‘Never stopped fighting for freedom': Hundreds honor Lincoln Díaz-Balart at memorial mass

Miami Herald

08-03-2025

Inside a packed church hundreds gathered on Saturday to honor the life and legacy of Lincoln Díaz-Balart, the Cuban-American Republican politician and former congressman who died on Monday after a battle with cancer.
A memorial Mass for Díaz-Balart was held at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Miami, drawing dozens of high-profile attendees, including his brothers — U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart and NBC News anchor José Díaz-Balart — as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Mourners wept, but they also laughed, sang, and prayed, finding solace in one another as they remembered the Havana-born politician who fled Cuba with his family in December 1958.
His family sat in the front row, wiping away tears throughout the service. Rubio, seated in the adjacent pew, received thanks throughout the service from many different speakers for attending.
For those who knew and loved Diaz-Balart, it was his lifelong fight for Cuba's freedom and democracy that remained central even in his passing.
At moments during the Mass, members of the public could be heard calling out, 'Cuba Libre.'
'I admired him because he was a fighter,' Sen. Rick Scott told reporters outside the church. 'He fought for liberty and freedom in Cuba and all of Latin America. Unfortunately, in his lifetime, we didn't see freedom and democracy in Cuba, which is what he wanted. So it's too bad.'
Díaz-Balart's crowning career achievement was his role in shaping U.S. policy toward Cuba. In 1996, alongside fellow Cuban-American lawmakers Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Bob Menendez, he helped craft the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, also known as the Helms-Burton Act. It established three conditions for lifting the U.S. embargo on Cuba: the release of all political prisoners, the legalization of political parties and independent press, and the scheduling of free elections under international supervision.
On Saturday Daniel read aloud the names of Cuban political prisoners, underscoring his father's belief that their names should never be forgotten.
'You're a special lad'
The eulogies were delivered in a mix of English and Spanish by his brothers, his son Daniel, and Ana Carbonell — a longtime aide whom Daniel described as 'the sister my father never had.'
'He believed wholeheartedly that we were social workers, and as social workers, we needed to care for the entirety of the people,' Carbonell said.
She recalled a story of Díaz-Balart helping a homeless man who came to his office demanding to speak with him. Instead of turning him away, he provided him with resources to obtain identification and secure housing.
For Carbonell, three words defined his life: Purpose, principle and passion.
'Lincoln knew that our time here on Earth is short,' she said. 'He was determined to make it count. He knew that his purpose came from God.'
José Díaz-Balart took the congregation back to July 2, 1965, his then 10-year-old brother, Lincoln, and 14-year-old brother Rafael, were living in Madrid. They managed to get front-row tickets to a Beatles concert, and the next morning, they tracked down the band's hotel.
One by one, the Beatles emerged. Ringo Starr walked right past them, followed by the rest of the band. Then John Lennon, Lincoln's favorite member, stopped.
Lennon looked at Lincoln and said, 'You're special, lad. Study hard, work hard,' before hugging him. As the band exited, Lincoln even held limousine door open for Lennon.
Decades later, in his final days, Diaz-Balart still spoke of that brief moment, seeing it as a reaffirmation of what his parents — his father, Rafael Lincoln, a power broker who rose to the presidency of the Cuban Senate under Fulgencio Batista, and his mother, Hilda Caballero Brunet — had always told him: 'Every single person is special.'
One of his father's favorite tales
Mario Díaz-Balart took time in his eulogy to thank first responders and elected officials in attendance.
'Thank you for your presence and honoring us,' he said.
'Lincoln's deep and unwavering love for the United States of America and for the members of our community was only equal to his love and passion for those suffering under tyranny,' he said. 'Lincoln never stopped fighting for freedom.'
Daniel was the last to speak, hugging his uncle on the way to the podium, sharing his father's love of storytelling. One of the tales he heard countless times was his father's near-death experience on a ship.
At just 10 years old — the same year he met the Beatles — Lincoln ventured onto the exterior deck of a ship his family was traveling on during a violent storm. As the vessel rocked in the freezing darkness, he lost his footing while descending a set of stairs. He slid across the deck, fearing he would be thrown into the Atlantic.
'He screamed at the top of his lungs,' Daniel recounted, adding that he hadn't fully grasped the significance of that ship until later in life. It was the SS United States — often compared to the Titanic — which still holds the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing. Decommissioned in 1969, the ship sat dormant for decades before being set on a nearly 2,000-mile journey to a new home in the newly renamed Gulf of America, Daniel said.
Daniel shared how he visited his father for the last time the previous Wednesday at his Key Biscayne apartment. As they gazed out over the ocean, they saw the SS United States on its final voyage, glowing in the sunset.
'It was a beautiful afternoon,' he said.