Miami-Dade Democratic leader, activist, intellectual dies at 29
On the night he died, not far from his apartment in Little Haiti, data analyst and Miami Democratic fixture Gonzalo Vizcardo Chiesi was drinking Stella Artois with friends at the New Yorker Patio Bar and doing what he loved most — talking policy, data and ways to solve key issues in the city he called home.
Vizcardo, a community advocate, activist and former member of the Miami-Dade Democratic Executive Committee, died at the age of 29 in Miami Thursday.
According to Miami police, he was shot just after 1 a.m. near Northeast Miami Place and 55th Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gustavo Perez, one of Vizcardo’s best friends, was with him at the bar that night, along with other friends.
“He was showing off maps about data and zoning, and we were talking about the intersection of data and policy,” Perez said, referring to a discussion about housing. “Half an hour later, he was just gone.”
The shooter is still at large, and police are offering a reward of up to $3,000 for any information that may lead to an arrest.
Vizcardo, a history and philosophy buff, never turned off his intellectual side, Perez said. At parties, he had heated debates about politics and Florida history. He enjoyed swapping books with friends. He was fluent in French and Spanish. He appeared at events across the city so often that friends described him as “omnipresent.” If there was a march in the streets, he was there.
“He was uncompromising,” Perez said. “He was the smartest person I ever met.”
Vizcardo was an enigma of sorts, his friends said. He was active in the Democratic party, but also bipartisan community groups like ¿Que Pasa, Hialeah? and Engage Miami. He had friends across the political spectrum and was always ready for a debate. He was a self-described Democratic socialist but worked for an investment bank.
Eleazar Meléndez, a one-time candidate for the District 1 seat on the Miami City Commission, was a good friend of Vizcardo. Meléndez served as Commissioner Ken Russell’s chief of staff from 2015 to 2017 and has worked for the Democratic Party and as a political consultant since.
He got to know Vizcardo in 2014 through Engage Miami,
“He was always having an intellectual debate with himself,” he said. “But you were always invited in.”
Vizcardo moved from Venezuela to Boca Raton with his parents and two sisters in 2001. He was always a very curious child, his mother said, and enjoyed devouring his family’s large library of books, even if they weren’t always age-appropriate. He asked detailed questions about how sailboats use wind to sail across the sea or how humans think.
When Vizcardo was 14, he asked his father, Ulises Vizcardo, to read a 20th century book of essays by José Carlos Mariátegui, one of the forefathers of communism in Peru. It was then that “Gonzalo’s great change occurred,” said his father, who now lives in Lima.
“I bought him a Moleskine and I taught him how to highlight his philosophical thoughts,” the elder Vizcardo said in Spanish. “He loved sharing his intellect with the world. From everything I’ve been told [by his friends], Gonzalo was the profound leftist thinker in Florida.”
His mother, Raizha Chiesi, remembers her son as an intellectual even from a young age. His legacy will be passing that on to others, she said.
“He planted a seed in all those young people to continue his passion for social justice,” said Chiesi, who lives in Delray Beach.
Vizcardo is survived by his parents and two older sisters, Annabella, who lives in Miami, and Eleonora, who lives in Boston.
Eleonora, who is 11 years older than her brother, said she’ll always remember how he was during their move to the United States. “We were dealing with all of these changes in our lives,” she said, “but it was just so easy for him to have a smile.”
Vizcardo graduated from Delray Beach Atlantic High School in 2008 and later received his degree from Florida Atlantic University in economics and anthropology in 2013.
In college, Vizcardo interned with Morgan Stanley and also served on a student environmental council. He interned at Palm Beach County’s business development board, and worked as an analyst for various tech companies.
Vizcardo broke into the activist scene as a student at FAU. When the school announced it would rename the football stadium after GEO Group, a for-profit prison company that donated $6 million, Vizcardo led student pushback that eventually resulted in GEO Group’s pulling the donation.
Vizcardo was selected to be a Miami New Leaders Council fellow in 2016.
Steven Sandler, a software consultant, met Vizcardo shortly after he graduated in 2014. He remembers running into him “over and over” until they eventually became close friends.
“He was incorruptible, kind, fearless and overwhelmingly fun and full of life,” he said. “Gonzalo lived with a rich intensity many times that of a typical person. Not a minute was ever wasted while he lived.”
Vizcardo was active with Florida Young Democrats, Miami’s Next Leaders and various other groups and causes across the county. He eventually served on the Miami-Dade Democratic Executive Committee and ran twice for treasurer of the party.
He left an indelible mark on the Democratic scene in Miami, as made evident by a GoFundMe campaign set up by the Miami-Dade Democratic Party to cover funeral costs. The campaign — which had a goal of covering $6,000 in costs — raised around $8,000 in two days, with big donations from elected officials, diplomats, community leaders and friends. At his Monday evening memorial service in Boca Raton, the line of friends and community members wrapped around the building.
Steve Simeonidis, chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, said Vizcardo was “a true fighter for justice and equality.” He got to know Vizcardo at the Florida Young Democrats convention in Tampa in 2017.
At the convention, he saw Vizcardo launch into a full financial analysis of the party and break down how it could best use its resources.
“It’s volunteers and activists like that that you can’t replace,” Simeonidis said. “The progressive movement lost a warrior this week.”
Juan Cuba, who preceded Simeonidis as party chair, said Vizcardo’s legacy will live on in the people he recruited to get involved in local activism.
“He was just so active and made it a point to go to so many events — not just political events,” Cuba said. “The power of his example will live on in the memories of those who knew him and encourage those to remember his energy and thoughtfulness.”
This story was updated after publication to clarify who Vizcardo was with shortly before his death.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 11:30 AM.