Dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres.
That’s an old Cuban saying my mom used to tell Ladra to get me to stay away from my more, um, troublemaker friends. “Tell me who you run with and I’ll tell you who you are.” It’s still true today. And nowhere is it more true than in politics.
So, now, we bring you the cast of characters that are hosting a fundraiser for Richard Lara, the executive vice president and general counsel for Spanish Broadcasting that is running against Coral Gables Commissioner Kirk Menendez next year. Most, if not all of them, are directly connected to Gables Mayor Vince Lago, who everyone knows recruited Lara for the race.
And they tell you as much about who the candidate is as anything else.
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Ladra’s favorite name from the list? Attorney Anibal Duarte-Viera, one of former Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla‘s preferred bagmen and the “associate” involved in the shakedown of Rickenbacker Marina operator Aabad Melwani. According to a lawsuit filed last year by lobbyist and former State Rep. Manny Prieguez, who represents Melwani, Duarte-Viera said he had to be made a partner in the marina operations in exchange for ADLP’s vote to renew the contract.
Diaz de la Portilla was arrested last September on public corruption charges — including money laundering and bribery — in a separate and completely different quid pro quo scheme (he’s not going to put all his eggs in one basket) where he got more than $300,000 in campaign contributions, food and booze and hotel accommodations from the attorney for the private Centner Academy in exchange for the exclusive use of two thirds of a public park for the next 99 years or whatever.
Is that the kind of commissioner Lara is going to be like? Does he not know the kind of baggage — or strings attached — that Duarte-Viera comes with?
Among the other hosts on the list are Tony Newell and Nicolas “Nick” Cabrera, son of former Commissioner Ralph Cabrera, who is banking on his papi’s credibility as he strikes out on his own political limb. Both are employees of Lago’s. Or, rather, Nick’s an employee. Tony is his business partner at Hammer Lake Development.
Then there are Alex Bucelo and Ivette Arango O’Doski, the two failed city commission candidates Lago backed and financed in the ’23 election that he lost big to Commissioners Ariel Fernandez and Melissa Castro, respectively. And, because it’s hard to find people outside Lago’s circle to support Lara, there are also Bucelo’s parents, Armando and Beatrice Bucelo, who are actually hosting the fete at their six-bedroom/five bath, $4.8-million Granada Boulevard home overlooking the Biltmore Golf Course.
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There is also Margarita Rohaidy Delgado, a public relations consultant who has worked for the Miami Parking Authority, among others, and who was named chairwoman of Lago’s PAC, Coral Gables First, in 2016. And Claudia Puig, former VP and general manager at SBS, where Lara works. She and Lago both sit on the board of directors at the Miami-Dade Beacon Council. And Manny Alfonso, another PR and marketing guy who loves to kiss Lago’s ass.
And let’s top it off with former Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli and former Commissioner Wayne “Chip” Withers, Lago allies who were intimately involved in the recruitment of Lara. Withers and George Kakouris, founding chair and chair emeritus of the Coral Gables Museum, followed Lara out of commission chambers when the candidate finished his six-minute announcement speech during public comments last month. Kakouris is also on the host committee.
Lago may not officially be on the host committee, but it has his name written all over it. And y’all remember what happened the last time Lago heavily backed a candidate, right?
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