Donald Trump stated this Monday from the White House that a Cuban who arrived in the United States without resources ended up becoming the largest owner of gas stations in the country, referencing a friend of his as an example of the success achieved by the Cuban exile community.
The president presented that story while discussing Cuba, which he defined as a "failed nation," but also as "a beautiful island" with tourism potential and good land.
It was during that reflection that he began to speak about the Cubans who emigrated to the United States.
"I met so many people from Cuba who were treated poorly. They are here now and have become rich. They are very enterprising individuals. Very intelligent," he stated.
He went on to say that he knows many of those people, “especially” in Florida, and mentioned a friend who, he said, started “with nothing.”
Trump concluded that idea with the central phrase of the episode: “Now he is the largest owner of gas stations in the country.” He refers to the Cuban businessman Máximo Álvarez, founder of Sunshine Gasoline Distributors.
A story of emigration
Sunshine Gasoline Distributors opened its doors in 1987 and was founded by Álvarez, who arrived in Miami at the age of 13 through Operation Peter Pan.
The businessman had an active role in the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association, an organization where he was elected chairman of the board in 2000 and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2005.
Álvarez gained national prominence during the 2020 Republican National Convention when he delivered a speech in which he compared Cuban communism to what he perceived as socialist trends in the United States.
From then on, he consolidated greater visibility as a Cuban exile, businessman, and political activist.
The Cuban has publicly explained that he left Cuba on July 4, 1961, on the last cargo ship that departed from the port of Havana to West Palm Beach.
In an interview with Diario Las Américas, he shared that his original destination was not the United States, but Spain, where his older brother was waiting for him, enrolled in a Marist school in La Coruña.
However, on the very day he left Cuba, his brother had an accident and died, which led to the decision for the young man to stay in Miami.
Álvarez has said that he is always asked about how difficult it must have been to arrive in the United States as part of Operation Peter Pan, but he insists that the greater suffering was experienced by his parents, who on the same day lost one of their children and said goodbye to the other.
According to his testimony, that experience had a profound impact on his family and became one of the reasons he insists on preserving the memory of that operation and advocating for attention to the Cuban youth who today take to the streets to demand freedom.
A path to success
After arriving in the United States, the businessman went through a camp in Kendall alongside hundreds of refugee children.
Over time, he started working in various jobs: washing cars, assembling furniture, at Burger King, and as a gardener.
According to his own statements recorded in the text, that work experience allowed him to save money, reunite with his parents years later, and begin a business career in the oil sector.
Álvarez graduated in business administration and obtained a master's degree in education and business.
He then worked for six years for oil companies, a period during which he learned how the sector operates before acquiring his first four gas stations in Miami.
A week ago, when he welcomed Trump in Doral, Florida, the president referred to him as "friend" and this Monday used his story as a symbol of the economic success of a Cuban exile in the United States.
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