Andrew Otazo Archives - Miami Creation Myth

Trump Turned America into Venezuela

Yesterday, I received a stream of messages from friends across Latin America—Venezuela, Nicaragua, El Salvador, among many others. They wanted to know if I was OK, advised me to stay indoors, commiserated about recently experiencing similar political violence, and...

Latinos Celebrate San Gibin Feast Day

A deacon distributed traditional San Gibin antacids to all worshipers as they passed through Saint Augustine Catholic Church’s ornate brass doors. “Low blood pressure be with you,” exclaimed the deacon to his parishioners. “And also with...

My Complicated Experience with Racism at West Point

I have PTSD, and I hate myself for it. Unlike my Army buddies, I was not deployed, or even entered active service. Unlike many female friends, I was never sexually assaulted. I didn’t lose a limb, or bury a child, or come out, or grow up poor, or experience domestic...

Communitis Pandemic Devastates Miam

“They’re under the bed! They’re under the bed!” yelled Alejandro Gomez. The middle-aged Cuban-American man rocked his gurney so violently that three burly nurses had to restrain him. “Sir, you are in Mercy’s Hospital’s emergency room,” said Dr. Dhruv Gupta. “You are...

Gov. Ron DeSantis Opens Florida’s Nuclear Waste Sites to Partygoers

Waves of chest-collapsing bass pulsed across a grassy field south of Homestead’s Turkey Point nuclear power plant. A crush of 20-somethings navigated around hundreds of steel drums filled with depleted uranium. Partygoers packed around a DJ booth playing big room...

Not Everything You Dislike Is Communist

This piece is directed at those who believe demands for racial justice, equal pay, climate action, LQBTQ rights, voting access, government accountability, immigration reform, and addressing other systemic societal ills are inherently communist. Strictly speaking,...