The racist group chat scandal tied to Republican student political circles at Florida International University did not materialize overnight, out of thin air. It grew from something. Over time. It was nurtured by an environment that not only tolerated this kind of hate speech, but secretly and subtly encouraged it.
Sure, people are falling all over themselves now to denounce the statements posted on an FIU College Republicans message group and leaked to Javier Manjarres of The Floridian, who published them earlier this month. But are we to believe that this happened in a vacuum? Several Republican electeds spoke to the same group during a series of civic speeches at the school. One of the main participants has been tied to Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago and two of the four commissioners.
Now, a 31-minute video found online raises new questions about the role Lago may have had in shaping these young minds.
The video shows the Gables mayor speaking on campus late last year, in what appears to be a conversation with students about politics, leadership and, yes, ideology. During the talk, Lago leans heavily into themes of Catholic identity, patriotism and grievance politics, warning students about what he portrays as a left-wing agenda targeting traditional values and neighborhoods.
At one point he complains that the political left wants to “tax white neighborhoods more.”
Read related: Coral Gables tied to scandalous, hateful, racist, antisemitic FIU chat group
Front and center in the audience: Dariel Gonzalez, one of the student participants in the racist group chat that first included a 
slur to disabled people and was later changed to “Gooning in Agartha,” a vague Heinrich Himmler reference that only Hitler fans would know and what Gonzalez himself called “Nazi heaven.” Also, “gooning” is a slang term for prolonged masturbation with delayed gratification. So basically, the name of the group was “intensely masturbating in Nazi heaven.”
The scandal has rocked not only the FIU community, but wider political circles. Many electeds from both sides of the aisle, from municipal mayors and commissioners to state reps and senators, have denounced the language and attitude in the group chat. Even those who have been guests to the group. Are these just performative statements because they got caught in proximity?
State Rep. Juan Carlos Porras — who was also one of the guest speakers during last year’s Civic Engagement Series put on by the FIU GOP — issued a statement where he called for the immediate resignation of Miami-Dade Republican Party Secretary Abel Alejandro Carvajal, who created the group chat and seemed to participate in the name-calling.
“Hatred toward Jewish Americans, racist rhetoric, calls for violence, all these ideas have no place in our party, our state or our country,” said Porras, who championed the renaming of a portion of Southwest 107th Avenue in front of FIU as Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue. And of course, he had to use the opportunity to slap the Democrats a little.
“This is the difference between our party and the modern Democratic Party,” he posted. “Republicans police our own. We hold our leaders to a higher standard because the voters who trust us deserve nothing less.”
But c’mon. Porras was either complicit in November when he went to speak before the group or he is so dense he can’t see and smell outright incel racist rage when he’s stuck in a room full of it. Ladra wishes there was a video of that conversation.
Remember, this is the same Miami-Dade GOP that had been infiltrated by members of the Proud Boys just a few years ago. Back then, Republican leaders swore it wasn’t a big deal.
Read related: Miami GOP’s recurring bigotry problem raises ugly head in FIU group chat
The video of Gables Mayor Vince Lago at his civic series event is from Nov. 3. So, it is about 20 weeks old. Ladra is surprised it hasn’t been scrubbed yet. Maybe the new Jewish female president of the FIU College Republicans administers the site and thought it should be preserved.
What’s striking about the video isn’t just who’s in the room — which is Lago, Gonzalez and literally six other people. Siete gatos. So lame. How embarrassing for him.
No, what’s striking is the tone.
He compared “ultra-Democrat” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and told 
the students that the then-upcoming election in Miami was important because it would pit a Democrat against a Republican in the runoff. “What I believe that Democrats are trying to do to us as a country is divide and conquer,” he tells them.
In the highly self-aggrandizing speech, L’Ego patted his own back for being a successful businessman and also claimed to invent “open door Fridays,” which have been his office hours for years.
But the remark about the left wanting “to tax white neighborhoods more” was delivered as part of a broader critique of progressive policies and should draw attention and scrutiny in light of the group chat scandal, which includes many reiterations of the N-word and some awful suggestions of violence toward Black people. Lago’s speech echoes the kind of identity-based grievance politics that has increasingly defined parts of the national conservative movement. Ala Andrew Tate.
Ladra would say it veers uncomfortably close to the language associated with white Christian nationalist rhetoric, where religion, patriotism and demographic anxiety get blended together into a single political narrative.
Either way, it’s not the kind of talk many residents expect from the mayor of Coral Gables, even though parts of it are sort of a reflection of the political culture inside Coral Gables itself, where Lago has been known to treat women with disrespect.
In particular, the public mistreatment of Commmissioner Melissa Castro, who has frequently clashed with Lago and his allies on the dais. Those debates have often gone beyond policy disagreements, critics say, morphing into ridicule and efforts to portray 
Castro as illegitimate or hostile to the city’s interests. His holiday message to residents included a graphic of Castro with overly-exaggerated curves in tight clothing singing “Santa Baby,” which everybody knows has sexual connotations.
His community defenders — anonymous trolls online and a very poorly written desperate-for-attention anonymous Substack author that seems to be another incel — also attack Castro with inappropriate almost pornographic images and content that debases her as a woman. And nobody — not even Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson — puts a stop to it.
Read related: Mayor Obsession: Vince Lago takes his Melissa Castro fixation to Tallahassee
The bigger story, though, may be the network surrounding the group chat and the FIU speech and tying it all together into a political ecosystem.
The video places Lago in the same political space as Gonzalez and other young activists tied to the FIU student political scene — a world where campaign operatives, political families and local officials frequently overlap with student politics. The lines between student activism, campaign politics and local government networks can get blurry. Very blurry.
Dariel Gonzalez was reportedly volunteering or working for Lago, Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara at early voting sites last year. Social media posts confirm he was there to support them, though he wasn’t wearing a campaign t-shirt, probably 
because, as New Times noted in an article, he wants to be an extra in the next Great Gatsby film. Gonzalez wears the same costume pretty much everywhere, even to a Coral Gables museum gala where he sat at the mayor’s table.
Lago brushes it all off as an inconsequential connection, but in the video from FIU, the mayor is mentoring these young racists and misogynistic anti-semites. Ladra can’t help but wonder if that’s the political culture at Coral Gables City Hall, too.
Which brings the story back to the FIU chat scandal.
The messages that shocked many readers with their racism, antisemitism and misogyny did not appear in a vacuum. Young political activists tend to absorb the cues of the political culture around them — how leaders speak, how opponents are treated, and what kind of rhetoric earns applause. They’re taking those cues not just from Donald Trump. But from local leaders like Lago they can actually touch.
Read related: Miami-Dade GOP to vote on removal of secretary in racist FIU group chat
When humiliation and grievance become common political currency, escalation isn’t far behind.
That doesn’t mean Lago wrote any of the messages in the group chat. No one has suggested he did. But leadership shapes environments long before scandals expose them.
And the resurfaced FIU video is a reminder that the culture surrounding the chat — the rhetoric, the networks, the overlapping relationships — has been developing in plain sight for a while.
Sometimes, all it takes is a scandal for people to start watching more closely.
This kind of independent, government watchdog reporting is crucial to transparency and democracy. And more so every day. Help shine a light on the darker corners of our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
A political ecosystem behind the racist, antisemitic, misogynistic FIU group chat added by Ladra on
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Seriously, do we have a single politician in this country that isn’t in on the scheme of defrauding their so called constituents, just one, anyone…? Yeah I didn’t think so. Pathetic
Ladra, imagine if you were in on it, you might own a newspaper like the herald by now or a “news” station like local10 perhaps…, too bad and I’m sorry you chose honesty like the rest of us fools. A mi manera. Happy Lent people
Poor Tom Wells keeps complaining. So sad. Clearly he’s still bitter he lost to a newcomer with zero previous experience. Goes to show how bad of a candidate Wells was. That Lara who no one knew before the election was able to beat him. Pobrecito. Lago promised to reverse the salary increases. He did it. He promised to bring back Peter Iglesias the experienced city manager. He did that. He promised to change election dates. Now the residents will vote on it. And lastly he promised to bring an independent inspector general. Also voting on that. Poor loser Wells has to rely on endless lies and misinformation so sad. Thank goodness he lost. Hope he can get over his Lago Derangement Syndrome.
Which of the 4 promises made by Mayor Lago did he keep? NONE. And that is why he wants to move elections to November and eliminate runoff elections – real estate developer money contributed to his political campaign will allow him to attack others (like what you are doing) to divert attention from his broken promises during a crowded election period. Mayor Lago needs to drown out informed voters with uninformed voters hearing his rant about Commission pay raises that have been eliminated (and he never provided anything showing the charitable contribution of his raise). I wish that he would be a better leader and address the misogynistic (see comments about Castro), racist and antisemitic comments made in Coral Gables instead of spending $1M of our money on art for a parking garage that costs $70M. Your opinion may be different because Mayor Lago is enabling the horrible conduct in Ladra’s story – or you could be posting anonymously at Mayor Lago’s direction!
Always nice to see failed politician Tom Wells blabbing. His endless complaining about Mayor Lago is very telling. No wonder he lost. Poor guy has Lago Derangement Syndrome.
Alfredo,
You really fell for the Charlie Kirk talk too huh? Last I checked his wife keeps talking about how white nationalists are being discriminated against and cashing checks. Feminism, for any father with a daughter in this world was discouraged, which means what? She needs to stand down and take orders? Please !!!! He was a closet racist and right wing lunatic guised as a god sent angel.
For example, along with others on the Christian right, Kirk publicly and vehemently challenged the place and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr, a hugely honoured figure in the US. In 2024, he chose the week in which the US celebrates a national holiday in honour of the murdered civil rights leader to label King “a serial adulterer, an alleged rapist, a reparations proponent, and a race Marxist”.
Nobody asked for anything Charlie, he was forced down our throats and not anything to run and tell your kids about. Let’s get real.
https://theconversation.com/charlie-kirk-why-the-battle-over-his-legacy-will-divide-even-his-most-ardent-admirers-265116
Richard, it’s in honor of his message not his ethnicity or color. With your thinking why would a Martin Luther King memorial be in any University that has 70% of non black students. Or a Jose Martí bust in Central Park?
The Cuban American population in Miami has some real soul searching to do, I think. This is a sad, pathetic situation that the most privileged US immigrants of all time need to seriously grapple with.
Dear Ladra, I know deflection is a trademark of the left, I never said chat groups of which I’m sure there are many. I said socialist professors are Indoctrinating our youth into everything that goes against our traditional values, it’s very prevalent in their teachings and trying to mold them into radical leftists.
Alfredo, again, please provide examples of the “abhorrent rhetoric” in the “socialist” teachings that are “indoctrinating our youth.” Otherwise, you are just screaming at windmills. Like you know who.
Thank you,
Ladra
In Coral Gables, Mayor Lago and his 2-controlled Commissioners (Anderson and Lara) ran on (i) being more civil, (ii) reducing property taxes, (iii) reducing over-development and (iv) using an independent search committee to select a City Manager. Under Lago’s control, (A) civility and decorum have declined as Lago rehashes his past personal grievances (like the 2020 Presidential election), (B) property taxes have increased, (C) incompatible over-development has increased (e.g., a zoning variance given to a major Lago campaign contributor with a 9-story, 193 unit & 340 parking space development next to the Coral Gables Woman’s Club destroying the Garden of our Lord) and (D) a former City Manager was hired and is being paid more than any previous employee of Coral Gables without any search but who is friends with Lago. Elected officials should set a positive example for others to follow. Politicians are using ad hominin attacks and labels (left-wing liberals, RINOs or radical right anarchists) to divide our community and divert attention from their bad decisions to stay in power. We need to do a better job of being informed and engaged and vote to elect people with positive attributes – not just good politicians. And for Coral Gables elected officials, start by reviewing how the word “colored” was used on the Coral Gables WhatsApp Chat on which Dariel Gonzalez was a participant.
Great reporting Ladra. Thanks for the good work. And I love your thoughtful responses to some of the comments posted on this article.
Why all the hoolabaloo over a republican group spouting racist crap? I am a pretty old man and have been hearing Republicans.Talk like that since I was in high school in the nineteen sixties.
President Johnson’s civil rights legislation chased most racists away from the Democratic Party into the Republican party during my high school years.
I am surprised that anybody surprised about this racism talk within the g o p.
Pretty cool, that Hispanics somehow think they would not get gassed by the Fuhrer personally… never thought that the Third Reich and there Aryan dreams on blonde, blue eyes, standing about 6 ft and above included us brown skinned Hispanics.. hate is contagious and obviously these “cafecito” bros think they belong to something that never invited them and actually despises them.. brown power !!! Lmao
Ladra, you are absolutely on track with the disgraceful conduct of Vince Lago and his other two commissioner/cronies.
His misogynist treatment of Melissa Castro should be an embarrassment to his wife and daughters, but he’s too thick-headed and self-absorbed to realize that.
Lago, Lara and Anderson were fully onboard with racist/anti-semite/misogynist/Nazi admirer Dariel Gonzalez when he was holding their campaign signs, but now…no one had anything to do with him, ever! No, not them.
All those photos must be AI?
And Lago has invented everything from open office hours to sliced bread. He’s run a huge company (which never belonged to him) and he’s made Coral Gables the city it is today. (Well, that part is true, unfortunately.) Coral Gables is unrecognizable, but he didn’t do that alone…Rhonda Anderson (help me Rhonda) helped him take it down the path of destruction, and Lara is now carrying the gauntlet along side them.
Ladra, great reporting about what used to be a progressive public educational institution.
It seems that the new DeSantis-Nunez University is a lost cause.
There goes the neighborhood.
Dear Ladra; the abhorrent socialist teachings have led to violence against the Jewish people in defense of terrorists , they have cheered on violence against law enforcement going as far as permitting walk outs. Your leftist friends are the ones that continually get violent against conservatives. Why is mental Illness more prevalent among liberals is the real question. ( all studies show that mental Illness is far higher among liberals )
Alfredo, you DO know that these Republican racists at FIU were also sending anti-semitic messages, right?
Also, again, please show me the group chats or academic materials from “socialist teachings” that have led to or “cheered on” violence — and, no, a walk-out is not violent, so that can’t count.
I don’t have a group of leftist friends and I haven’t seen anyone from the left get violent with conservatives. I did see a bunch Republicans and Proud Boys, including former Miami-Dade Commissioner Kevin Cabrera, practically knock an office door down at former Congresswoman Donna Shalala’s office and I saw lots of footage of the Jan. 6 rioters who were threatening to hang Mike Pence. And remember Kyle Rittenhouse, the conservative incel who shot three people, killing two, at a demonstration in Wisconsin? Can you please send me links of the violent leftists?
Also, the higher rate of mental illness is because of skyrocketing anxiety and depression, which is totally understandable considering the current state of affairs. Plus, liberals are more likely to admit it and seek help. (That’s the first step).
Love, Ladra
The obese pig who runs this page should know that Agartha is a meme. Sad how out of touch she is
Hi anonymous hater. I did google it. This is what comes up: “The Agartha meme is a resurged internet phenomenon based on a conspiracy theory regarding a hidden, lost Aryan civilization, often linked to Nazi occultism. Despite its humorous or surreal presentation in some online spaces, the meme often stems from, and is used to spread, racist and antisemitic narratives originating from far-right or neo-Nazi communities, as noted by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.”
Point taken.
Love, Ladra
Oh no heaven forbid local politicians talk to young people. How dare Mayor Lago take time out of his day to talk to students! Shameful!
How refreshing is it to see a bunch of “white” people arguing to see who’s the racist of them all, particularly over a word that Chris Rock himself has addressed and Will Smith proved him right for it…”African Americans” (or is it blacks?) use that very word regularly and no one seems to complain about it, perhaps it’s because they’re afraid? I think it was more about the context around violence in which it was used that’s the problem? Also, Ladra are you saying you’re in support of Mamdani and that “richer and whiter” neighborhoods should be taxed more, and which neighborhoods are those, Gables Estates, Key Biscayne, Bal Harbour, Gables by the Sea, Cocoplum, or do you only talk the “talk?” Por si las moscas… How about democrats refusing to fund Department of Homeland Security, are you also in favor of such, and support Schumer? Make a stand…
In the video you shared, Mayor Lago says he ‘built a huge construction company’. What company is that? Is it BDI construction that he used to work for? BDI started 35 years ago, so that means he started it before he was 10? Is there another huge construction company owned by him but not on sunbiz?
The campaign of Mayor Mamdani in NYC did propose that white neighborhoods be taxed at higher rates!
Ed, honey, what Mayor Mamdani specifically said was “richer and whiter neighborhoods.” There is a distinction with the “er” and the word richer is there because most rich neighborhoods are “whiter”. He did not mean to tax white people more. And in the context of the racist FIU group chat, this kind of rhetoric, and the distinction, is important.
Love, Ladra
It’s amazing how concerned you are about conservatives as you said “shaping minds” of the young students by advocating traditional values but you haven’t shown any concern about the liberal (socialist) professors indoctrinating our youth with abhorrent rhetoric. Universities need to simply teach the classes and stop trying to create socialism thinking in our youth.
Dear Alfredo, where are the “abhorrent” liberal (socialist) group chats calling for violence against minorities?
Love, Ladra
Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue? In front of a university that is, what, 70% Latino? Lol. Only in Miami!