Xavier Suarez

Xavier L. Suarez (b 1948 in Cuba) was the first Cuban-born mayor of the City of Miami, Florida.

Suarez attended the Colegio de Belen [The International Jesuit Alumni Directory - Belen (Forum Press Inc., 1994) page 305] [The International Jesuit Alumni Directory - Belen (Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company, Inc., 2004) page 251] but graduated from St. Anselm's Abbey School [ Fisher, Marc. "NE School's Old Order: St. Anselm's Offers Academic Toughness." Washington Post, 6 December 1986, page A1.] in 1967, earned a degree in engineering from Villanova University in 1971, and later studied government and law at Harvard University. He later returned to Miami and built his support in the city's Cuban community, and was sworn in as mayor on November 13, 1985, replacing Puerto Rico-born Maurice Ferre in this office.

Suarez's first term as mayor ended in 1993 and he returned to practice law in Miami before he ran a second time in November 1997.

Suarez also fired three city managers in 40 days and ordered the mass firing of 70 city officials. The latter measure he was forced to rescind after the state’s attorney concluded that he had overstepped his authority. [http://governing.com/view/vu050400.htm] He was criticized when he declared October 7, 1990 "Yahweh ben Yahweh Day" a few weeks before this religious leader was found guilty of fourteen murders, extortion, and running a racketeering enterprise. [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/classics/yahweh_cult/13.html] Suarez was removed from office in March 1998 when a court ruled that there was absentee ballot fraud in an election against Joe Carollo, resulting in the jailing of the city commissioner and thirteen staff members. Later elected to the Executive Committee of the Miami-Dade Republican Party, Suarez has admitted to "handling" absentee ballot forms in the 2000 presidential election. [http://www.campaignwatch.org/semdtl.htm]

Family

He was the 9th child and 2nd son of 14 children of Manuel Suarez-Carreno, the first Dean of the School of Engineering at the Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva ("St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic University"), and Eloisa Gaston. He is married to Rita and they have four children, Francis Xavier, Olla Marie, Anna Teresita, and Olga Suarez. [The International Jesuit Alumni Directory - Belen (Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company, Inc., 2004) page 251]

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