DORAL, Fla. - Filmmaker Carlos Alberto Fung appears to have been employed by the City of Doral's Republican Mayor Christi Fraga political committee despite past remarks in which he praised former Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez.
"There are many more things that unite us than those that separate us. I believe that sooner or later the liberator's dream of forming a great nation will come true. The same dream also of the new leaders who have been emerging, mainly our eternal commander Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, who fought so hard for this dream of the liberator to crystallize, regardless of whether or not anyone can identify with his political proposal," Fung said at an event in the Venezuelan embassy in Madrid, Spain about a decade ago.
"We can never and will never forget that President Chávez once again led this dream of continental unity. and he has vindicated for Venezuelans what was our history and our proud past, and we will owe him that eternally," he added.
According to state finance reports, Fraga's Next Generational Leaders PC paid Fung $42,750 in 2023 and $26,500 in 2024.
Doral has one of the largest concentrations of Venezuelan Americans in the United States at 30%. Located west of Miami, the city also is home to a huge number of Columbian and Cuban Americans who fled socialist regimes.
Chavez ruled Venezuela from 1999 until he died in 2013. President Nicolas Maduro has governed the country since, applying a similar socialist regime as his predecessor.
Battered in controversy, Maduro has continued to prop himself as Venezuela's leader, despite reported election results to the contrary. The outcome has ignited protests in the country and received condemnation by the United States.
The controversial situation is the latest for Fraga, who's been Doral's Republican mayor since 2022. In May, she received backlash after sponsoring a "peace and security" resolution over the ongoing Israel-Palestine War.
Passed by the city council, the resolution received backlash from Republicans and was rescinded. Democratic Councilwoman Maureen Porras, who initially supported the measure, also claimed Fraga tried sneaking in the resolution into a separate agenda to avoid discussing the topic.
This also isn't the first controversy under Fraga's administration.
Her chief of staff, Marion Troitino, accused Porras of working with her clients via the city's computer. Porras also previously questioned why Fung was allowed to show a film at Doral Parks before being pulled. Coincidence?
Meanwhile, Troitino has been accused of being a Venezuelan spy. Fraga denied those claims, stating that Troitino and her family had no ties to the Venezuelan government.
We have reached out to Mayor Fraga for comment but have not heard back.
