Background
Suarez, Xavier Louis was born on May 21, 1949 in Las Villas, Cuba.
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Xavier Louis Suarez
Edit Profilepolitician List of mayors of Miami
Xavier Louis Suarez, Cuban, American lawyer, former mayor. Bar: Florida 1975. Chairman Miami Affirmative Action Board, 1981, Downtown Development Authority, since 1985; chairman board regents Catholic University, 1988-1989; board advisors Harvard University Kennedy School Government Institute Politics, Cambridge, Massachusetts, St. Thomas University School Law. Member Florida Bar Association, Cuban Bar Association.
Education
Suárez attended the Colegio de Belén but graduated from Saint Anselm"s Abbey School in 1967, earned a degree in engineering from Villanova University in 1971, and later studied government and law at Harvard University.
Career
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 Ferré. Suárez was first elected Mayor in 1985. He was re-elected in 1987 and again in 1989 for a four-year term.
Suarez was highly regarded as Mayor of Miami.
He was also given the name "pothole Mayor" for his attention to City neighborhoods. In 1993 Suarez got the Latin Builder"s Association to donate $150,000 to rebuild the only Catholic elementary school in Overtown.
He decided not to run again in 1993 in order to spend more time with his family. He returned to practice law in Miami before he decided to run again in November 1997 and was re-elected.
The judge presiding over the case decided to throw out all absentee ballots after it was revealed that many of the ballots had been cast by dead voters, felons, and others who were ineligible to vote.
This change forced Suárez to resign, and Carollo became mayor. During his time as Mayor, Suárez also received attention for refusing to greet South African President Nelson Mandela during his 1990 tour of the United States which included a stop in Miami. He was the 9th child and 2nd son of 14 children of Manuel Suárez-Carreno, the first Dean of the School of Engineering at the Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva (Street Thomas of Villanova Catholic University), and Eloisa Gaston.
Achievements
Politics
Suárez was in disagreement with Mandela"s comments where he referred to Cuban President Fidel Castro as a "comrade in arms" due to Castro"s support for the African National Congress.
Membership
Chairman Miami Affirmative Action Board, 1981, Downtown Development Authority, since 1985. Chairman board regents Catholic University, 1988-1989. Board advisors Harvard University Kennedy School Government Institute Politics, Cambridge, Massachusetts, St. Thomas University School Law.
Member Florida Bar Association, Cuban Bar Association.
Connections
Married Rita Suarez; 4 children.
