Born in Havana, Cuba, Otto Merida attended elementary and part of his high school at the Edison Institute in Havana, Cuba. He came to this country as a political refugee from Cuba in 1961 under the auspices of a program called Peter Pan, which brought over 14,000 children from communist Cuba to the United States in the early 60’s.

Through this program, Otto was sent to Wilmington, Delaware, where he graduated from Salesianum High School, a private Catholic school. After working in New York City for two years, Merida attended college under the auspices of the Cuban loan, a program designed for Cuban political refugees, graduating with an Associate in Arts Degree from North Florida Junior College, in Madison, Florida, 1967, and a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, in 1969.

After graduation, he joined “Volunteers in Service to America” and worked as a community organizer and social worker in the Fitchburg and Leominster areas under the auspices of the Mantachusets Opportunity Council in Lemonister, Massachusetts. After leaving VISTA, he worked for a year for the Fitchburg Chamber of Commerce as the Manpower Manager.

Otto Merida came to Las Vegas in 1974 and worked for the State of Nevada’s Department of Education and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Program. From 1976-78, he helped organize the Latin Chamber of Commerce. In 1978, he became the Executive Director of the LCC and presently its President/CEO. At the present time, the Latin Chamber of Commerce has over 1500 members.

Otto Merida is a former Chair and past member of the Las Vegas Housing Authority and past board member of the State of Nevada Public Works Board and the Nevada Judicial Commission. In 1999, Governor Kenny Guinn appointed Merida to serve in the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, the commission in charge of helping to diversify the economy of the State of Nevada.

One of the most notable recognitions Merida has received was having the first low-income housing development built in Las Vegas since the 80’s, consisting of 60 homes, named after him by the city of Las Vegas Housing Authority: Otto Merida Desert Villas.