The Cuban-American lobby describes those various groups of Cuban exiles in the United States and their descendants who have historically influenced the United States' policy toward Cuba. In general usage this refers to anti-Castro groups.
Center for a Free Cuba
Cuba Democracy Caucus
Cuban American National Foundation
Cuban Liberty Council
US-Cuba Democracy PAC
MAR Por Cuba
Free Cuba Foundation
Seven Cuban Americans currently serve in the United States Congress, making them the 2nd most over-represented group in U.S Federal Government, second only to Jewish-Americans, this is yet another reason why Cubans are often described as the “Jews of the Caribbean”, They have had incredible success regardless of their small population size and low concentration outside of Florida. There have been seven Cuban-American U.S congressmen elected from Florida, two from New Jersey, and one from Texas. Cubans are overrepresented compared to other Latino groups. In Texas, where Mexican-Americans represent the near entirety of the Hispanic community, their first Hispanic-American Senator is Republican Ted Cruz, the Canadian-born son of a Cuban immigrant and an American mother.
Three United States Senators:
Marco Rubio, Republican, Florida, (2011–Present)
Bob Menendez, Democrat, New Jersey (2006–Present), Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 13th district (1993-2006)
Ted Cruz, Republican, Texas (2013–Present)
Five are United States Representatives:
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican, Florida's 27th congressional district (1989–Present), First Cuban-American & First Latina elected to Congress
Albio Sires, Democrat, New Jersey's 8th congressional district (2006–Present)
Mario Diaz-Balart, Republican, Florida's 25th congressional district (2003–Present)
Alex Mooney, Republican, West Virginia's 2nd congressional district (2015–Present)
Carlos Curbelo, Republican, Florida's 26th congressional district (2015–Present)
Former Congressmen:
Mario Diaz-Balart, Republican, Florida's 25th congressional district (2003–2014)
Mel Martínez, Republican, U.S Senator from Florida
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Republican, Miami, U.S House of Representatives(1993-2011)
David Rivera, Republican, Miami, U.S House of Representatives (2011-2013)
Joe Garcia, Democrat, Florida's 26th congressional district (2013–2015)
Cuban-Americans have had much success at the State-level. In Florida, where Cuban-American legislators hold more seats than anywhere else in the nation, pro-Democracy, anti-Castro, and anti-Chavez legislation is often promoted and passed even though states cannot dictate U.S Foreign Policy. However, it is done as a moral obligation to the oppressed people that suffer under the Communist regime their parents, grandparents, or they themselves had to flee from. Even in states where Cuban-Americans are not concentrated in large numbers they have had successes especially in New Jersey, where albeit a tiny minority concentrated in Union City, Elizabeth, and Newark, they have had enormous political successes.
Florida:
Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Republican, Lieutenant Governor of Florida, (2014–Present)
Anitere Flores, Republican, Member of the Florida Senate from the 37th district
Miguel Díaz de la Portilla, Republican, Member of the Florida Senate from the 40th district
René García, Republican, Member of the Florida Senate from the 38th district
José Félix Díaz, Republican, Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 116th district
Manny Díaz, Jr., Republican, Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 103rd district
Bryan Avila, Republican,Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 111th district
Jeanette Núñez, Republican, Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 119th district
Carlos Trujillo, Republican, Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 105th district
Erik Fresen, Republican, Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 114th district
Frank Artiles, Republican, Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 118th district
José R. Oliva, Republican, Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 110th district
Mike La Rosa, Republican, Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 42nd district
José Javier Rodríguez, Democrat, Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 112th district
New Jersey:
Vincent Prieto, Democrat, Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly (2014–Present), Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 32nd Legislative District (2004–Present)
Angelica Jimenez, Democrat, Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 32nd Legislative District (2012–Present)
Marlene Caride, Democrat, New Jersey
New York:
Nicole Malliotakis, Republican, Staten Island, Member of the New York General Assembly from the 64th district
Connecticut:
Art Linares, Republican, Westbrook, Member of the Connecticut State Senate from the 33rd district
Nevada:
Moises “Mo” Denis, Democrat, Member of the Nevada Senate from the 2nd district
Eduardo Aguirre (R) served as Vice Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States in the George W. Bush administration and later named Director of Immigration and Naturalization Services under the Department of Homeland Security. In 2006, Eduardo Aguirre was named US ambassador to Spain. Cuban Americans have also served other high-profile government jobs including White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu ®
Florida-based businessman and Cuban exile Elviro Sanchez made his multimillion-dollar fortune by investing the proceeds of his family's fruit plantations. He is one of the most low-profile philanthropists in the Southern States.
Cuban-Americans also serve in high-ranking judicial positions as well.
Jorge Labarga, Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court
Danny Boggs is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Raoul G. Cantero, III, served as a Florida Supreme Court justice until stepping down in 2008.
Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina, is currently an Associate Justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court
Eduardo Aguirre, former United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra [1]
Ana Carbonell, Chief of Staff for Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart
Adolfo A. Franco, former Assistant Administrator for United States Agency for International Development Latin America and the Caribbean [2] (U.S. Agency for International Development)
Emilio González, former United States Army colonel and former director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Service. [3]
Carlos Gutierrez, former Kellogg CEO and former United States Secretary of Commerce [4]
Nilda Pedrosa, Chief of Staff for Representative Mario Diaz-Balart and former Senior Policy Director for Senator Mel Martinez
Alberto Piedra, former United States Ambassador to Guatemala
Hugo Llorens, former United States Ambassador to Honduras
Mauricio Claver-Carone, Washington Director of the US-Cuba Democracy PAC, Capitol Hill Cubans Blog
Gus Machado, Treasurer of the US-Cuba Democracy PAC
Remedios Diaz Oliver, Prolific Republican (GOP) fundraiser
Otto Reich, former senior official in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. He held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs and US Special Envoy to the Western Hemisphere for the Secretary of State in the Bush administration.
Armando F. Valladares, former Cuban prisoner for twenty-two years, American ambassador to the Human Rights Commission of the UN in Geneva during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and author of the book-testimonial Contra toda esperanza (Against All Hope) about his life in Cuban jails.
Eugenio Llamera, President of La Federacion Mundial de ExPresos Politicos
Sylvia Iriondo, President of MAR por Cuba
John Suarez, Founder of Free Cuba Foundation
Politically active Cuban authors and academics
Frank Calzón, Executive Director of Center for a Free Cuba [5].
Antonio de la Cova, academic [6]
Carlos Eire, T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of History and Religious Studies at Yale University and author of Waiting for Snow in Havana
Andy García author, actor, producer, director
Rafael Román Martel poet, journalist
Ricardo Pau-Llosa, poet and pioneering critic and curator of modern Latin American art
Enrique Ros, prolific author on historical topics
Dr. Eduardo J. Padron, President, Miami Dade College, American Council on Education – Innovator of the Year, Children’s Hero Award, Hispanic Achievement Award in Education
Mirta Ojito,Pulitzer Prize Winner, Professor, Columbia University School of Journalism, Author, “Finding Mañana”, American Society of Newspaper Editors Award winning journalist
Gustavo Perez Firmat, Feinson Professor of Humanities, Columbia University, Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Award winning author and poet
Orlando Gutierrez Boronat, Former Professor of Political Science, Director of The Cuban Assembly of Resistance
Ninoska Pérez Castellón, prominent Cuban-American radio and television talk show host on Radio Mambi 710 AM
Lourdes D’Kendall, prominent Cuban-American radio talk show host on Radio Mambi 710 AM
Armando Perez-Roura, prominent Cuban-American radio talk show host, former director of Radio Mambi 710 AM, now on La Poderosa 670 AM
Martha Flores, prominent Cuban-American radio talk show host on Radio Mambi 710 AM
Tomas Garcia Fuste, prominent Cuban radio and television talk show host
Rey Anthony, third-generation Cuban-American radio talk show host on Actualidad Radio 1020/1040 AM
Lourdes Ubieta, prominent Venezuelan-born Cuban-American radio talk show host on Actualidad Radio 1020/1040 AM
Agustín Acosta, prominent Cuban-American radio talk show host on Actualidad Radio 1020/1040 AM
