Mario Diaz-Balart

Lincoln Diaz-Balart's Son Dead at 29

Lincoln Gabriel Diaz-Balart, the 29-year-old son of former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and a member of one of Miami's more politically powerful and connected families, passed away over the weekend. No official cause of death has been released. The family is asking for privacy at the time, but noted tha ... More >>

Obama on Jay-Z, Beyonce, Cuba: "White House Not Involved, We've Got Better Things to Do"

The Prez and Hova "got a little bond there." But Obama insists he didn't help his pals, Jay-Z and Beyonce (AKA The Carters), secure clearance from the Treasury Department for their fifth anniversary vacay to Cuba. "This is not something the White House was involved with," POTUS tells the Today Sho ... More >>

Fiscal Cliff Averted, No Thanks To Marco Rubio or Trio of South Florida Representatives

Today is going to be a real bitch, Miami. No question about it. You're back at work already, but those three bottles of champers you chugged on New Year's Eve are not done with you yet. Right now, your head feels like Deadmau5 is spinning a set on your cerebellum.But there is good news. While you we ... More >>

Miami's Romney Supporters Chugging $10 Drinks, Confident Mitt Will Pull Off Florida UPDATED

Inside a packed conference room at the Doubletree by Hilton near the airport, Ben Powell, chairman of Miami-Dade Republican Party, leaned into his mic and bellowed, "Are y'all ready for victory?" The crowd of about 200 Romney supporters let out a boisterous cheer.Even as returns are showing Obama cl ... More >>

Carlos Gimenez, Rebeca Sosa and David Rivera Shower Favors On Ex-Cocaine Trafficker

On July 13, Alexander I. Perez stood underneath a new street sign christening a portion of SE 10th Avenue in front of his Hialeah warehouse as "Banah Sweet Way." A gaggle of local politicos -- including Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, his Hialeah counterpart Carlos Hernandez, and County Commissione ... More >>

"Whereas... LeBron James Decided to Take His Talent to South Beach": The Awesome Congressional Resolution Congratulating The Heat

It seems that Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen went all fan girl when drafting up a Congressional resolution to congratulate the Miami Heat on their NBA championship, because the thing is actually the rare Congressional measure that's a pleasure to read. It's basically a manifesto on why the Heat are just s ... More >>

Gloria Romero Roses, Random Person, to Run Against David Rivera as Democrat

Democrats have finally found a candidate to take on vulnerable Republican incumbent congressman David Rivera. Her name is Gloria Romero Roses. She has no electoral experience, no name recognition, and doesn't even live close to the district. Oh boy.

Miami's best blogs: From the Crespogram Report to Political Cortadito

David Rivera Backs Newt Gingrich, Because Allegedly Crooked Congressmen Stick Together

​Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mario Diaz-Balart, and former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart have all lined up in support of Mitt Romney, which left little room for Romney's primary opponents to line up a big endorsement that would resonate in Miami's Cuban-American community. Well, Newt Gingrich ... More >>

Xavier Suarez and Joe Carollo Endorse Newt Gingrich

​Turns out Xavier Suarez and Joe Carollo can actually agree on something: they like Newt Gingrich. They've both been announced as members of Gingrich's Florida Steering Committee. Then again, it only makes sense that two guys who saw their political careers take embarrassing stumbles in the '90s w ... More >>

Mitt Romney Picks Up Endorsements from Ros-Lehtinen and Diaz-Balarts

Marco Rubio may be South Florida's star Cuban-American politician, but he's not endorsing anyone in the presidential primary. So, the Republican endorsement prize in these parts is, as it's been for quite some time, picking up the backing of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart ... More >>

Latino Republican Group Says Marco Rubio is Unfriendly to Latinos

​Florida senator Marco Rubio is supposed to be the Republican party's great Latino hope, but an upstart Latino Republican group, Somos Republicans, has just dubbed Rubio "unfriendly to Latinos." The group claims that because of Rubio's Cuban-American "privilege" he fails to appreciate the importan ... More >>

Miami-Area Congressional District is the Most Suffering in America

via Firehouse2District 17's Liberty City​Gallup-Healthway's annual "Well Being Index" takes a wide-ranging reading of physical, emotional, and mental health of political districts on the state, metropolitan and congressional levels. The just-published statistics for 2010 don't give such a healthy ... More >>

Ros-Lehtinen, Diaz-Balarts Deemed Not Conservative by American Conservative Union

​The American Conservative Union, the group now headed by Miami lobbyist Al Cardenas, has released their 2010 ratings of congress and they've deemed the three Cuban-American Republicans who represented much of Miami-Dade county not conservative. In fact, Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario and Lin ... More >>

Are Americans Addicted to Political Dynasties? Jeb Bush for President Boosters Hope So

​Name recognition and family connections seems to go along in politics. Salon's Steve Kornacki points out that "there have been 15 presidential elections since 1952, and in all but two -- 1964 and 2008 -- the Republican ticket has included someone named 'Nixon,' 'Dole,' or 'Bush,'" and w ... More >>

Julio Robaina: Dade's next mayor?

George W. Bush At The Miami Book Fair: The Live Blog

​Dubya is in Miami! To be more exact, he's downtown at the Miami Book Fair International, shilling his new memoir, Flapjacks: My Favorite Breakfast Treat. No, that's not right. Decision Points! It's all about the Decider's finest moments of deciding, apparently.Riptide is here, too, to bring you t ... More >>

2010 Election Results Live Blog

​Will Florida gets its first female Governor? Will the country's first female Speaker of the House be forced to turn in her gavel? Will Kendrick Meek somehow shock the world by winning? Did anyone bother to get to know enough about the CFO race to bother voting? Join us tonight as we live blog the ... More >>

Mario Diaz-Balart Lies About Alex Sink's Stance on Arizona Immigration Laws

​Rick Scott, now the official Republican nominee for Governor, has made Arizona-style immigration laws a main issue in the election. The controversial laws are none-too-popular amongst Hispanic voters (in fact, some are theorizing that Bill McCollum's hard right flip-flop in favor of them may have ... More >>

Miami-Dade Republicans Name Drop Ronald Reagan

Paul Crespo ​Last night's monthly meeting of Miami-Dade Republicans was an entertaining respite from the LeBronomania enveloping the county. As promised, congressional candidate Paul Crespo demanded that David Rivera, the Republican frontrunner in the U.S. congressional race to replace Mario Diaz- ... More >>

Is David Riveria's Claim He Hasn't Seen Pro-Cuban Trade Business Man in Years Disproved By His Own Website?

​Yesterday, state. Rep David Riveria, who is running to replace seat-jumper Mario Diaz-Balart in congressional district 25, made headlines in the Herald for his friendship with Ariel Pereda. Pereda is the principal of the Havana Group, a firm that advises companies on trading with Socialist Cuba. ... More >>

Alex Diaz de la Portilla Accused of Stalking Estranged Wife

Claudia Davant claims her estranged husband and state Sen. Alex Diax de la Portilla has State Sen. Alex Diax de la Portilla "can be extremely explosive and violent," says estranged wife. ​repeatedly stalked her since she filed for divorce five months ago. And the Florida Department of Law Enforcem ... More >>

The Hill Says Florida Senate Race Between Meek and Rubio Is Now a "Toss-Up"

​Who's going to be Florida's next senator come Election Day in November? No one knows. Not even respected political newspaper The Hill. It recently changed its ranking of the race from "leaning Republican" to "toss-up."A recent Research 2000 poll showed Meek was pulling within 1 percent of Ru ... More >>

Health Care Reform Passes, No Thanks To Your South Florida Politicos

If you're half as cool as the staff here at Riptide, you were flipping between March Madness and C-SPAN last night like your life depended on it. Which to pick?photo by Sage Ross, via Wikimedia CommonsThe power of cardboard signs and megaphones was not enough to derail health reform.On CBS, Korie Lu ... More >>

When It Comes to "Government Waste," Ros-Lehtinen and the Diaz-Balarts Might as Well Be Democrats

Cover art from CAGW's Waste Watch​The Citizens Against Government Waste's name pretty much says it all. The fiscally conservative think tank hates pork and government waste, which apparently includes programs such as expanding health care to kids in low-income families, providing low-interest loan ... More >>

Diaz-Balart Brothers Endorse Crist over Rubio

Marco Rubio can collect all the endorsements of the Mike Huckabees and Jim DeMints of the world he wants, but Charlie Crist seems to be wracking up support from politicians who have been actually voted into office the Florida electorate. Today, Crist's campaign announced the backing of Mia ... More >>

The Week That Was: Cat Killings and Reality TV Make Us Question our Religion

Former celebri-priest and confessed sex-haver Father Cutié became Lay Minister Cutié this week and joined the Episcopal church so he could marry his girlfriend. Though, he's not the first to change faiths in the name of love. The Cat Killer struck again. Once we catch this guy (gal? ... More >>

Latest Che Outrage: Too Little, Too Late

via EdenPicture's Flickr If something Che Guevara-related happens in America and Miami Cubans don't make a fuss about it, did it even actually happen? A sculpture has been set up at an entrance at New York's Central Park that bears a slight resemblance to Che Guevera, since ... More >>

Ros-Lehtinen's Constituents Happy and Healthy, Meek's Not So Much

Gallup, Healthways, and America's Health Insurance Plans have teamed up to create a state by state, and congressional district by district well-being index. The index is based on the World Health Organization's definition of health as "not only the absence of infirmity and disease, but also a state ... More >>

Top Ten Miami News Stories of the Year

Murder trials, drug busts, hurricane warnings and robberies may continue to grab the "If It Bleeds, It Leads"-headlines but 2008 was a year of events that will continue to affect us well past the changing of the calendar year. Riptide counts down the biggest new stories of 2008. 10. Murder Free ... More >>

Agriculture Spokesman Thinks a Little Bit of Slavery Isn't a Big Deal

I spent most of my life living in a neighborhood off Immokalee road. That stretch of asphalt starts near the ritzy beaches of the Gulf Coast, passes the entrances of numerous gated gulf course communities, continues on through undeveloped and farm lands, and ends in it's eponymous city, Immokalee, h ... More >>

Electorial Money Makers, Part I

With the election season wrapped up, Banana Republican sifted through federal campaign financial reports, including those of Barack Obama and John McCain, to see who got paid. We begin with the companies that made money working for Mario Diaz-Balart, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, t ... More >>

Latest Attack on Garcia Takes a Cue From McCain

Live Blogging the Congressional Debate Double Header

Raul Martinez Leads Lincoln Diaz-Balart

Kid Stuff

Politics helped propel college dropout Carlos Manrique to the top of the educational ladder.

Joe Garcia Runs in the Name of the Father

Letters from the Issue of September 7, 2006

"Could New Times be the fairy godmother?"

Letters from the Issue of September 29, 2005

Savage words, Haitian rights, suicide notes, and DeFede friends and foes

Loaded

The federal ban on assault weapons never worked, as Miami-Dade Police Ofcr. Keenya Hubert painfully learned

Letters from the Issue of April 29, 2004

Madcap politicos, hungry crocodiles, and a prescription for the arts

Cows to Cuba

A South Florida rancher is using bovine diplomacy to improve relations with the island nation

Lehtinen for Mayor

Unless Manny Diaz tops him, Dexter is the hottest candidate for the 2004 county race

A Man in Full Fight

Hear why this crusader wants to save you from the evils of gay rights

Return of the Bullies

The school board wades through a smear campaign

The Enigma

The new chairman of the Miami-Dade delegation sets his own course in Tallahassee

Have Bullhorn, Will Travel

Most anti-Castro groups shun partisan presidential politics, but not Miguel Saavedra and his merry band of protesters

The Doctor is Out

Beset by internecine battles, troubled leadership, and funding cuts, the local office of the Florida Department of Health is in need of intensive care.

Arena Winners and Losers: Alex Shoots, Alex Scores!