The knownCuban-American political consultant Sasha Tirador sued the influencer Alexander Otaola, Miami-Dade mayoral candidate, for acts of defamation that caused damage to his professional efforts of more than $50 thousand dollars.
Thefour page lawsuit It was filed in a Miami Dade circuit court and is based on statements issued by Otaola in his program “Hola Ota-Ola” on March 29 and April 5, 2022.
According to the document obtained byCyberCuba, on those dates Otaola made “false, meritless and malicious” statements that were seen by thousands of people through his program.
“The statements made by the defendant misleadingly linked the plaintiff with the Cuban communist government,” indicates the text, which indicates that Otaola's intention was to harm the consulting firm's political businesses and damage its reputation.
As a result of the defamatory expressions, Tirador “has been exposed to actions of hate, embarrassment, humiliation, public shame, outrage, mental anguish and loss of reputation,” the lawsuit states.
Among the statements related by the plaintiff are phrases such as “this woman [Tirador] has published in her program everything that the Cuban Revolution says,” “she repeats the information of the Cuban Revolution, that is, she is the voice of Security.” of the State” and “[she] opened a company that has the same address and everything with a guy who has contact with the Cuban government.”
According to Tirador, Otaola was previously offered options to recant committing libel and thus avoid legal litigation, but he rejected them.
“The defendant's defamatory statements are the direct and main cause of the damages suffered by Tirador,” the document concludes.
The lawsuit was filed this Thursday by the lawyerRick L. Yabor, Tirador's legal representative, and a judge has not yet been appointed for the case.
“I am not going to allow a recycled Fidelista to tarnish the name of my family, including that of my grandfather, who is a veteran of the Bay of Pigs,” said Tirador when contacted byCyberCuba this Friday.
The shooter's grandfather,Gabriel Abay, integrated theAssault Brigade 2506 in the invasion that unsuccessfully sought to overthrow Fidel Castro's regime by force in April 1961.
The controversy between Otaola and Tirador has escalated through their respective programs on YouTube and social networks in recent months, especially after the influencer announced his candidacy for mayor of Miami-Dade.
"What Sasha Tirador is doing is yet another attempt to discredit my campaign... It is yet another tantrum from this menopausal lady in trying to attack my fundraising, in trying to take away my followers, something that neither she nor her acolytes have achieved" , Otaola said this Friday in response to the first reports about the lawsuit.
The influencer downplayed the lawsuit and stated: "I am not wasting a minute of my time nor am I going to divert a second of my focus."
"You are not going to be the person who is going to keep me awake, nor are you going to take a dollar from my account," he commented. "This has just begun... See you in court."
Otaola, who immigrated to the United States through the Visa Lottery program in 2003,filed his candidacy for mayor of Miami-Dade last April and intends to unseat the incumbentDaniella Levine-Cava in the 2024 elections, reinforcing his campaign with a "hard line" proposal against the Cuban regime.
Last Tuesdayled a rally for Donald Trump in front of the federal court in Miami to protest the indictment of the former president, which he describes as an outrage.
Tirador, 49, has developed a long career as an advisor and campaign strategist for judges, mayors, elected officials and congressmen in South Florida for more than two decades, and is a regular voice in the media as an analyst. and commentator on local political elections.
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