These little piggies stayed home: Miami-Dade mayor pardons four pigs for Nochebuena

With Nochebuena looming and chicharrones on practically every menu from Florida City to Hialeah year-round, Miami is a tough place to be a pig.

Unless you get a stay of execution.

On Tuesday four pigs were spared from the caja china at the Latin Café 2000 in Brickell in what has become a heartwarming holiday tradition (for the pigs, anyway). Thanks to the annual Pig Pardoning ceremony, now in its fourth year, Manchita, Sakura, Shlomo and David will not have to worry about becoming lechón and ending up on a dinner plate.

There were rumblings and complaints about possible nepotism — Sakura, Shlomo and David are the offspring of Layla, a pig who was pardoned in 2018. But who’s to say who deserves a second chance in Miami? Even Lil Wayne got a pardon.

In front of the colorful Cafetera Sky, still one of Miami’s best spots for a selfie with a medianoche in your hand, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava extended the mayoral pardons (and the puns).

“Today symbolizes a defining moment in these lucky pigs’ lives — a real pork in the road, you might say,” said the mayor, adding that “In his letter asking for pardon, Manchita discussed his many talents and passions. A music aficionado with an eclectic taste, you can often catch Manchita listening to the classics from artists like Piggie Smalls, Amy Swinehouse, or Tom Piggy and the Heartbreakers.”

Sakura, she added, “plans to enter the workforce and find a job to provide for her and her family. She’s already focused on bringing home the bacon.” And David and Shlomo “will be exempt from all Christmas-related activities in Miami-Dade County for the remainder of their lives.”

Manchita, Sakura, Shlomo and David will spend the rest of their days at a new foster home in the Redlands, where they can pursue their oh-so-Miami dreams of eating well, basking in the sunshine and investing in crypto.

This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 12:53 PM.