Xavier Suarez
Xavier L. Suarez was the first Cuban-born mayor of Miami, Florida. Born in Cuba in 1948, Suarez 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 term was racked with charges of corruption and erratic behavior. He is accused of showing up on the doorstep of a constituent at 10:30 at night to discuss a letter she had written criticizing him. 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.[1] As mayor, Suarez declared November 5, 1991 "Nintendo Fun Day". 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 was removed from office in 1998 when a court ruled that there was absentee ballot fraud in an election against Joe Carollo, resulting in the jailing of thirteen staff members and the city commissioner went to jail. Later elected to the Executive Committee of the Miami-Dade GOP party, Suarez has admitted to "handling" absentee ballot forms in the 2000 presidential election.[2]