Miami, Florida, is a multiethnic metropolis with a long, rich history that has inspired countless works of fiction. It was first inhabited by the Tequesta Nation between 500 and 600 BCE, then became a Spanish settlement during the years following colonization. The area surrounding Miami became part of the United States in 1821, and the modern city of Miami was founded by affluent citrus grower Julia Tuttle in 1896.

Although Miami was always diverse and hosted a large population of Caribbean immigrants even during its early years, it was Fidel Castro’s rise to power that made Miami the majority-Hispanic city that it is today. Wealthy and middle-class Cubans whose assets and property were seized by the communist regime flooded into South Florida, and the city grew exponentially. Other immigrants from greater Latin America began to flock to Miami, and it became a key site of international banking, finance, and culture. By the 1980s, however, the city had a new reputation as the most dangerous city in the United States. It had become the capital of the decade’s violent drug wars, partly because of its proximity to miles of unguarded coastline and its cultural and financial connections to countries like Colombia, whose shadow economy was fueled by cocaine and marijuana production.