The Díaz-Balart family is a

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States aft ...

political family A political family (also referred to as political dynasty) is a family in which multiple members are involved in politics — particularly Election, electoral politics. Members may be related by consanguinity, blood or marriage; often several gene ...

primarily composed of the descendants of Cuban politician

Rafael Díaz-Balart Rafael Lincoln Díaz-Balart y Gutiérrez (January 17, 1926 – May 6, 2005) was a Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of island ...

, and including two members of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

. The family came to the United States in January 1959, having been in Paris when

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

overthrew the Cuban government the previous month. In 2003, the family was voted "Best Power Family" in the annual ''

Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami metropolitan area, and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired ...

'' "BEST OF MIAMI" issue, which asserted that the family managed to "carve out a new U.S. Congressional district expressly for an ambitious family member", and also claimed that the father and grandfather of the U.S. politicians "were important members of the ruling oligarchy during the fearsome reign of

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...

Members

Members of the family include: *

Rafael José Díaz-Balart Rafael José Díaz-Balart (c. 1899 – 1985) was a Cuban politician and mayor of the town of Banes, Cuba, Banes. With his wife América Gutiérrez, he was the father of Rafael Díaz-Balart, Rafael Lincoln Díaz-Balart and progenitor of the Díaz-Ba ...

(c. 1899 – 1985), Cuban politician and mayor of the town of Banes; with his wife América Gutiérrez, he had two sons and a daughter: **

(January 17, 1926 – May 6, 2005), Cuban politician; with his wife, Hilda Caballero Brunet, Díaz-Balart had four sons: ***Rafael J. Díaz-Balart (born 1951), banker. ***

Lincoln Díaz-Balart Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart (born Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart y Caballero; August 13, 1954 – March 3, 2025) was a Cuban-American attorney and politician. A member of the United States Republican Party, Republican Party, he was the United State ...

(August 13, 1954 – March 3, 2025),

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

; with his wife, Cristina Fernandez, he has two sons: ****Lincoln Díaz-Balart Jr. (1983/84 – May 19, 2013) ****Daniel Díaz-Balart ***

José Díaz-Balart José Díaz-Balart (born November 7, 1960) is a Cuban-American journalist and television anchorman for both Telemundo and NBC News. Diaz-Balart previously anchored weeknight editions of '' Noticias Telemundo'' on Telemundo and '' José Díaz-Bala ...

(born November 7, 1960), television news anchor; with his wife, Brenda, he has two daughters: ****Katrina Díaz-Balart ****Sabrina Díaz-Balart ***

Mario Díaz-Balart Mario Rafael Díaz-Balart y Caballero ( ; born September 25, 1961) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Florida's 26th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party ...

(born September 25, 1961),

; with his wife, Tia Díaz-Balart, he has one son: ****Cristian Díaz-Balart ** Mirta Díaz-Balart (September 30, 1928 – July 6, 2024), sister of Rafael, was the first wife of Cuban leader

; they had one son and then divorced prior to the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

; she then remarried, to Emilio Núñez Blanco, with whom she had two daughters: **:With Fidel Castro: ***

Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart Fidel Ángel Castro Díaz-Balart (1 September 1949 – 1 February 2018) was a Cuban nuclear physicist and government official. Frequently known by the diminutive Fidelito (little Fidel), he was the eldest son of Cuban leader Fidel Castro and ...

("Fidelito"; September 1, 1949 – February 1, 2018), Cuban physicist; Fidel Castro's first-born son. With his former wife Natasha Smirnova, he had three children: ****Mirta María Castro-Smirnova (born 1984), lives in Spain, and teaches applied mathematics at the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, in 2022 it has a student body of 57,214,U-Ranking Universidades español ...

; ****Fidel Antonio Castro-Smirnov (born 1980), became a specialist in biochemistry and molecular biology. ****José Raúl Castro-Smirnov (born 1985), studied nanotechnology at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

, graduated from the Higher Institute of Technologies and Applied Sciences in Havana, and

with a physicist's diploma. **:With Emilio Núñez Blanco: *** Mirta Núñez Díaz-Balart, a Cuban-Spanish historian. ***América Silvia Núñez Díaz-Balart. ** Waldo Díaz-Balart (February 10, 1931 – February 5, 2025), brother of Rafael and Mirta, Cuban painter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz-Balart family Political families of the United States American people of Cuban descent