4 April 24-April 30, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | news | letters | coNteNts | ▼ MIAMI-DADE DESPOT OF COFFEE? EL SALVADOR STRONGMAN OWNS MIAMI-BASED COFFEE BRAND. BY ALEX DELUCA T he LLC behind a coffee brand owned by El Salvador’s far-right strongman, Nayib Bukele, ap- pears to be based in Miami. Last July, the 43-year-old Sal- vadoran president launched a coffee brand called Bean of Fire, which markets itself as a high-end purveyor sourcing beans from El Salvador. But while its product may originate in Central America (heavy on the may), the company appears to be registered to a Miami- based LLC. Contact information on Bean of Fire’s website lists Hacienda Dorada LLC, which is located at 1845 Northwest 112th Avenue in Miami. According to state public records, the LLC (created in February 2024, months before Bukele unveiled Bean of Fire to the public) is registered to a warehouse in west Doral, near the edge of the Everglades and about a 15-minute drive from Miami International Airport. Records also show that FastForward Company LLC, a Miami-based firm that helps people register LLCs in the U.S., was re- sponsible for registering Bukele’s business on U.S. soil. So, why is the LLC behind Bukele’s coffee company based in Miami? According to the Central American news outlet Divergentes, Bean of Fire aimed to sell its products on Amazon in the United States — the longtime leading importer of Salva- doran coffee worldwide. The Miami-based LLC is listed as the manufacturer on Bean of Fire’s storefront on Amazon’s U.S. site. Bean of Fire did not respond to New Times’ request for comment. While the primary purpose of an LLC is to protect the owners’ assets from debt collec- tion and lawsuits, LLCs also enjoy certain tax advantages like tax-deductible expenses. Also, LLCs themselves don’t pay federal income taxes on business income. Instead, in- dividual members of the LLC must pay fed- eral income tax earned from the LLC via their own tax returns, which is how LLCs avoid double taxation (AKA taxation at both the federal and individual levels). At the time of its launch, Bukele claimed the coffee venture had “nothing to do with politics; it’s been my passion project for the last year.” He wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the business model behind the coffee brand is designed to have U.S. consumers es- sentially subsidize a coffee giveaway program supporting business owners in El Salvador. “So basically, the coffee you pay for in the U.S. is free in El Salvador,” Bukele wrote. “And we’re adding one new small business every day. Buy some, so we don’t go broke too fast.” Bean of Fire’s website sells one-pound bags of coffee beans for upwards of $50 and offers U.S.-wide shipping. According to the site, its coffee grows on “some of the most fer- tile, mineral-rich soil in the world.” Bukele, a former publicist and self-de- scribed “world’s coolest dictator,” has been a key ally to President Donald Trump as he’s ramped up deportations to El Salvador’s no- torious prison, known as CECOT. The Trump administration is forking over $6 million to the Salvadoran government to house mi- grants there. Hundreds of men have been sent to the prison, despite documents show- ing that most appear to have no criminal re- cord. On Monday, during a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, Bukele said he wouldn’t re- turn Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the Justice Department admitted it had mistakenly deported to his country. “How can I return him to the United States? Like if I smuggle him into the United States?” Bukele said. “Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.” As previously reported by New Times, one of the migrants sent to CECOT with little or no due process was Luis Carlos José Marcano Silva, a 26-year-old Venezuelan barber who was living in Tampa and likely targeted by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) because of a crown tattoo on his chest. [email protected] | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS, COMMENTARY EVERY DAY AT MIAMINEWTIMES .COM/RIPTIDE Bean of Fire, El Salvador president Nayib Bukele’s coffee brand, appears to be registered to a Miami-based LLC. ▼ SUNSHINE STATE FRAUD BAIT SURVEY FINDS SCAMMERS TARGET FLORIDIANS HIT BY HURRICANES. BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON A s if getting battered by a hurricane isn’t bad enough, scammers are flocking to disaster zones to prey on those left in a storm’s wake, according to a new study by Instant Roofer, a national plat- form that connects homeowners with roofing contractors. The Hawaii-based company found scammers targeted more than 350,000 Floridians in 2024 after a natural disaster. The survey focused on about 700,000 people who were displaced by natural disasters, including Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton last year. About 21 percent of respondents reported experiencing “lots” of scam activity, 50 percent encountered “some” scams, and 29 percent dealt with “a little” scamming, according to the report. “It’s absolutely shocking that it’s so common for scammers to target people when they are at their most vulnerable,” Instant Roofer founder Ja- cob Petrosky tells New Times. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Helene was one of the strongest storms to strike Flori- da’s Big Bend region when it made landfall near Perry in late September 2024. It was the third hurricane to hit the region in just over a year. Helene was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Maria in 2017 and the deadliest to strike the U.S. mainland since Katrina in 2005; Helene’s total costs were $78.7 billion, according to NOAA. Almost two weeks later, Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key with a 10-foot storm surge that caused damage along the Gulf coast. The hurricane produced dozens of highly destructive tornadoes across southern Florida and racked up $34.3 billion in total damages. “If your home has been damaged, you may come across seemingly help- ful contractors offering quick repairs for a good price,” Petrovsky says. “But always be cautious of anyone approaching you.” Petrosky advises those needing storm repairs to always verify that a contractor is a licensed, insured professional. “Take time to research any contractor, check their reviews, verify their credentials, and ask to see examples of their previous work,” he says. “Be especially wary of high-pressure sales tactics, such as demands for upfront payment, act-now offers, or deep discounts that seem too good to be true.” He also warns against verbal agreements, advising to get everything in writing up front, “including the scope of work, timeline, cost, and any war- ranty terms.” Post-disaster scams aren’t limited to shady contractors, Petrosky says. After a disaster, fake Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) rep- resentatives, fraudulent charities, and identity thieves often target the same people. “If someone calls asking for personal information, hang up and contact the official number of the company or government agency they claim to represent,” he notes. The warning is especially important this Atlantic hurricane season, as re- searchers at Colorado State University (CSU) have predicted hurricane ac- tivity to be above average. Their previous forecast of a busy 2024 with 23 named storms, 11 hurricanes, and five major hurricanes was nearly perfect. According to NOAA, there were 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes, and five major hurricanes in 2024. CSU researchers, however, say there is a low chance that a major hurri- cane will strike somewhere along Florida’s Atlantic coast. [email protected] A Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officer helps to evacuate a flooded neighborhood in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton on October 10, 2024. NOAA photo New Times artist conception/Photos by Trump White House Archived via Flickr (Bukele and Trump) and @bortn76 via Getty Images (coffee)
