Lincoln Diaz Barato, a Cuban-American Republican politician who defended immigrants and vehemently opposed Fidel Castro’s administration, died Monday at 70, after nearly 20 years of serving in Congress representing South Florida, helping to restore democracy in his home country of Cuba.
His son, Daniel, said Diaz Barato had died of cancer.
News of his death were published on X by his brother, Rep. Mario Diaz Barrato.
“The authors of the democratic requirements for lifting US sanctions against Cuban dictatorships, and the authors of Lincoln’s achievements, the authors of the Nicaraguan coordination and the Central American relief law, will end for generations,” he wrote.
Cuba’s success story
Born in Havana in 1954, Diaz Barato came from a powerful Cuban politician who recreated his success in the United States after having to escape from Castro’s revolution. His father, Rafael, was a power broker who rose from Mayor Burns, a town near Havana to the President of the Cuban Senate under Fulgencio Batista.
The family left Cuba in December 1958, the month before Castro defeated Batista, and did not return. They settled in Miami, but in 1963 they moved to Spain. His parents divorced in 1975, and their mother, Hilda Caballero Brunette, returned to Miami with their children.
Mirta, the aunt of Diaz Barrato, who passed away last year, married Castro in 1948, but divorced in 1955 after Raphael accused him of extremes. She is the mother of Castro’s eldest son, the late Fidel Castro Diaz Barato, and is a nuclear physicist who Cuban authorities say died of suicide in 2018.
During his time in Congress from 1993 to 2011, Diaz Barato continued his family’s passionate opposition to the Havana administration, becoming known as the hardliner of Cuban policy. He wrote laws that would tighten the US embargo and link lifting sanctions to Cuba’s democratic transition.
In 1996, with the help of fellow Cuban-American Americans in Congress, Ileana Ross Letinen and Bob Menendez wrote in the Cuban Freedom and Democratic Solidarity Act, also known as the Helms-Boolton Act. director.
“I think that was the most important achievement of 18 years in Congress,” he later said.
It was the target of toxic criticism by the Cuban government and was the target of state media attacks that frequently began calling his brothers Mario and Ross Lethinen the “Miami Mafia.”
Diaz Balato also advocated comprehensive immigration reform while in Congress, warning after he left his job that Republicans should not ignore Hispanics.
“If we are perceived as an anti-immigrant party, America is an immigrant country, and we will never allow us to become a majority party,” he said in 2012.
Diaz Barato was a towering figure in the Cuban-American community, and news of his passing quickly mourned him to many of his close friends, former staff and community leaders.
“A sad day like this,” said Ross Letinen. She was calling three friends, a trio of lawmakers from Los Tres Amigos (Díaz-Balart, Menendez and her). “On a personal level, I miss out on our conversations and the wise advice he always gave me.”
However, she reserved the highest praise for his work for Cuban freedom.
“The oppressed people in Cuba were not as defending freedom as Lincoln. He created his life mission to seek democracy and human rights in his hometown,” she said. “We never spent the time when Lincoln couldn’t hear him calling for political prisoners to be freed, democratic norms to be restored, and the cruel and evil regime of the island to be relegated to the trash cans of history.”
Hamptons Group Chairman Jeff Bartel, who worked when he was first elected to Congress as Diaz Barrato’s Chief of Staff, said he praised his former boss for living every day with courage, confidence and unwavering belief in democracy and benign.
“No one was more devoted to his family, his community, or the causes of democracy. His passion for freedom, especially for the Cuban people, was unforgiving. Losing Lincoln is an immeasurable loss,” he said.
Marcell Felipe, founder of Inspire America, a group defending freedom in Cuba and the Americas, said Diaz-Balart had motivated him to continue fighting for the freedom of the world.
“A great friend to everyone except for the great American politician, the great Cuban politician, the great man, the great father, the enemy of freedom,” Felipe said.
Many of Congress’ Miami-Cuban Americans and his former House colleagues posted praise on social media.
“Today we lost one of the greats,” U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar said of the former lawmaker. “His legacy will live and occupy a special place on the altar for free Cuba.”
US lawmaker Carlos Guimenez called Diaz Barato “the champion for Titans, Patriots and freedom.”
Nicole Mariotakis, a New Jersey U.S. Rep. whose mother left the island after Castro came to power in 1959, said Diaz Barato “paved the roads for many of us. His defense of free Cuba, his candidness towards the communist regime, and his leadership on issues affecting Hispanic Americans has left the mark, and he will be greatly overlooked.”
Carlos Curbelo, a former US representative who began his political career as an intern in Díaz-Balart’s office, said he had long admired him since he was in high school.
“The mentor taught me that leadership requires character, kindness, and strength of love,” he said.
Diaz Barato was survived by his wife Christina. His son, Daniel, a lawyer. and his brother Mario, Rafael, retired finance business expert and anchor Jose of NBC News.
His eldest son, Lincoln Gabriel, died of suicide in 2013, turning his father into a suicidal supporter.
“This community would like to thank him for entrusting him to be their voice in Washington, DC for a long time,” Daniel Diaz Ballato told the Miami Herald. “Because of the trust they placed on him, Lincoln was able to use his position to help so many people and fight for such a dignified and important cause. His legacy and what he was able to achieve is the legacy of this community, and we are forever grateful. What an honor to be the son of Lincoln Diaz Barrato.”
Planning for additional service is pending.
Miami Herald reporter Howard Cohen contributed to the story.
