Juan Fernandez-Barquin’s Connection To Key Player In A3 Foundation Scandal

A political action committee that backed Miami-Dade County Clerk and Comptroller Juan Fernandez-Barquin is intertwined with a controversial non-profit organization closely tied to his pal, Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez.

The connection raises doubt that Fernandez-Barquin’s audit of A3 won’t dig deep into the foundation’s use of $2 million in state and county funds since its inception three years ago.

Fernandez-Barquin is already facing scrutiny over his office allegedly slow-walking its audit since he supposedly launched the inquiry more than six months ago. Appointed in 2023 by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Fernandez-Barquin was elected a year later.

During a Sunday morning show interview in May with CBS4’s Jim Defede, Fernandez-Barquin insisted that his friendship with Rodriguez did not pose a conflict of interest for him.

Defede brought Fernandez-Barquin on his show to press the county clerk and comptroller on the status of his office’s audit of A3 Foundation, the non-profit that runs the annual CountryFest event at Miami-Dade owned Tropical Park. As first reported by the Miami Herald, A3 is a brewing scandal for Rodriguez over questions about how the organization has spent state and county grants since it was formed in 2023. As noted by Defede, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office has opened a criminal probe into A3, and has issued subpoenas to key players.

Fernandez-Barquin launched his audit of A3 more than six months ago, but has not provided a timeframe of when his office expects to complete the inquiry.

Defede noted that Rodriguez and Fernandez-Barquin – both of whom are former Florida state representatives – are close buddies who arrived at the state Capitol as freshmen legislators together and worked closely together during their time in Tallahassee. “There are some who may view that your reluctance to just drill in on A3 and A3 alone for right now may be because of your association, your friendship with Anthony Rodriguez,” Defede said.

Fernandez-Barquin deflected the criticism by asserting that his office is looking at eight community-based organizations that receive Miami-Dade grants, not just A3, to provide fair and balanced scrutiny. He also partially blamed staffing woes for not getting the audit done sooner.

Yet, Fernandez-Barquin’s relationship with Rodriguez is not his only connection to A3. In February, Coral Gables-based lobbying firm Continental Strategy hired Francisco Petrirena as a vice-president. Petrirena previously worked as chief of staff to then-Miami City Manager Art Noriega, as well as being the city’s in-house lobbyist.

Petrirena also has a side gig as A3’s executive director and president. In 2024, A3 paid him a $26,824 annual salary for putting in five hours a week to the foundation, according to the non-profit’s most recent tax return. In a July 2025 article, Petrirena told the Miami Herald he was the foundation’s sole employee and that he would be paid $80,000 annually. He explained that A3 helps organize CountryFest.

According to the Miami Herald, A3 last year received a $950,000 allocation in the state budget, including $450,000 from legislators’ “sprinkle list” published by Florida House Speaker Danny Perez, a Miami Republican and friend to both Rodriguez and Petrirena.

Petrirena’s bosses at Continental Strategy include firm founders Carlos Trujillo, a U.S. ambassador during President Donald Trump’s first term and former state representative, and Jesus Manuel Suarez, an attorney who was part of the legal team that secured a victory for Trump when a New York state appeals court overturned a nearly $500 million civil fraud penalty against the Trump Organization. He also served as election integrity counsel for the Trump 2024 campaign, and chaired the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission last year.

Suarez is chairman of Floridians United, a political action committee that backed Fernandez-Barquin’s 2024 election, raising roughly $402,000 that year, campaign finance reports show.

What’s more, A3’s tax return shows the non-profit’s corporate address in Coral Gables is the same address for Anthony Fiore, treasurer for Floridians United. Fiore, who prepared A3’s tax return, is also treasurer for multiple PACs closely tied to former and current state legislators, including two committees chaired by Daniel Perez. The committees also share the same corporate address as A3.

So to recap: A month or two after Fernandez-Barquin announced his office would audit A3, the foundation’s sole employee, Petrirena, landed a job with the company owned by Suarez, who chaired the PAC that helped propel Fernandez-Barquin to victory.

Suarez did not respond to multiple requests for comment about why Continental Strategy hired Petrirena.

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