Jessica Cruz

Jess Cruz is a PhD candidate in the History Department at Yale University. She broadly researches the Latin American and Caribbean Right across the late-20th and 21st century. Her dissertation focuses on how Miami, Florida has acted and continues to act as the center for the 'new' Latin American Right, beginning in 1981 and continuing up until 2010. She argues that the political, economic and cultural dynamism of this 'resurgence' of the Latin American Right can, to a certain extent, be best understood through an in-depth examination of their dependence on Miami, Florida as an incubator, refuge, financial haven and mouthpiece. Jess was born and raised in Hialeah, Florida and is a first-generation, low-income student (FGLI). She graduated with a BA in History and Spanish & Latin American Cultures from Barnard College in 2020.