Little Havana
Little Havana is a vibrant Cuban enclave located in Miami, Florida, known as a cultural and political center for Cuban Americans and the broader Cuban community in the United States. Established in the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the neighborhood has retained a significant Cuban-born population and a distinct cultural identity, with many residents perceiving themselves as a community in exile rather than fully assimilated Americans. Key landmarks, such as Calle Ocho (Southwest Eighth Street) and the Versailles Restaurant, serve as focal points for community gatherings and discussions, often centered around Cuban politics and heritage.
The economy of Little Havana thrives on small businesses offering traditional Cuban goods, while the community remains deeply tied to its cultural practices, including celebrations of Afro-Cuban religions. The demographics of Little Havana have evolved, with a growing presence of other Hispanic groups, yet it maintains a predominantly Latino population. Despite these changes, the community has not diluted its political influence over the decades, particularly regarding anti-Castro sentiment. However, the rise in tourism and shifts in local demographics may influence the neighborhood's cultural landscape, leading to a blend of traditional Cuban elements with newer influences. Overall, Little Havana continues to navigate the complexities of maintaining its heritage while adapting to contemporary realities.
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Subject Terms
Little Havana
IDENTIFICATION: Cuban enclave within Miami, Florida
SIGNIFICANCE: Little Havana was the focal point for Cuban immigration to the United States following the Cuban Revolution of 1959. The neighborhood still maintains a large Cuban-born population and distinct culture and politics. The residents, in large part, see themselves more as a community in exile than as assimilated Americans.
Miami, Florida’s “Little Havana” (La Pequeña Habana) has been the cultural and political center not only of Miami’s Cuban American immigrant community but also of the Cuban community of the entire United States. The neighborhood has been home to everything from political organizations hatching plots against Fidel Castro’s communist regime to Latino music bands, art festivals, and religious parades. Formed after 1960 following the exodus from Cuba of hundreds of thousands of exiles from Castro’s revolution of 1959, Little Havana continues to play an important part in the political life of Miami, the state of Florida, U.S. presidential elections, and even the anti-Castro dissident movement in Cuba. Unlike other immigrant communities in the United States, such as New York’s Little Italy, it has lost neither its original ethnic composition nor political power over time.
Although officially designated as a “neighborhood” by the U.S. Census of 2000, with the Miami River, Southwest Eleventh Street, Southwest Second Avenue, and Interstate 95 for boundaries, Little Havana is best located and understood by both residents and outsiders by its landmarks and places of historical importance. Calle Ocho (Southwest Eighth Street), which Cuban Americans call La Saguacera in the hybrid argot of Spanglish, is the gateway to the neighborhood. A giant mural overlooking the Eighth Street entrance to Little Havana depicts crucial scenes from pre-Castro Cuban history, reinforcing the notion that this is a community in exile, and not, culturally speaking, an integrated part of the United States. Another cultural and political signpost is the Versailles Restaurant, which many residents consider the epicenter of Little Havana. Here, over dishes of chicken, rice, beans, and plantains—Cuban staples—conversations often turn to exile politics. The neighborhood economy rests largely on small shops selling everything from guayaberas—the white linen, short-sleeved shirts traditionally worn by Cuban men—to statues and talismans associated with Santería, the Afro-Cuban syncretic religion of African deities and Roman Catholic saints. The area is more traditional, religious, and politically conservative than the rest of Cuban Miami, and the population is less willing to engage in any sort of dialogue with the Castro regime.
Little Havana is demographically very similar to when the first wave of exiles arrived in 1960. More than 90 percent of its population is Latino, though the rate of other Hispanic populations is growing. Though the population has steadily risen from 1970 to 2000, according to a study of the area published by Florida Atlantic University, this is mostly from other groups of immigrants. Also, while many residents still occupy the same homes and own the businesses they did during the 1960s, the number of rental properties versus owned properties has increased as the average income has decreased. Rising costs of living along with aging family members are potential contributing factors to these changes.
Furthermore, the aging of first-generation Cubans and the boom in tourism to the neighborhood, bringing other Latinos and non-Hispanic Americans to spend their money in local enterprises, have the potential to alter the political and cultural features that have made Little Havana distinct. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the obsession of the locals with anti-Castro politics has slowly given way to the notion that most residents will never see their homeland again. Meanwhile, tourist dollars have transformed traditional political and religious festivals into street parties rather than evocations of Cuban history. In some ways, Little Havana seems destined to be incorporated into a new patria (homeland), the United States. In other ways, though, the community is unique compared with other cultural and immigrant enclaves in its continued ability to adjust and yet remain true to its roots.
Bibliography
Cordoba, Hilton, and Jose Carrillo. “Neighborhood Change in Miami’s Little Havana; A Demographic Analysis from 1970 to 2000.” The Florida Geographer, Florida Atlantic University, journals.flvc.org/flgeog/article/download/68653/66325/68754. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
García, Cristina María. Havana USA: Cuban Exiles and Cuban Americans in South Florida, 1959-1994. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
“Little Havana.” National Trust for Historic Preservation, savingplaces.org/places/little-havana. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
Poey, Delia, and Virgil Suárez, eds. Little Havana Blues: A Cuban-American Anthology. Houston: Arte Público Press, 1996.
Rieff, David. The Exile: Cuba in the Heart of Miami. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.