Cuban bakery in Miami faces online backlash after hosting Democratic candidates

Henry Hernández saw on local television that one of his favorite Cuban bakeries in South Miami had hosted Democratic congressional candidate Elliot Rodríguez and House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries last Friday. So outraged was he by the visit from the politicians, whom he labels “socialists,” that this Wednesday he stopped by for one last colada, a Cuban version of espresso, and told the cashier: “I’m here to say goodbye, because I’m never coming back.”

Like many Cuban immigrants and their descendants in Miami, Hernández, a 62-year-old Cuban American, falsely believes that New York Democratic congressman Hakeem Jeffries is aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the organization associated with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. This is despite the fact that Jeffries has repeatedly stated in interviews with U.S. media that he neither supports nor shares the DSA’s positions, which include defunding police departments, abolishing the Senate, and opening the borders. In fact, DSA members themselves often regard Jeffries as a loyal representative of the Democratic establishment, pointing to his moderate stance on Medicaid and his pro-Israel leanings.

By association, Hernández also regards Rodríguez, a journalist running for Florida’s 27th Congressional District seat, as a “socialist.” So too, he says, is the founder of CAO Bakery, where Rodríguez and Jeffries stopped for coffee during a campaign swing last week.

“I’m not going to give money to someone who thinks that way because it hurts the long-term cause, which is to prevent in the United States what happened in Cuba. Everyone has the right to an opinion, and I have the right to say I won’t give them a cent of my money,” Hernández told EL PAÍS as he finished the last sips of his colada, convinced that his view of the Democrats’ politics is grounded in reality.

Criticism of the alleged ties between Rodríguez, Jeffries and Miami’s Cuban bakeries and the Democratic Socialists of America quickly spilled onto social media.

“CAO Bakery, rooted in Miami’s Cuban exile history, hosted House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries as he campaigned for Eliott Rodriguez against María Elvira Salazar,” conservative influencer Josué Álvarez wrote on October 17 on his Instagram account, alongside a video criticizing the founders of the bakery chains CAO Bakery and Vicky Bakery. The post has already attracted nearly 3,000 comments.

“As the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) gain influence within Democratic politics, serious questions arise about historical memory, political alliances, and the legacy of Cuban exile families,” he wrote.

Rodríguez’s biggest mistake may have been bringing Jeffries into a Cuban bakery, that haven of croquettes, coffee and guava pastries that Republicans had long treated as their own political turf.

On October 17, María Elvira Salazar, the congresswoman seeking reelection in Florida’s 27th District, posted a photo on social media from a visit to one of the bakery chain’s locations. “Great campaign stop at Vicky Bakery!” read the caption, with display cases packed with cakes and pastries in the background. But Vicky Bakery did not escape the social media backlash either.

The two businesses, founded by the same Cao family of Cuban exiles, were forced to issue statements in response to the hundreds of critical messages they received after the episode and, in the case of CAO Bakery, to explain what had happened during the Democrats’ visit.

“On Thursday [October 15], a congressional campaign team called us to tell us that their Cuban American candidate would be in the area [South Miami] and asked if he could stop by for a cafecito and greet the community,” said the statement signed by Ivette Cao, one of CAO Bakery’s partners.

“As a business, we don’t discriminate based on political views, but at the same time, I didn’t know it would turn into a press conference,” the statement continued. It was published on October 18.

But the outrage within Miami’s Cuban American community was already spreading like wildfire online.

“I’ve already spoken today with at least 10 or 15 friends, and every single one says they’ll never set foot in here again,” said Henry Hernández, seated at the counter of the CAO Bakery location in Pinecrest, Miami, where the Democrats stopped last week.

At the time, he had not yet read the company’s statement, but he was convinced it would not persuade him that neither the bakery nor the politicians had embraced “socialism,” regardless of what it said. Nor did it matter that he had been a regular customer for years, stopping by several times a week for coffee.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition