Campaign manager of defeated Cuban influencer in Miami-Dade mayoral run charged with rape
The former campaign manager of a right-wing Cuban influencer who lost a bid for Miami-Dade County mayor over the summer was arrested Thursday, accused of raping a Hialeah teen, often after plying him with drugs, police said.
Andy Santana, 33, was picked up at his Hialeah home just before midnight Wednesday and taken to Hialeah police headquarters where he was charged with single counts of having sex with a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
He was transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where he remained late Thursday morning. No bond had yet been set as Santana had not yet appeared before a judge.
With Santana still in jail, according to Miami-Dade County court records, it wasn’t immediately clear if he had retained legal counsel. The Herald’s attempts to communicate with Alex Otaola’s staff members were rebuffed, with aides refusing comment.
Hours later, Otaola, the candidate who ran unsuccessfully for Miami-Dade mayor, posted a statement on Facebook, saying that he had “no control over the private lives” of his employees but that he “strongly” disapproved of “any illegal or morally questionable act.”
“Each person will have to face responsibility for their own actions and prove their innocence,” he said.
He later made a live broadcast on the Youtube channel Farándula de Cuba and said he and the rest of his team did not have any knowledge of the alleged incidents that led to the charges. He said there was no justification for having a sexual relationship with a minor.
Otaola also suggested that his employees were aware that others might attempt to target them to discredit him.
“It is regrettable, but it is also regrettable that television stations that were not interested in the political campaign today want to mar my political campaign with this incident,” he said.
Though the narrative in Santana’s arrest report listed several instances of sex between the former campaign manager and a 17-year-old boy, Hialeah Police only charged Santana with a single count of having sex with a minor.
“We can only charge with what occurred in our city,” said Hialeah Police spokesman and Sgt. Jose Torres.
According to the arrest affidavit, the alleged victim showed up at Hialeah Police headquarters on Wednesday with lewd pictures and video “corroborating his allegations.” The alleged victim told police he met Santana through Instagram and that during their first encounter in his car in May, Santana kissed and fondled him.
Then the next day, the alleged victim told police, Santana showed up at his home and took him back to his apartment where he convinced him to inhale a drug that made him dizzy, the teen told police. Santana sexually assaulted him again.
According to the teen’s statement to police, Santana was sexually assaulting him at least five times a week, and sometimes the teen told police he stayed at Santana’s home over the weekend. But the encounters ended in September when Santana allegedly told the teen he was concerned their encounters would be leaked or show up on social media sites.
Police said Santana invoked his right to not speak with police during his arrest.
Otaola, 45, a flamboyant figure with a popular Spanish-language YouTube show, ran against Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in the August primary. He finished third. Levine Cava was reelected with 58 percent of the vote.
With a campaign focused on making Miami-Dade County a “Communist-Free Zone”, Otaola received under 12 percent of the vote.
That same night, Santana demanded a recount from the Miami-Dade Elections Department. His request was denied because the incumbent received a high enough percentage of votes to avoid a runoff.
Otaola and Santana have known each other for years. Even after the mayoral run, the two have continued to work on Otaola’s popular podcast, Hola! Ota-Ola, a three-hour program featured on the channel Youtube Cubanos por el Mundo.
The show — which was popular among a younger generation of Cubans who left the island — was instrumental in building Otaola’s popularity among former President Donald Trump supporters and ultimately paved the way for his run for mayor.
Santana has been working with Otaola since January 2021 as the director of operations at Otaola Media Productions LLC, according to his Linkedin profile. Santana then took on the roles of deputy treasurer and campaign manager in April 2023 when Otaola launched his Miami-Dade mayoral campaign.
This story was originally published October 3, 2024 at 1:42 PM.
