Yesterday, Governor Huckabee’s interview with Jorge Ramos aired on the program Al Punto, a Spanish-language Sunday morning news program, much like Meet the Press.  The interview was conducted in English, recorded at the Univisión Miami studio, then Spanish-language translations were dubbed over the original audio.  Huckabee was scheduled in between John McCain and Mitt Romney who appeared on the same program.  Originally, efforts were made to have Governor Huckabee appear on a Spanish-language morning news and variety program, much like the US mainstream media’s Today (MSNBC), Good Morning, America (ABC News), Fox & Friends, etc.  However, time constraints and the rapidly approaching primary precluded this.  The Sunday morning news format appearance, while it does allow for much greater depth, has an audience limited to “news junkies” - regardless of the language.   A morning news show appearance would have been much shorter, but it would have reached an entirely different audience.

Ramos, is an excellent journalist (biography) whose high standards reflect well on Spanish-language news reporting in the US.  A native of Mexico City, he pursued post-graduate studies at the University of Miami after immigrating to the United States.  He is also an accomplished, award winning author.  For almost 15 years, he’s been the principal newscaster for Noticiero Univisión.  He did his homework when it came to Governor Huckabee.  His first question was directed at the in-state tuition question.  (See our blog post on the same subject.)  Here’s a partial list of the books that he’s published.   Most interestingly, he released an “audiobook” in 2004 entitled: “The Latin Wave: How Hispanics will Choose the Next President of the United States.”  Perhaps he won’t be ignored by English-speaking media in the next election cycle!  His words, more than astute punditry, seem almost prophetic today.

Click here to watch the entire interview.

Governor Huckabee joins members of the Florida legislative leadership, including Speaker of the Florida House Marco Rubio, State Senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla, and State Representative David Rivera, and other members of the community for coffee at Little Havana’s well-known restaurant (link is to map), Versailles , located at 3555 SW 8th St., at 11:00am today.

Mike’s opponents may criticize him for “only” being a governor from “small Southern state,” but he is a “quick study.”  During his 10-years as governor, the Huckabee administration, from time-to-time sought export markets for Arkansas’ rice crop — including Castro’s Cuba.  (Let’s not forget that even Ronald Reagan wouldn’t use food and starvation as an instrument of foreign policy when dealing with North Korea.)  However, now that he is a presidential candidate, he has openly stated that his national responsibilities go far beyond agricultural trade and require his strong anti-Castro, anti-Chavez, anti-Communist positions that are crucial components of his overall national security policy.   He has sought out the advice of Cuban-American leaders which have had key roles in designing his Latin American foreign policy positions. 

¡Nos vemos en calle ocho!  See you on Calle Ocho (eighth street)!

*Blog editor: For our website visitors who are not familiar with Miami’s geography, Southwest Eighth Street runs east-west through the heart of what is commonly known as “Little Havana,” the center of the Cuban-American community.  Every March, large portions of Eighth Street are closed for the Calle Ocho Festival, an annual event.  The Versailles Restaurant has been a culinary and cultural landmark for decades