Wilfredo Gort de los Llanos (born November 9, 1940 in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

) is a Cuban-American politician. Gort was a former City of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Commissioner (1993–2001), and in 1996 was its acting

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. In 2010, Gort returned to the City commission in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

and was reelected in 2011 and 2015. Gort retired and opted to not run in the 2019 elections being succeeded by

Alex Diaz de la Portilla Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple peop ...

. Gort is the son of

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

, Alfredo “Willy” Gort (1909–2003) and Miami Cuban civic leader, Esther de los Llanos de Gort (1915–1984). He and his parents fled Cuba in 1952 after

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...

overthrew the government and moved to Miami. In 1959, after

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

came to power, he returned to Cuba for 3 days and again went into exile. In 1993, Gort ran against

Joe Carollo Joe Carollo (born March 12, 1955) is a Cuban-American politician who served as mayor of Miami from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2001. Following his loss in the 2001 mayoral election, he served as Doral, Florida city manager from January ...

, a former City of Miami commissioner and won the election. In 1996, Gort who was Vice-Mayor at the time became acting mayor at the death of Stephen P. Clark. In 2001, Gort resigned his commission seat to run for mayor of Miami, but did not make the runoff election that eventually elected Manny Diaz, mayor of Miami.

References

* The Miami Herald, Gort Sees His Role as Helping Foster Sense of Unity by Charles Rabin, October 26, 2001, Page 1B. * The Miami Herald, High Profile by Ena Naunton, May 25, 1984, Page 2B. * The Miami Herald, Esther de los Llanos Gort of Pioneer Cuban Family, Page 3B {{DEFAULTSORT:Gort, Willy 1940 births Living people American politicians of Cuban descent American people of Catalan descent Hispanic and Latino American mayors in Florida Mayors of Miami Miami Dade College alumni Florida International University alumni Cuban emigrants to the United States Latino conservatism in the United States