Lincoln Diaz-Balart, former Florida congressman, dies at 70

Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a former congressman from Florida, has died at age 70, according to a social media post by his brother Mario on Monday.

Mario wrote:

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Lincoln Diaz-Balart. Defender of the silenced and oppressed, author of the democracy requirement for the lifting of U.S. sanctions against the Cuban dictatorship, and author of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, (NACARA). Lincoln's legacy of achievements will endure for generations, and continues through the work of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHILI) which he co-founded in 2003.

Diaz-Balart was a Cuban refugee and helped fight against the regime there in an attempt to restore democracy.

He served first in the Florida legislature and then in Congress from 1993 to 2011.

The post did not give a cause of death.

A public mass in his honor will be held in the coming weeks.