The Cubans who voted for Mamdani: The word socialism' is no longer so scary'

"Calzadilla-Palacio tried to explain that, within a community wary of the words socialism and communism, there exists a significant cohort that is not afraid of the proposals of a candidate demonized for being young, Muslim, and socialist. Growing up in a Cuban family, communism and socialism is something that is talked about a lot, because of the trauma caused by the Castros and their government, because of the elimination of basic freedoms of expression and democracy, says Calzadilla-Palacio."

"Calzadilla-Palacio recently visited Holguin, the city in eastern Cuba where his parents were born. He wanted to meet up with his grandparents and other relatives. Once there, he found that many Cubans were desperate to leave the country. He learned what it is like to live with four or five blackouts a day and sensed a sadness in people, probably for the same reasons that in 1992, during the so-called Special Period from 1991-2000, his parents emigrated to Spain, where he was born."

"Calzadilla-Palacio grew up in Miami, learning of the pain of exile firsthand, as well as the incalculable damage suffered by a community hammered by radical politics. At the age of 17, Calzadilla-Palacio wanted to play professional soccer and had little interest in politics. He in fact did play soccer in Europe, but during his senior year of high school, he heard a senator express a conviction that stuck with him: No one who works 40 hours"

Carlos Calzadilla-Palacio, a 28-year-old Cuban-American, rejected conflating democratic social-justice proposals with Cuban-style authoritarianism or Soviet-era practices. He described a Cuban community that often equates socialism and communism with past trauma inflicted by the Castros, including curtailed freedoms. A recent trip to Holguin revealed widespread desperation, frequent daily blackouts, and palpable sadness that echoed his parents' 1992 emigration during the Special Period to Spain. The family moved to Florida when he was six months old, and he grew up in Miami experiencing exile’s pain. He pursued soccer in Europe and encountered a political remark in his final high-school year that stayed with him.

Read at english.elpais.com