Americano Media has one goal: to become Fox News in Spanish. Launched a year ago, this conservative media company targets Latino voters in the United States with a mix of news and political talk shows to persuade them to vote Republican in 2024. “There are a lot of voices that “We don’t hear because the existing media are fundamentally left-wing. We want to correct this bias,” says Michael Caputo, communications director.
In recent months, there has been a scramble for Spanish-language media to win over the country’s second-largest demographic, which makes up nearly 15% of the electorate. Traditionally, Hispanic Americans vote little and roll for Democrats instead. But in recent years, Republicans have made significant inroads with this population. In 2020, even though Joe Biden won 59% of the Latino vote, Donald Trump received 38%, up 10 points from 2016, according to the Pew Research Center. He seduced them with his liberal economic positions, his conservative values… Above all, the Republicans skillfully paint the Democrats as potential Fidel Castro, ready to transform America into a leftist dictatorship, a particularly effective argument with Cubans and Venezuelans . “We are seeing a significant shift in the Hispanic vote to the right,” assures Michael Caputo, before quoting Ronald Reagan: “Latinos are conservatives, but they don’t know it yet.”
Hence the Republicans’ desire to extend their political gains by targeting centrist or opinionless Hispanics, a crucial electoral bloc. And nothing better than trying to influence them through the radio, their favorite medium, until then confined mainly to music and light subjects. Americano Media, launched in Miami by three businessmen (one of whom wishes to remain anonymous), has big ambitions. It broadcasts its talk shows and news flashes in Spanish on a growing number of radio stations and Internet platforms, and invests in TV studios in Miami, Las Vegas and Washington.
“Bringing Morality” to the United States
The group, after having raised 18 million dollars in its beginnings, is in the process of carrying out a capital increase of 50 million. Several of its executives have ties to Donald Trump. Ivan Garcia-Hidalgo, the founder, participated in his 2020 presidential campaign, and Michael Caputo, the dircom, was one of his advisers in 2016 before working briefly in his administration. They also invite Democratic commentators on their airwaves, they say. Perhaps because they are aware that positioning too far to the right risks bringing them only a limited number of listeners.
They are not the only ones courting this market. Voz Media, a Texan group founded last year by Orlando Salazar, an entrepreneur and Republican activist, has just bought Mega TV, a TV channel, for $64 million in order to offer a conservative alternative. In an interview, he explained that he acted at the prompting of God and that his goal was to “bring back morality” to the United States.
This battle of the airwaves worries the Democrats. For years, they have denounced the lack of interest of their party, which they say neglects Latino voters and generally does not remember their existence until three months before the election. However, in 2020, the avalanche of disinformation on radio stations in Spanish has undoubtedly contributed to the popularity of Donald Trump. A few months after the launch of Americano, two democratic activists created the Latino Media Network. They raised $80 million from a group of investors including Lakestar, associated with billionaire George Soros, a big donor acquired from the left. In June 2022, they bought 18 Spanish-language radio stations that broadcast in major cities across the country. Much to the consternation of very conservative Cuban-Americans because one of them, Radio Mambi, was one of their favorite stations.
“Winning the Hearts and Souls of Hispanics”
“We are witnessing a war to conquer the hearts and souls of Hispanics because they represent an increasingly important segment of the population”, estimates Joe Peyronnin, former head of information at Telemundo, a large American network of televisions in Spanish, and professor at New York University. Their population reached 62.5 million in 2021, up 19% since 2010. In California and Texas, they outnumber whites. This rapid Latinization of America is seen everywhere: from the popularity of tacos and guacamole to that of Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin and Mariah Carey to the explosion of Spanish immersion programs in schools and baseball, where almost a third of professional players are Latino. This year, there are 47 representatives of Hispanic origin in Congress (35 Democrats and 12 Republicans) out of 535. A record! These demographic changes arouse hostility. Donald Trump, when he was president, called Mexicans criminals and rapists, and in 2019 a white supremacist massacred 23 people in El Paso to protest, among other things, the “Hispanic invasion”.
Investors’ sudden interest in media in Spanish is twofold. They see it as a financial windfall, the 20% of Latinos represent a booming market. “Americano Media and the others are potentially a very lucrative business”, specifies Joe Peyronnin. Above all, “if they manage to rally even 2 or 3% of new voters, this can make a big difference in the elections”, continues this expert. Democratic leaders would be wrong to underestimate the risk.