Xavier Suarez

He was born on May 21, 1949, in Las Villas, Cuba.[2] Suarez attended the Colegio de Belén[3][4] but graduated from St. Anselm's Abbey School[5] in 1967, earned a degree in engineering from Villanova University in 1971, and later studied government and law at Harvard University. He later returned to Miami and built his support in the city's Cuban community, and was sworn in as mayor on November 13, 1985, replacing Puerto Rico-born Maurice Ferré.

Suarez was first elected mayor in 1985. He was re-elected in 1987 and again in 1989 for a four-year term. Suarez was highly regarded as mayor of Miami. As the mayor of Miami, Florida Xavier Suárez, declared "Yahweh ben Yahweh Day" on October 7, 1990. According to a March 30, 1993 article in the Miami Herald, "In 1989, [Suárez] won national admiration when he waded through hostile crowds in Overtown during civil disturbances to try to make peace." Suarez cited the construction of 1,500 affordable homes as one of his "proudest achievements" during his tenure. He was also given the name "pothole mayor" for his attention to city neighborhoods. In 1993 Suarez got the Latin Builder's Association to donate $150,000 to rebuild the only Catholic elementary school in Overtown. He decided not to run again in 1993 in order to spend more time with his family. He returned to practice law in Miami before he decided to run again in November 1997 and was re-elected. However, on March 5th of the following year, Suarez was effectively removed from office on account of voting fraud.[6] While Suarez was not personally implicated, the prosecuting circuit court judge cited the district as ''the center of a massive, well-conceived and well-orchestrated absentee ballot voter fraud scheme.'' People working for Suarez's campaign were found forging voter signatures, including at least one of a dead citizen.[7]

Suarez ran for numerous positions in Miami-Dade including Mayor of Miami-Dade County in 1996,[8] Mayor of Miami in 2001, Miami-Dade Commissioner in 2004,[9] and ran as a Republican for house disctrict 107 in 2006.[10]

Suarez was elected as a Miami-Dade County Commissioner for District 7 on May 24, 2011 and was re-elected by a 44-point margin on August 30, 2016. During his tenure as commissioner, Suarez continued to advocate for affordable housing, as well as workforce development programs and funding for public transit. In 2020, term limited from his seat Suarez ran for County Mayor finishing in fourth place behind former county mayor Alex Penelas.

During his time as mayor, Suarez also received attention for refusing to greet South African President Nelson Mandela during his 1990 tour of the United States which included a stop in Miami. Suárez was in disagreement with Mandela's comments where he referred to Cuban President Fidel Castro as a "brother in arms" due to Castro's support for the African National Congress.[11]

He was the ninth child and second son of 14 children of Manuel Suárez-Carreno, the first Dean of the School of Engineering at the Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva (St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic University), and Eloisa Gaston. He is married to Rita and they have four children, Francis Xavier Suarez, Olga Marie Vieira, Anna Teresita, and Carolina Suárez.[4] His sister, Lala, is the mother of West Virginia United States Representative Alex Mooney.[12]

• Appearances on C-SPAN