Former President Donald J. Trump visited Little Havana in Miami on Tuesday immediately after his appearance, his latest attempt to present himself as a man persecuted by his political enemies.
It was a not-so-subtle attempt to curry favor with Latinos, in Florida and beyond.
The visit of Mr. Trump at the Versailles restaurant, an iconic landmark of the Cuban diaspora, came as Republicans have increasingly compared his indictment to corruption and political oppression in Latin American countries.
Outside the federal courthouse where the arrest took place in Miami, Alina Habba, a lawyer and spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, he suggested, was no different from political dissidents in Latin America.
“The targeting, the prosecution, of a major political opponent is the kind of thing you see in dictatorships like Cuba and Venezuela,” he said. “There it is common for rival candidates to be prosecuted, persecuted and imprisoned.”
The day before his appearance, Mr. Trump said he believed Hispanics in South Florida were sympathetic to him because they know governments targeting rivals.
“They really see it better than other people,” he said in an interview with Americano Media, a conservative Spanish-language channel in South Florida.
Mr. Trump has enjoyed relatively strong support in some Latino communities, particularly those in South Florida. Eduardo A. Gamarra, a professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University who is also part of its Cuban Research Institute, said the narrative woven by Mr. Trump and his surrogates, while fake, were shrewd.
“It’s reinforced by the local media, with a lot of what the Trump campaign and other Republicans are saying — that this administration, the Biden administration, is behaving like the banana republics are behaving, so that resonates very strongly here,” he said. “It’s great politics, but it’s not true.”
Mr. Gamarra, who was born in Bolivia, noted that Mr. Trump had also tried to win the support of Latino voters by criticizing socialism and communism. He lamented the way Mr. Trump and his allies had repeatedly mentioned Latin America.
“It’s a very unfortunate narrative,” he said. “I think it just spreads stereotypes about Latin America. It’s much more complex than just the banana republic image.”
Mr. Trump’s cameo at the restaurant was the latest for him and a long line of politicians that includes former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. In 2016, the restaurant they welcomed Mr. Trump and Rudolph W. Giuliani together after the first debate of Mr. Trump vs. Hillary Clinton.
Paloma Marcos, a native of Nicaragua who has been a U.S. citizen for 15 years, rushed to Versailles wearing a Trump hat and a sign that said, “I’m with Trump.”
She said many Nicaraguans like her had an affinity with the former president, because he is against communism. She added that people like her, as well as Cubans and Venezuelans, saw how that form of government destroyed their countries of origin.
“He knows we support him. The Latino community has had an awakening,” Ms. Marcos said. “The curtain has come back.”
The Rev. Yoelis Sanchez, pastor of a local church and a native of the Dominican Republic, said she did not hesitate when asked to go to the Versailles restaurant to pray with Mr. Trump. Several religious people, including evangelicals and Catholics, prayed with him as his daughter sang.
“We prayed that God would give him strength and that the truth would come out,” he said. “We are truly concerned for his well-being.”
Ms. Sanchez, who lives in Doral, Fla., which is part of Miami-Dade County and is where Mr. Trump owns a golf resort, was not yet a citizen in 2020. She has not said whether she plans to vote- the in 2024.
“I don’t think he came here just for the Latino vote,” he said. “He came because he wanted to meet with people who had a biblical mindset: it’s pro-life and pro-family and Latinos identify with that.”
Mr. Trump faces criminal charges related to mishandling classified documents and then obstructing the government’s attempts to retrieve them. A federal indictment of a former president is unprecedented in the United States, but many Latin American presidents have been prosecuted after leaving office.
the current president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, served more than a year in prison after first leaving office. Former Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was sentenced last year to six years for corruption. In Peru, Alejandro Toledo was recently extradited to face a bribery charge. Its former leader, Alberto Fujimori, is serving 25 years in prison.
Arnoldo Alemán of Nicaragua is one of the few former presidents who was arrested in a corruption case despite his own party being in power.
“This is something you see a lot in Latin America, especially in Peru and now in El Salvador,” said Mario García, a Versailles regular who was tickled to see Mr. Trump visit the restaurant. “But in these countries, they do it for a good reason: because presidents get caught stealing money.” Mr. Garcia said he believed the government was targeting Mr. Trump “because they have no other way to get him.”
Mr. Garcia said he did not think Mr. Trump came to Versailles to judge the Latin vote. “The votes here in Versailles are the ones he already has,” he said. “You need support. It’s nice to be surrounded by love when everyone is attacking you.”
Maggie Haberman and Nick Madigan contributed reporting.
