Navigation Caba Advocates for New Miami Courthouse to Honor Civil Rights Pioneer Osvaldo Soto
The Cuban American Bar Association, among others, recently submitted a formal request to all members of the Miami-Dade County Commission and Mayor Levine Cava, seeking their consideration to name the new Miami-Dade courthouse in honor of Osvaldo Soto.
“Throughout his life, Mr. Soto was a trailblazing attorney, civil rights advocate and lifelong defender of equality and justice for the Hispanic and minority communities in South Florida,” said Javier A. Ley-Soto, CABA president. “His name would serve as a meaningful tribute to our community’s past and a beacon for its future.”
According to CABA, Soto’s personal experiences as a Cuban exile “gave him a profound understanding of the struggles that immigrants faced in a new land. It was this deep empathy that fueled his relentless fight for civil rights in South Florida. After participating in the Bay of Pigs Invasion as a member of the Assault Brigade 2506, and subsequently through his involvement in CABA, and as president of the Spanish American League Against Discrimination (SALAD), which he co-founded, Mr. Soto focused his life’s work on combating discrimination based on race and ethnicity. His advocacy also extended to legislative battles, most notably his role in overturning the divisive English-Only ordinance passed in 1980.”
