ABSTRACT
Background and Introduction Half a century ago, the only thing people associated with Miami was winter tourism. Now, however, Miami is known by such names as ‘Capital of Latin America’, ‘Gateway to the Americas’, or ‘Havana, USA’, referring both to its important role in trade with Latin America and its dominant population group, Cuban immigrants. Many people attribute Miami’s rapid development-from a provincial Anglo city to a city that plays an important role in international trade and resembles Latin American cities-to the entrepreneurial Cuban immigrants. However, it is not only the Cuban immigrants who profoundly transformed the city, but also changes in the economic and political contexts at the national and local levels, as well as the actions of other immigrant groups.
