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, who served in the Florida House, the Florida Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives, died on Monday, according to his brother Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart. He was 70.

Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute Chair Lincoln Díaz-Balart, who served in both chambers of the Florida Legislature before winning a long-held seat in Congress, has died. He was 70. Díaz-Balart’s brother, U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, shared word of his death Monday.