Fla. Mayor Reelected Despite Elian Fracas
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MIAMI — Miami’s county mayor, a popular politician who ran afoul of U.S. authorities and local public opinion during the Elian Gonzalez fracas, rode strong Cuban American support to reelection, final results showed Wednesday.
Alex Penelas, 38, himself a Cuban American, won just over 51% of the vote in a 10-person race for mayor of Miami-Dade County and its 2 million people.
Penelas, who once had national political aspirations, was widely criticized for exacerbating tensions in Miami when on March 29 he accused the U.S. government of provoking unrest by insisting that Elian’s Miami relatives hand the Cuban castaway over to his father.
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