Harvard’s Fuerza Latina marked Latine Heritage Month with its annual Ritmo Latino celebration — a long-standing tradition since 2003 — with new energy and updates to the cultural fair and showcase. As the largest pan-Latine organization on campus, Fuerza Latina 2025 edition highlighted both the evolving expressions of Latinidad and the enduring vibrancy of the community through music, dance, and cultural performance.

Using the foundation they’ve built upon over the years, Fuerza Latina’s Executive Board and Social Chairs began brainstorming to identify ways to make Ritmo Latino bolder. Ultimately, these visions became a reality, including Semana Carnival, a new venue space, and the reintroduction of Fuerza’s Latinx Artist of the Year. 

"Ritmo Latino is all about bonding como familia and celebrating the beauty of life," social chair Lorena Aguilar Nuncio ’27, explained. "We’re working hard to create a space where you can honor what it means to be Latino/a/x and truly feel like you belong."

Fuerza kicked things off with a Carnaval Week inspired by Latin music icon Celia Cruz, known as "the Queen of Salsa". Leading up to Ritmo Latino, various Latinx clubs across campus held events sharing their own perspective on what it means to be Latine. Semana Carnival featured events hosted by the Dominican Student Association, Latinas Unidas, Cuban American Undergraduate Student Association (CAUSA), Latinos in Health Care (LiHC), RAZA, and Concilio Latino.

These organizations also assisted with selecting dishes for their respective countries for Ritmo Latino.

In contrast to previous years, Ritmo Latino 2025 was held in Quincy Dining Hall. A first for Fuerza Latina, this new location provided a more centralized space and stage for performances and speeches. "Having such a larger space like the dining hall highlights the work we’ve been doing among the Fuerza Board to take and make space for all," noted social chair Emiliano Guiterrez Berlanga ’28.

With the event being open and welcoming for all guests, the location change was also able to accommodate an uptick in attendance, resulting in nearly 100 attendees present to watch performances and hear from guest speakers, such as proctor and visiting scholar Gustavo Luna. Born in Mexico and raised in California, Gustavo recently graduated from Harvard with his Doctorate in Education Leadership and was awarded the Presidential Public Service Fellowship. 

This year’s performances featured individual student performances, student dance groups such as Harvard Ballet Folklorico and Candela, and a special performance from Veronica Robles.

Fuerza Latina also presented the 2025 Latinx Artist of the Year Award to Veronica Robles. Robles was chosen in recognition of her contributions to the Latinx music industry and dedication to community activism in the Greater Boston area. Locally, she is known as Boston’s "First Lady of Mariachi," founding the first all-women Mariachi band in Boston. During her special performance, Robles got the audience singing and clapping, even inviting Fuerza Board members to join her on the stage.

In years prior – when Ritmo Latina was titled Presencia Latina – Fuerza Latina brought notable figures Daddy Yankee, Jaslene Gonzalez, and Alfonso Herrera to the event to celebrate their accomplishments. 

The upgrades to Ritmo Latino’s programming are a testament to the Harvard Latine community’s continued embrace of Latine roots, pride, and cultural diversity. Ultimately, Ritmo Latino stands as a flagship event to proudly represent Latinidad at Harvard.

"Ritmo Latino is an opportunity for all of Harvard to explore the complexity and diversity of Latinidad," Co-President Daniel Cabrera ’27 said. "It’s a chance for students to reconnect with their culture, explore new ones, and spend a night together in community."