentines, Bolivians, Colombians… All are Trumpists here, ”says Eduardo Gamarra, professor of political science at the International University of Florida (FIU).

A prayer for Trump's victory

And the anti-racist protests sometimes accompanied by violence that swept across the country this summer, after the death of George Floyd at the end of May under the knee of a police officer, frightened many Latinos in Florida.

“The South American voter here in Florida comes from the middle and wealthy classes” of Latin American countries, explains Eduardo Gamarra.

"That's why one of the things that hurt 'Democrats' the most has been (the) Black Lives Matter movement, while Latinos across the rest of the US have a different perception of themselves due to of their social origin, ”he adds.

Thus Carlos Rizo, a Cuban who monitors the results at his home in Miami "praying" that Donald Trump wins, considers Black Lives Matter to be an instrument of the left to undermine democracy.

"Black Lives Matter, everyone knows what they are and what they have caused," the 53-year-old transporter told AFP.

“They and the antifa are people who have used (the Democrats) to cause panic and terror,” he says.

The shocking image of a "communist" Joe Biden

Jorge Duany, director of the Cuban Research Institute of the FIU, does not think that the Latin vote is the only reason for Donald Trump's victory in Florida (Hispanics make up 20% of the electorate here), since It is possible to win this state without them if the rural vote, for example, is acquired.

But the "close relationship" cultivated by the president with the Cuban and Venezuelan communities in Miami "has had an effect," he said.

"They clearly had to tip the scales in favor of Mr. Trump," he said.

Jorge Duany also believes Joe Biden's loss was due to his campaign team being slow to make their presence felt in Florida;

and when she did, he said, it was too late to undo Donald Trump's progress.

The Biden team also took time to respond to Trump's, who accused the Democrat of being "communist" and in cahoots with the Cuban and Venezuelan governments.

“Here in Florida, this idea was rehashed a lot and it probably had an impact,” says Duany.

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