Balart, a Cuban-American Republican politician who defended immigrants and fiercely opposed Fidel Castro’s regime to help restore democracy in his native Cuba while serving for almost two decades in Congress representing South Florida,

Balart, a Cuban American who fought tirelessly for a free Cuba and who spent 18 years in Congress, has died after battling cancer.

Balart, a prominent Cuban American figure and a longtime Republican politician who represented South Florida in Congress for nearly 20 years, died on Monday morning from cancer. He was 70.News of his death was made public by his younger brothers Rep.