Maca Casado is a key figure in the team of Latinos running Joe Biden's campaign. She works along the head of the team: Julie Chávez Rodriguez, granddaughter of the historic Mexican union leader César Chávez, who was a strategist of Washington's unprecedented attention to the Latino vote. Casado was born in Cumaná, northeastern Venezuela, and came to the United States in 2014. As a Hispanic press intern, she joined an organization that supported Hillary Clinton's candidacy against Donald Trump.

After that unexpected defeat, she served in the 2020 presidential elections as Democratic press secretary in South Florida. From that moment on, she focused on promotion ads in Spanish, English and Spanglish, segmented for the 63 million Latinos living in the US. Now she is the Director of Hispanic Media in the re-election bid of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The official campaign is carrying out an unprecedented deployment focused on the first minority of voters in the country, a universe that Casado knows firsthand. That is why this young Venezuelan promises no to repeat errors, biases and condescension of the past in electoral communication. During her visit to Florida with Rodríguez Chávez, Casado spoke exclusively with LPO.

The latest New York Times/Siena poll showed a decline in Latino support for Biden, to the detriment of Donald Trump. What do you think of that trend?

One year after the vote, and in a year without elections like this one, the result of the survey is very relative. Second, this particular poll, the New York Times poll, at the time predicted a very similar result for President Barak Obama. And another very similar one for President Bill Clinton. And very close to the presidential race, it pointed out that President Obama was "fried", i.e., knocked out. In other words, it predicted that what ended up happening was not going to happen. That's why it is important to contextualize a little bit the moment of the conflict we are in and know that is what the campaign is for.

Exclusivo: La campaña de Biden hace una inversión sin precedentes en busca del voto latino

How are you working on that?

Right now we are working precisely for that: communication with Latinos. With the campaign director, Julie Chávez Rodríguez, we came to the state of Florida precisely for that, to bring message that we are going to fight and we know that it will not be easy.

LPOEnrique Tubio

The poll also showed that a majority of voters support building a wall with Mexico. What is your vision on this matter?

These extremists and very anti-immigrant visions correspond closely with the Republican MAGA (Make America Great Again) agenda. And I think that vision is going to be decisively rejected at the time of the election. When voters vote, they consider many things. And a year ahead is not the time to make a prediction. That's why I say that these people and this extremist anti-immigration position, which is hurting Latinos throughout the country and especially in Florida, at the time of the election, are going to be resoundingly rejected.

The extremists and very anti-immigrant visions correspond closely with the Republican MAGA (Make America Great Again) agenda. And I think that vision is going to be decisively rejected at the time of the election.

During his time in Miami-Dade County, Donald Trump sought to consolidate his hegemony over Cuban-Americans. How do you explain the support for Trump among those voters?

His support for the Cuban people is based on words and no action. Trump says that he supports the Cubans and their "freedom", but his actions closely resemble those of the socialist dictators whose regime many Hispanics fled. He attacks democracy, takes away liberties and uses his power to line the pockets of the richest at the expense of working people. During his presidency, there were constant efforts to repeal Obamacare, even though Hialeah, a city with a large Cuban population, has the second highest enrollment rate per person in the entire country. Trump and MAGA Republicans' crusade to ban abortion is too extreme and Latinos overwhelmingly oppose it. And his supposed pushes for more economic opportunity never materialized, only thanks to President Biden's investments in Hispanic-owned small businesses. Trump can talk about socialism all he wants, but he is the only candidate in this race who has praised Putin, called Kim Jong Un "brilliant" and legitimized Latin American dictators.

LPOEnrique Tubio

Do you perceive differences between Trump and the other five Republican candidates in the race?

They are all the same. They all promote that extremist MAGA agenda that derives from Donald Trump's management and that has been implemented here in Florida, hurting Latinos so much.

"El Partido Republicano sí invirtió en el electorado latino pero le mintió, porque no le dio poder político"

Is the vote moving towards an even head-to-head between Biden and Trump?

We are ready for whatever comes.

Extreme right-wing leaders are no longer an accident in the world. Why do you think they emerge and grow?

I can refer to American politics and I think that, as in 2020, this right-wing extremism is going to be rejected in our country.

For 4 years we had a president who is a demagogue and an extremist. Democracy was under siege, and it's at stake in 2024. And that is direct responsibility of Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

How important is Biden's policy to have a greater economic and commercial presence in Latin America through initiatives such as the Alliance Partnership for Economic Prosperity, in the context of competition with China?

President Biden is once again exercising his leadership to protect democracy around the world. To support Ukraine, to confront these situations where democracy is at risk. And he does so by establishing and strengthening his partnership, his alliance and communication with countries that are extremely important for the US, within the competition against China, of course, especially Latin Americans.

LPOEnrique Tubio

Do you think the United States neglected that "neighborhood" for too long?

Once again, the president has made an effort to unite. NATO is a perfect example. He sought to unite us to confront dictators, to also combat poverty in some regions of the planet. He has reestablished the US leadership in the world after those 4 catastrophic years, in which millions of compliments were given to Putin. That has been a big part of the problem lately.

"Si los republicanos de Trump no ganan, van a probar otra vez un autogolpe, es básicamente lo que están diciendo"

Democratic instability and contested elections seemed to be a Latin American and other regions problem, but not an American one. What happened for that to change?

I think that is directly related to Donald Trump. For 4 years we had a president who is a demagogue and an extremist. Democracy was under siege, and it is at stake in 2024. And that is the direct resp

Translator: Bibiana Ruiz.