Xavier Suarez
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Xavier L. Suarez was the first Cuban-born mayor of the City of Miami, Florida. Born in Cuba in 1948, Suarez graduated from Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, 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 Ferre in this office.
Suarez's terms as mayor were wracked with charges of corruption and erratic behavior. He is accused of showing up on the doorstep of a constituent, 68-year-old Edna Benson, at 10:30 p.m. to discuss a letter she had written criticizing him.[1] Suarez also fired three city managers in 40 days and ordered the mass firing of 70 city officials. The latter measure he was forced to rescind after the state’s attorney concluded that he had overstepped his authority.[2] He was criticized when he declared October 7, 1990 "Yahweh ben Yahweh Day" a few weeks before this religious leader was found guilty of fourteen murders, extortion, and running a racketeering enterprise. Suarez later declared November 5, 1991 "Nintendo Fun Day".
Suarez's first term as mayor ended in 1993 and he returned to practice law in Miami before he ran a second time in November 1997.
Suarez was removed from office in March 1998 when a court ruled that there was absentee ballot fraud in an election against Joe Carollo, resulting in the jailing of the city commissioner and thirteen staff members. Later elected to the Executive Committee of the Miami-Dade Republican Party, Suarez has admitted to "handling" absentee ballot forms in the 2000 presidential election.[3]
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