Maria Elvira Salazar1Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar represents Florida’s 27th Congressional District. She currently serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs as well as the House Committee on Small Business. Congresswoman Salazar is committed to acting in defense of individual rights and liberties, spearheading economic development & job training efforts, and promoting environmental resiliency in her community. She is well known for her advocacy for human rights and democracy around the world, especially for the people of Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua.
Congresswoman Salazar is a five-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and has spent her career holding the corrupt and powerful accountable. Congresswoman Salazar has gone toe-to-toe with Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, and most notably Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Starting at the age of 22, she has worked for the following major U.S. Spanish- language broadcasting networks: Telemundo, Univision, AmericaTeve, MegaTV, and CNN en Español.
Salazar was born in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, the daughter of Cuban exiles. She studied at the Deerborne School of Coral Gables and graduated from Miami Dade College. Salazar holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Miami and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
