Comida Latina from MiamiNewTimes.com on Vimeo.

The raucous atmosphere of this year's Calle Ocho Festival belied a recessionary undercurrent. Sure the party was on and bangin', but as the Herald reports, seven fewer blocks were blocked off from street traffic than previous years, and as the video above evidences, spending was down. If you don't speak Spanish, the boss of the food stand featured above said, "Calle Ocho is not like the other times; it's bad, very bad, there's no money, there's no jobs and no money."

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If you're in any way connected to reality, you're already aware of our current economic strife in the USA and especially South Florida, but this is live and direct from Little Havana, baby: When rice and beans are too expensive, it's really getting ugly. Party on.