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Why Banes Does Not Miss the Diaz-Balarts nor the United Fruit Co., 10/22/08 Alberto Jones A Cuba in Diaz Balart's Image or that of Today's Miami by Alberto Jones, 1998 Articles/Artículos Links/Enlaces

Mario Lincoln Mario and Lincoln Diaz Balart With two brothers, Mario and Lincoln, as present and former congressmen for South Florida, the Diaz Balarts are now among the leaders of the Miami Plantocracy in exile. Their grandfather Rafael was the Batistiano mayor of Banes, a colony of United Fruit Company whom he served as corporate counsel, and he was a member of the Cuban House of Representatives along with their uncle. Their father, also named Rafael, served as the majority leader in the Cuban House of Representatives from 1954-58 and ran the dreaded Ministry of the Interior as deputy minister under Batista. When it came time to move out, he took his goons and rackets with him to Florida. His sons now have ties to the greatest narcotics traffickers around, the government of Colombia under Uribe and Duque. From Wikipedia: [Lincoln] "Diaz-Balart plays a prominent role in the Cuban-American lobby, and was active in the attempt by relatives of Elian Gonzalez to gain custody of the six year old from his Cuban father.[10] During his career Diaz-Balart has advocated a naval blockade to be deployed against Cuba,[11] also calling for the United States to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro.[12] Diaz-Balart has defended Velentin Hernández, convicted of murdering Luciano Nieves, a fellow Cuban exile who supported negotiations with the Cuban government,[13] and lobbied extensively for the release and pardon of Cuban exile Orlando Bosch, who has been accused of involvement in the 1976 bombing of Cubana Flight 455, helping organize an "Orlando Bosch day" to gain support for his release.[14] He also attempted to block Jimmy Carter's visit to the island in 2002.[15]" -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Diaz-Balart The Diaz Balarts also have a long history of voter fraud going back to Cuba, including this recent episode in 2008: "Two weeks ago, after absentee ballots arrived in the mail, a gentleman calling himself “Juan” visited several supporters of Raul Martinez, the Democratic former mayor of Hialeah who is challenging Lincoln Diaz-Balart. “Juan” offered the voters assistance in filling out their ballots, which he then promised to deliver to the elections office. “Juan” had been dispatched to pro-Martinez household by callers claiming to work for Martinez. In fact neither “Juan” nor his dispatchers work for Martinez nor the Democratic Party—and no one knows what happened to the ballots. The Miami Herald traced the phone number given to the duped residents to a consultant who works for Diaz-Balart. One duped voter summoned Jeff Garcia, the campaign manager for Martinez, who was able to videotape “Juan” as well as his car and license plate. Another mysterious visitor named “Angel” purporting to be from the office of Miami-Dade’s election supervisor was also videotaped. Cornered by a Martinez volunteer, “Angel” said he was employed by the Diaz-Balart office." -- Ann Louise Bardach, The fate of the U.S. Embargo of Cuba rests on down and dirty campaigns in South Florida, 10/2008 Thanks to the long planned shift of the Plantocracy in support of afrocuban dissidents, they are backers of Vicki Ruiz-Labrit, the Miami spokeswoman for the Citizens Committee for Racial Integration in Cuba, as shown in this 2001 House speech in favor of of afrocuban dissident Oscar Biscet, where Lincoln Diaz-Balart directs attention to Ruiz Labrit for her activities in support of Cuban political prisoners and gives out her phone number. For an important perspective from another inhabitant of their home town Banes, Dr. Alberto Jones, who had to endure the rule of the Diaz Balarts, see: Why Banes Does Not Miss the Diaz-Balarts nor the United Fruit Co., 10/22/08 Alberto Jones A Cuba in Diaz Balart's Image or that of Today's Miami by Alberto Jones, 1998

July 20, 2001 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE H4369

Articles/Artículos

In partnership with the U.S., Colombia is on a solid path to stability and prosperity  9/26/2019 Miami Herald: by Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart - "President Ivan Duque has continued this progress. Since his inauguration in August 2018, Colombia has eradicated 6,253 hectares — 15,450 acres — of coca fields a month, which is a more than 50 percent increase over the monthly rate during Colombia’s previous administration. Late last year, Colombia interdicted 457 metric tons of cocaine and coca base, which is about half of Colombia’s estimated total cocaine production."

Trump to put 'game changer' pressure on Cuba, says Mario Diaz-Balart  1/21/2019 Washington Examiner: "President Trump is getting ready to place an unprecedented amount of economic pressure on Cuba’s communism regime and some of the non-U.S. companies that have invested there, according to a leading Republican lawmaker. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has signaled that Americans who decades ago had property stolen by Fidel Castro’s regime and sold to other foreign companies may soon be able to sue those companies to recoup their losses. That will intensify financial pressure on the island government, according to Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, and have ripple effects for authoritarian states around the world. “This is a very, very big deal,” the Florida Republican and Cuban-American told the Washington Examiner. “I think really good things are coming from this. And so, you can't minimize the impact.”

Miami Congressman Diaz-Balart Posts Photo With Alt-Right "Proud Boy"  8/10/2018 Miami New Times: "The Proud Boy who met with Diaz-Balart describes himself online as a military veteran and National Rifle Association "certified pistol instructor." He's repeatedly taken photographs with Miami-Dade County Republican Party members and appears to be involved with Carla Spalding's campaign for Florida's 23rd Congressional District, a seat currently occupied by Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Spalding has been endorsed by Roger Stone and has appeared on InfoWars, so it's perhaps not surprising that her campaign seems to include a Proud Boy, as well."

As Algae Bloom Grew, Miami Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart Took $27,200 From Big Sugar  8/8/2018 Miami New Times: "From the beginning of June until early July, an algae bloom in Lake Okeechobee grew and grew until it covered 90 percent of the lake's surface. Then the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released water from the lake, letting the algae migrate to both coasts of Florida. The nasty, toxic sludge — caused in significant part by polluted runoff from sugar farms — has killed wildlife, lowered property values, and wrecked tourism. It's also made campaign contributions from the sugar giants a major political liability."

Congresistas cubano-americanos aplauden las sanciones de Donald Trump a Cuba pero dicen que esperaban fuesen más severas  11/9/2017 Isla Local: "“Está claro que las personas dentro de la burocracia que apoyan la política cubana de la administración anterior siguen socavando al presidente Trump”, aseguró el republicano Díaz-Balart."

'The Cubans are sh------ themselves' over Trump  12/3/2016 Miami Herald: "He’s 100 percent a freedom fighter,” said former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, whose Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute honored Pence in 2010. “He’s met with former political prisoners. He knows the issue.”

Castros’ Cocaine Conspiracy  4/15/2016 Mario Diaz-Balart: "Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) released the following statement after reports that Panamanian authorities discovered 401 kilos of cocaine en route from Cuba to Belgium. "The Castro regime has once again been caught red-handed violating international law and norms. This time, it reportedly was caught red-handed sending hundreds of kilos of cocaine to Belgium. This is only the latest in the Castro regime's long history of links to narco-trafficking."

Carlos Curbelo backers include a loanshark, a felon, a racist  8/20/2014 Political Cortadito: "In his bid for U.S. Congress, Miami-Dade School Board Member Carlos “Crybaby” Curbelo likes to bring out his GOP establishment endorsements over and over again and parade them in front of us: Jeb Bush, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart, Mitt Romney. But he has other endorsements or backers — contributors to his campaign coffers — that never make it to his mailers or his press releases. Maybe because he doesn’t feel as proud about them and their felonies, official abuses or falls from grace."

Diaz-Balart to sugar baron: Hey, Alfy, try crying for democracy in Cuba instead of lost mansion  2/6/2014 Naked Politics: "Outraged by a Washington Post report about Florida Crystals' Alfonso Fanjul appearing to sidle up to Cuba's regime, Republican Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Sen. Marco Rubio are hammering away at him. Meantime, Democratic Rep. Joe Garcia has held his fire."

50 YEARS AFTER THE ASSASSINATION OF KENNEDY The frustrated CIA and Chiefs of Staff coup  10/17/2013 Granma: by Gabriel Molina Franchossi - "It is not by chance that the most public defenders of the group of Cuban gangsters suspected of conspiring in the plot, are supported in eluding justice by Ileana Ros Lehtinen, Mario Díaz-Balart and a group of Congress members financed with resources that the government grants them in the name of freedom. Obama would seem to have forgotten that, right after his election, these ultra-conservatives refused to meet with him. Ileana Ros went so far as to refuse a telephone conversation with him. This group, which has the backing of the pro-Israeli lobby and the military-industrial complex, has hijacked U.S. Cuba policy, despite the fact that both civil and economic actors in U.S. society has stated that the normalization of relations is as important for the United States as it is for Cuba."

Press Release of CAFE's denouncement of Mario Diaz-Balart's attempt to dismantle advancements in U.S. Cuba policy  7/19/2013 CAFE por Cuba: "Section 124 would effectively dismantle the "people-to-people" licensing program, allowing American citizens to travel to Cuba for educational purposes, by defunding the program. These licenses have allowed U.S. citizens to legally visit Cuba and experience the island first-hand, ending their reliance on the skewed portrayals of Cuban reality by either the U.S. government or the corporate-controlled media."

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen slams Jay-Z, Beyonce  4/9/2013 Politico: "On Monday, Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department, asking for more information about the trip. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also wants the White House to provide more answers."

Beyonce, Jay-Z Cuba trip questioned  4/6/2013 Politico: "Two members of Congress from Florida are looking into how hip hop royals Beyonce and Jay-Z ended in Cuba this week. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart sent a letter to Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the Treasury Department, on Friday asking for more information about the celebrity couple’s trip, which coincided with their fifth wedding anniversary." Two charter members of the exiled plantocracy imposing their views again.

Los Díaz-Balart y “Mel” Martínez lograron callar a político preso  12/17/2011 Granma: "El exsenador puertorriqueño Jorge de Castro Font, ahora preso, renunció a su derecho a una vista preliminar en un caso pendiente de fraude, bajo el pretexto de que la prueba del Ministerio Público estaba "contaminada". Al utilizar este escape que le permite la ley, De Castro Font evita "mojar" públicamente a los excongresistas cubano-americanos Lincoln Díaz-Balart y Melquíades "Mel" Martínez que dimitieron sorpresivamente hace unos meses."

Díaz-Balart contra la familia cubana  12/14/2011 Cubaprofunda: "El representante republicano lucha en el Congreso de EEUU para restringir envíos de remesas y viajes a Cuba. Entretanto, La Habana da pasos para acercar a ambas naciones e invita a músicos y público de EEUU para que participen en el Festival Jazz Plaza. ¿Quién vencerá? ¿La politiquería o la cultura?"

Díaz-Balart contra la familia cubana  12/14/2011 Cuba Profunda: "El representante republicano lucha en el Congreso de EEUU para restringir envíos de remesas y viajes a Cuba. Entretanto, La Habana da pasos para acercar a ambas naciones e invita a músicos y público de EEUU para que participen en el Festival Jazz Plaza. ¿Quién vencerá? ¿La politiquería o la cultura?"

The Bono-Diaz Balart connection: a free Cuba, Dr. Biscet  6/30/2011 Miami Herald: "Bono has been personally lobbied on the Biscet's cause by Miami Rep. Mario Diaz Balart, who met with the rock star last week and last year to raise awareness of human-rights issues, Biscet and Orlando Zapata, another jailed activist who died in 2010 after staging a hunger strike on the island."

US Congressman Diaz-Balart Seeks to Punish Cuban-Americans  6/24/2011 Havana Times: "Puerto Rican legislator Rep. Serrano warned that we should not be trying to define what constitutes “family” because the scope varies among different ethnic groups and Virginia Democrat Rep. Moran decried the amendment as un-American and “totalitarian”… Florida Rep. Diaz-Balart said that remittances have become a huge cash windfall for the Cuban government, ignoring the fact that the money is helping the Cuban people to become less economically dependent on the government and that much of it has gone toward starting up small businesses."

Blacks bear the brunt of Cuba's brutality  2/28/2010 Miami Herald: "Zapata's ordeal is being spun from the other side of the coin, too -- the predominantly white and U.S.-based, right-wing anti-Castro opposition who clearly stand to score political points from the case of a black martyr. Righteous declarations can be expected from organizations such as Democracy Movement, the Cuban American National Foundation, the Cuban Liberty Council and, especially, the Cuban Democratic Directorate. Many Cuban civil-rights activists accuse these groups of working to corral and control the new internal opposition forces on behalf of interests linked to Cuba's former Jim Crow oligarchy. That's why they see U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart's ``indignation'' over Zapata's death, as much as president Raúl Castro's ``regrets,'' as a double farce. A staunch supporter of the tiny, white elite of wealth that was overthrown in 1959, Diaz-Balart can cry crocodile tears, but during his time in Congress his right-wing, pro-embargo agenda has only hindered the ability of black Cubans to improve their lot." [Some observers credit Alberto Jones and Claude Betancourt's articles for this historic turn against the Miami Plantocracy, unprecedented, to our knowledge, in any statements by Black Cuban dissident groups.]

Diaz-Balart reacts to the murder of Orlando Zapata Tamayo  2/25/2010 BigNews 

Diaz-Balart Brothers Shed Light on Crist Controversy  1/1/2010 Poder: "The Diaz-Balart brothers also have close relationships with Congressman Kendrick Meek (D-MIA), who has “followed their lead” and that of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on Cuba. Putney says the brothers felt that by endorsing Crist they'd betrayed Meek, who has consistently sat on the sidelines instead of endorsing fellow Democrats who have tried to run against the Cuban-America duo. That deference to Meek could also help explain their decision not to endorse Crist’s Republican contender, former House Speaker Marco Rubio."

Micheletti, vinculado al cartel de Cali, en una lista de narcos del ministerio de la Defensa  7/17/2009 Cubadebate: "Llama la atención que, hace unos días, un grupo de congresistas norteamericanos de extrema derecha encabezados por los representantes de la Florida, Mario y Lincoln Díaz-Balart, intentaron ensuciar el nombre del presidente constitucional Manuel Zelaya al solicitar del presidente Barack Obama que investigue su supuesta "vinculación con el narcotráfico", a través de la DEA. Obama ni constestó. Los Díaz-Balart tienen un viejo expediente de relaciones turbias con los círculos colombianos afiliados al narcotráfico."

Who does Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart represent?  5/27/2009 Progreso Weekly 

Vote Fraud Charges Fly In Diaz-Balart Contest For Congress  10/29/2008 MSNBC 

Ballots picked up, then disappear  10/25/2008 Miami Herald: "Hernandez said he worries his ballot was stolen or destroyed. He and two other voters told The Miami Herald that the man was dispatched by a woman caller who also said she worked for Martinez. But the phone number cited by the voters traces back to a consultant working for Martinez's rival, Republican congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart."

Challenges to Diaz-Balarts draw national attention  9/27/2008 Miami Herald 

Diaz-Balart Meets with Colombian Defense Minister, Urges Free Trade Agreemen  7/23/2008 Mario Diaz Balart: "“The United States Congress must stand in solidarity with President Alvaro Uribe and his democratically elected government,” said Diaz-Balart."

Diaz Balarts & Ros-Lehtinen condemn FBI for seeking evidence in Posada case  5/9/2007 Havana Journal: "South Florida’s three Cuban-American members of Congress condemned the Justice Department Thursday for sending Miami FBI agents to Cuba to collect evidence against Luis Posada Carriles in a hotel bombing that killed an Italian in Havana a decade ago. ‘By asking a state sponsor of terrorism for `evidence’ regarding terrorism, the Bush administration Justice Department demonstrates a shockingly profound ignorance of the nature of terrorism, of its origins and its state sponsors,’’ U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and brothers Lincoln and Mario D?az-Balart said in a statement."

Diaz Balart and Ros-Lehtinen sought freedom for terrorist Luis Posada Carriles  7/3/2005 Havana Journal: "Two years ago, when anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles was imprisoned here for his role in an alleged plot to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro, South Florida’s three Cuban-American members of Congress lobbied the Panamanian government to pardon him. But today, with Posada in the United States seeking political asylum after sneaking into the country illegally, the same lawmakers—Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen—have remained quietly on the sidelines."

Frank J. Gonzalez: the only challenger opposing Lincoln Diaz-Balart on November 2nd, 2004.  8/29/2004 Political Gateway 

A political assassination attempt  8/18/2004 Radio Progreso: "On Aug. 11, in a news story headlined “Heinz-Kerry charity assailed, defended,” The Herald reported that three Miami Republican Congresspeople – Lincoln Díaz-Balart, his brother Mario, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen – charged that “charitable donations from Teresa Heinz-Kerry's fortune ... may have indirectly helped the Cuban government link up to the Internet over a decade ago.”

Keep the Cuba embargo? Yes By Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart  7/14/2004 KRT 

Surfacing the Empire's Dirty Secrets - Subverting Brazil and Cuba  4/17/2004 CounterPunch: "I detect evidence, however, that Cuba may have employed some of its sophisticated biological weapons here in the United States. Observe the strange behavior of Lincoln Diaz Balart, (R-FL) – called “Low IQ Lincoln” by some of his colleagues. In March, Diaz Balart called on the President to assassinate Fidel Castro. Sources in the national security apparatus said they had not carried out any tests on Diaz-Balart’s cerebral cortex to determine whether he might have succumbed to some sophisticated bio-brain vapor that Cuban covert operatives had managed to slip into his breakfast cereal. His colleagues found it otherwise difficult to explain how a Member of Congress could otherwise be so oblivious to the law and to the implications of advocating such actions. That neither the media nor Congress responded in shock to Diaz Balart’s remarks, or Bolton’s unfounded charges, attests to the state of imperial denial under Emperor Bush."

Ileana, Lincoln, Money and the Media  3/7/2003 Radio Progresso, Miami: "The Miami Herald on Feb. 27 ran an interesting story that was translated and then mutilated by El Nuevo Herald. We wonder why. The story (“Congressional push for Latin media merger”) said in its opening paragraph that “U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Díaz-Balart have urged government regulators to approve a controversial $2 billion merger of leading Spanish-language broadcasters Univisión and Hispanic Broadcasting Corp.” The two legislators are Republicans from South Florida."

Diaz-balart Draws Map For Success  4/29/2001 Sun Sentinel: "Reapportionment battles of the past have forged unusual alliances -- like the 1992 coalition of white Republicans and black Democrats to force the creation of several black-majority congressional districts around the state… He also credits Diaz-Balart with a knack for working with different racial and ethnic groups."

A Cuba in Diaz Balart's Image or that of Today's Miami  6/1/1998 La Alborada 

 
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