A neighborhood in Miami known as Little Havana is working to preserve its Latino culture.

Take, for example, Angel Hernandez and his wife Guillermina, who have been selling garden fruits and vegetables from their Los Pinareños Fruteria farmer's market for decades.

"We've been serving the community for 47 years, and we do it with love," Angel Jr., Hernandez's son, told Fox News Latino.

Real estate agents have tried to convince the Hernandez family to sell their land, but they remain dedicated to the neighborhood.

"Little Havana is Miami's secret treasure," Pedro, another one of Hernandez's sons, said. "This area is full of character. It's a gem that just needs a little polishing up."

According to a 2011 study titled "Cultural and Spatial Perceptions of Miami's Little Havana," Cubans started coming to the neighborhood from 1959-1962 to flee Fidel Castro's "drastic social policies." They were known as the Golden Exiles. Hernandez and Guillermina were Golden Exiles.

"They became known as the 'Golden Exiles' because of the human capital they brought with them," author Hilton Cordoba, a Florida Atlantic University geosciences professor, wrote. "They established businesses and social organizations."

Two smaller waves of Cuban migrants came from 1965-1973 and in 1980, according to the study.

In the early 1980s, however, Pedro noticed the town becoming less Cuban as Guatemalans, Nicaraguans and Salvadorians came to the town.

According to the study, Central and South Americans represent 30 and 13 percent of the town's population respectively.

FNL reports that Little Havana is now the hub of Miami's Latino scene and tens of thousands of Cubans, as well as Central Americans, have visited the town.

Landmarks in the cultural neighborhood include Cuban Memorial Boulevard, Maximo Gomez Domino Park, Tower Theater and the Walk of Fame for Latin entertainers.

The town is also host to various events like the Calle Ocho Festival, Three Kings Parade and Viernes Culturales.

"We really appreciate the local flavor here," Bill Fuller, a businessman of Cuban descent who is about to open a bar in the neighborhood, said. "The idea is to preserve the neighborhood. Little Havana is a diamond in the rough."

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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