General Discussion

MIAMI BEACH — President Barack Obama raked in millions for the Democratic National Committee during a stop here Thursday, but the real prize is an unprecedented endorsement from two of the most influential ambassadors to a critical Florida voting bloc.

Obama’s appearance Thursday on the elite Star Island makes him the first politician — Democrat or Republican — to tap into this Miami money machine, as he headlined a fundraiser at the waterfront home of Cuban-born singer Gloria Estefan and her producer husband, Emilio.

The Estefans have had the ear of presidents for decades. They’ve talked U.S.-Cuba relations with both Republican and Democratic administrations. But despite open invitations from both sides of the aisle, the couple has never before raised money for either political party.

Their decision to do so for Obama is a sign of how fluid the politics of South Florida’s traditionally Republican Cuban-American voters has become.

The artist, exiled from Cuba, spoke about the fear generated by the climate of tension in the country that welcomed her, especially due to the immigration policy of the Donald Trump administration, which targets and deports individuals who entered the United States, even through legal channels.

What is Gloria Estefan's opinion on the immigration policy in the U.S.?
Gloria Estefan criticizes the immigration policy promoted by the Donald Trump administration for targeting and deporting immigrants, even those who entered through legal avenues. She points out that these practices reflect a loss of humanity and an inadequate treatment of immigrants in the United States.

Asked about the leadership from U.S. President Trump’s administration and his handling of the pandemic so far, Estefan said the country needed inspiration from the top and a “mask mandate.”

“I think we’ve suffered from a serious lack of leadership. I think that at the beginning, the prudent thing would have been to listen to the task force that was really expressing that the best way we could protect everyone was to have a mask mandate,” she said.

“I don’t recognize my country anymore,” Estefan said. “Never in the sixty-five years that I’ve been here… I lived through desegregation [and saw] the horrors that African Americans experienced during that time, trying to stand up with Martin Luther King. I lived through that, saw it.” She added, “I was a child, but I saw everything. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“It really scares me,” she said, referring to recent political developments. “It also scares me when the division of government, the three branches of government, are ignored. When suddenly a law is passed, and it’s not enforced. It makes me feel like… remember that I came from Cuba.”

Her reference to her upbringing under a dictatorship is intentional. Estefan emphasized the fragility of freedom in the U.S., pointing out how quickly democratic institutions can erode when power goes unchecked. “Freedom must be defended,” she said. “People in this country don’t realize how fragile it is. I hope that’s not the case. I pray that I’m wrong… but we have to be careful because that’s not what history shows us.”

“I’m scared by what I’m seeing,” she said. “I hope the courts in this country uphold the law… The three branches of government have equal power.” And if anyone thinks this doesn’t affect them, Estefan disagrees. “They are not criminals,” she said of many migrants who have lived in the US for decades. “They are people who have been here for decades, contributing to the country with their children who were born here.”

In the fall of 2011, Estefan expressed her views on gay rights and gay marriage and said that she was a strong supporter of both. She said: "I think everyone should be able to marry who they love, and it should just be." Estefan also recorded a video for the It Gets Better campaign.