A US congressman in Cuban history.

By: Pedro Corzo - 17/03/2025

Guest columnist.
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There are people whose life's work leaves indelible marks, and among those traces that make posterity proud are those of Lincoln Diaz Balart, a man who honored the nationality of two countries throughout his life.

Lincoln was a man of deep civic commitment, a responsibility that can be seen in his activities, in which he expressed his sense of obligation to Cuba and the United States alike, but even more profoundly to the people who faced injustices caused by every dictatorship, particularly those of the Castro-Chavez kind suffered by Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Venezuela.

Lincoln was born in Havana and, like so many other Cubans from 1959 to the present, he left his homeland in his early childhood, but he never lost his identity.

They forged him in love for his homeland, a love that, as the apostle José Martí wrote, “Love, Mother, for one's homeland is not the ridiculous love for the land, nor for the grass our feet tread on. It is the invincible hatred of those who oppress her, the eternal resentment of those who attack her.”

Lincoln fully lived up to this apostle's maxim. He never wavered in his efforts to combat Castro's totalitarianism. He placed his talent and devotion at the service of those ideals and was effective in his administration.

He was a successful politician. He wisely interpreted his constituents, maintaining a close relationship with them. He was also able to select a team of collaborators, among whom Ana Carbonell, a woman of great talent and character, stood out.

His first nomination was as a member of the Democratic Party, where he held various leadership positions, including president of the Miami-Dade County Young Democrats and Florida Young Democrats. Later, he served on the county party's executive committee. In 1985, he switched parties, joining the Republican Party along with several members of his family.

In 1986, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives until 1989, when he moved to the State Senate until 1992. He was subsequently elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served until 2011.

Lincoln Diaz Balart was the second federal congressman from Cuban exiles. He was preceded by a Cuban who makes us all proud, Ileana Ros Lethinen, elected in 1989, becoming the first Hispanic to serve in the U.S. House.

They were two particularly active congressmen, sons of two pure-blooded Cubans, Enrique Ros and Rafael Diaz Balart, respectively. These two congressmen set the standard for Cuba in U.S. policy. It was a golden age for our struggle abroad, with the island's cause occupying a priority position.

There was no servant of totalitarianism who wasn't severely confronted by these champions. They worked intensely for the return of democracy in Cuba, a feat I believe all exiles are obliged to recognize, regardless of their partisan affiliations.

In 2003, she was a founding member of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, a bipartisan organization that fosters diversity and inspires new generations of Hispanic leaders. In 2011, she founded the White Rose Institute in memory of her father, Rafael, whose purpose is to support the construction of a democratic Cuba, another example of her enduring commitment to the island.

Lincoln, aside from defending the best American values ​​and traditions, showed a serious concern for liberty and the improvement of the living conditions of citizens by promoting historic laws such as the approval of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) in 1997, and the codification of the United States embargo against Cuba in 1996, a condition that requires the release of all political prisoners and that multi-party elections be scheduled in Cuba before US sanctions could be lifted, characteristics that would end the essence of the totalitarian regime.

Lincoln Diaz Balart fully fulfilled a duty that we are all obliged to fulfill: to be a good citizen.

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