Former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart dies at 70, family says

Former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican who represented a South Florida district from 1993 to 2011, has died.

Diaz-Balart, 70, was the brother of current Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who posted a statement from the family online Monday morning in English and Spanish, praising the late lawmaker as a “defender of the silent and oppressed.”

“Lincoln’s profound love for the United States and his relentless commitment to the cause of a free Cuba guided him throughout his life and his 24 years in elected public service, including 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives,” the statement read. “We will miss him infinitely.”

A public memorial Mass will be celebrated at a later date, according to the family statement.

The late Diaz-Balart was the architect behind Congress enshrining the long-standing U.S. embargo against Cuba. He was born in Havana, but the prominent political family moved to the U.S. after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.

He was chair emeritus of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, which he cofounded in 2003.