TAMPA, Fla. – Mario Nuñez calls himself a “Tampeño," a native of Tampa, but, he considers himself an American of Cuban descent above all. Tonight, he celebrates what he hopes will be his eventual return to that country, and his heritage. 


What You Need To Know

  • Mario Nuñez is a resident of Tampa, but he is excited at the prospect of returning to his native Cuba

  • He would like to bring his dad back to Cuba, and connect with his relatives

  • He also thinks that other Floridians would enjoy connecting with their heritage


“Anything that we can do to help the people of Cuba," Nuñez said. “If that means trips can start up again, and I can go back there again and airplanes can land there again, all of that adds to the good.”

Nuñez was there in 2016 when the Tampa Bay Rays played an exhibition game in Cuba. Although it wasn't the last time he visited the island nation, he says it was one of the most memorable visits.

“That day, over 70,000 people were in the stadium that fit 55,000 comfortably. I mean, you couldn't have been any closer," Nuñez told Spectrum News. “People were so nice. They had the American flag and the Cuban flag. It was a palpable sense of hope.”

As host of the weekly “The Tampa Natives Show" on the Tampa Bay Arts and Entertainment Network, Nuñez talks about anything and everything about Tampa, which includes its heavy Cuban influence. He hopes this re-opening of Cuba for Americans will allow him to finish what he started with his father when he took him back to Cuba for the first time since his dad was 17 years old.

“Half of my grandfather’s siblings came here, half of them stayed there. And when the curtain came down, then they couldn't get out. So I know they're still there and I know more or less where they live, but finding them is a needle in a haystack.” Nuñez says he knows his connection to Cuba is different from many other “Tampeños” or Americans of Cuban descent, but he hopes time can overcome that.

“I don't have a lot of that angst, you know, like the group that had to leave under persecution and leave all their worldly possessions. I don't have that in my story, but it doesn't make it me any less empathetic. I realize that's got to be some tough memories, but at what point do we put down our baggage? At what point do we drop that off man, so we can move forward?” he concluded.