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“A natural alliance has been formed among the new members of Congress whose families fled from socialism or communism to achieve the American dream,” Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, the daughter of Greek and Cuban immigrants, said in her Twitter account, highlighting the new alliance for freedom that exists in Congress: the anti-socialist squad made up of María Elvira Salazar, Nicole Malliotakis herself, Carlos A. Giménez and Victoria Spartz, all members of the Republican Party.
María Elvira Salazar, the award-winning journalist who is now in politics
After falling in the 2018 election in Florida’s 27th District, Maria Elvira Salazar returned to the fight in the 2020 general election against Democrat Donna Shalala. With the support of President Donald Trump, Maria Elvira took revenge and won the election that allowed her to reach the House of Representatives.
Salazar is a well-known journalist. She came face to face with the tyrant Fidel Castro, the dictator Augusto Pinochet and several historical figures in U.S. and Latin American politics: Bill Clinton, George Bush, Alvaro Uribe, among others. She worked for Telemundo for three decades after hosting Mega TV, and was also on the news staff of CNN en Español and Univision.
For the November 3 general election, the now-congresswoman used harsh anti-socialist rhetoric. That, coupled with her closeness to the Hispanic community in Florida, was key to breaking the predictions of pollsters that placed Shalala at the top. The Democratic blue stayed in the media and reality now marks a red Republican 27th District.
One fact that certainly had a lot of influence on the polls was the debate between Salazar and Shalala. “Socialism is hell and Mrs. Shalala declared herself a socialist,” she outlined against the Democrat, who tried to defend herself arguing that, in reality, she is a capitalist and that she had condemned socialist regimes like that of Nicolas Maduro. But that does not agree with what she herself affirmed, since she had previously declared herself a “pragmatic socialist”.
Salazar’s victory represents a breath of fresh air for those who defend the ideas of freedom and traditional American values. It was perhaps one of the congressional elections where the greatest ideological tensions existed. Shalala, located more to the progressive left, and Salazar to the principles of “conservative, Christian and common sense,” as she herself has stated.
Now her challenge is gigantic: to fight against socialism and the most radical ideas of the left, not from journalism, but from politics together with her comrades of the anti-socialist squad.
Nicole Malliotakis, the only Republican representing New York
Another member of this anti-socialist squad is Nicole Malliotakis. The daughter of Cuban and Greek immigrants, she is one of the first two Greek-American women elected to office in New York State. She is also called a Cuban American, even though her father is Greek.
In 2017 she was the Republican candidate to run for mayor in New York City, but the result was not the best and she was defeated by the Democrat —current mayor— Bill de Blasio.
But in 2020 the situation was different for Malliotakis. With her party’s support, she was the only Republican elected to represent New York City in Congress.
The Greek-American defeated Max Rose, turning New York’s 11th district from Democratic to Republican. In that sense, Malliotakis’ discursive strategy of “law and order” made a lot of sense, especially because in his district there is an unreproachable number of rescuers, firemen and police who saw how New York was subjected to “anti-racist” demonstrations that often ended in violence, looting and vandalism under Democratic inaction.
The congresswoman, in fact, had the support of the police union and Rose was blamed for not supporting the department enough.
In an interview for Radio Television Martí, the Cuban-American promised to target Ocasio-Cortez’s socialist message in Congress: “The important thing for New York City is that I will be an alternate voice to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has propagated socialism here in the city, and has gotten additional socialist seats in the New York City legislature and in Washington, and we have to be sure that we have an alternate perspective and that is what I represent,” argued the assemblywoman.
Carlos A. Giménez, the confirmation of the Republican growth in Miami-Dade
Carlos Giménez is a Cuban-American with a good political career behind him. He is a former mayor of Miami-Dade and this victory for a congressional seat, along with Maria Elvira’s victory, represents the growth of the Republican Party among Hispanics in Miami and the strengthening of the anti-socialist squad.
The Republican won by four percentage points over the Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a current representative from the 26th Congressional District, congresswoman of Ecuadorian origin who arrived at the Lower House after winning in 2018.
The support Giménez received from President Trump was key to his victory. Also of vital importance was the support of the Cuban community in Miami-Dade, the most populated county in all of Florida that historically was a Democratic stronghold, but in this general election had a significant reduction in votes between both parties. Hillary Clinton, for example, defeated Trump by a 30-point margin in 2016, with Joe Biden scoring a mere 7 percent.
Like journalist Elvira Salazar, Giménez is from a family that fled Castro’s tyranny, and his political positions are clearly against socialism. The Cuban-American mentioned to Diario Las Américas the danger of the radical stance being seen in Joe Biden’s party: “There are elements of the Democratic Party that are extremists, that even label themselves as socialists.
The night his victory was projected, the congressman mentioned that the district showed a “rejection of socialism and the demons of socialism and communism,” so it is presumed that he will be a strong ally of this anti-socialist squad in the U.S. Congress.
Victoria Spartz, a Ukrainian-American who succeeded in Indiana
The story of Victoria Spartz is probably the most exciting within the anti-socialist Republican squad. She is a professional farmer and businesswoman who struggles to reduce the size of the state, promotes traditional American values and grew up in Soviet Ukraine, so she knows, first hand, the tragic reality of countries where socialism is implemented.
Last Monday, during an interview on Fox News, the congresswoman in Indiana gave a master class not only warning of the danger of socialist ideas but also reminded us of what the United States is as a nation: “We have to value our freedoms because we are the largest republic that has ever existed.”
It is this sense of true patriotism on the part of an American of Ukrainian origin, mother of two American daughters, wife and worker, that will surely inspire many young people who today need to become proud to be Americans again.
Spartz is one of those people who know what it is like to live in a socialist country and find themselves forced to migrate or flee to other nations in search of new opportunities. That’s why her testimony in the House of Representatives will be a retaining wall for the socialist impulses that lie in Congress.
“I grew up in a socialist country, the Socialist Republic of Ukraine. I saw what happens when you run out of money and it’s not pretty,” Spartz told Fox News.
The congresswoman encouraged all Americans to “be good students of history,” because only in this way can one appreciate how socialism is an “unsustainable system” because where it was implemented it failed. Spartz added that “many young people died” in the fight against socialism.
“I took my children to the beaches of Normandy and you can see how many children died fighting for freedoms. How many wars were fought and won,” the GOP representative in Indiana outlined.
The anti-socialist squad, a necessary counterweight
The irruption of the most radical wing of the Democratic Party in the Congress, linked to progressivism and socialism, has caused the creation of a natural counterweight, a very important one and that, beyond being in the Republican Party, is on the side of freedom and traditional values of the United States of America.
Today the conservatives can celebrate, since a vital team was born to defend the American dream, a retaining wall against socialist barbarism: the anti-socialist squad.
Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón is a journalist at El American specializing in the areas of American politics and media analysis // Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón es periodista de El American especializado en las áreas de política americana y análisis de medios de comunicación.
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Thank you for spot-lighting these representatives! The left-wing ‘squad’ of reps has been impressing me with how well it seems to be connecting with the people — and therefore worrying me that so many Americans are becoming socialist hopefuls.
I am heartened by these four representatives that seem to have substantial support from their constituents and I am excited to follow their political careers. The Republican party needs politicians who can connect with the people (especially younger generations) to remind Americans that there is another (better) option to socialism and why it is actually more compassionate, fair, and likely to be successful. Hopefully these four are just the beginning of the great leaders we will see in our time.
Thank you El American for this article.