Mirta Francisca de la Caridad Díaz-Balart y Gutiérrez (born 30 September 1928) was the first wife of Fidel Castro. They married in 1948, had one son together, and divorced in 1955.

Biography

She was the daughter of América Gutiérrez and

Rafael José Díaz-Balart Rafael José Díaz-Balart (c. 1899 – 1985), was a Cuban politician and mayor of the town of Banes. With his wife América Gutiérrez, he was the father of Rafael Díaz-Balart and progenitor of the Díaz-Balart family, an American political fami ...

, a prominent Cuban politician and mayor of the town of

Banes, Cuba Banes is a municipality and city in the Holguín Province of Cuba. Banes was an important area for the native Taino people before the conquest by Columbus. The town of Banes is visited by tourists from Guardalavaca as it is the nearest town to ...

. She was a philosophy student at the

University of Havana The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the firs ...

, when she met and married Fidel. Castro and Diaz-Balart married on 11 October 1948, honeymooned in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and divorced seven years later in 1955 (while Castro was in prison following a failed attack on the

Moncada Barracks The Moncada Barracks was a military barracks in Santiago de Cuba, named after General Guillermo Moncada, a hero of the Cuban War of Independence. On 26 July 1953, the barracks was the site of an armed attack by a small group of revolutionaries ...

). They had one child, a son, Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart (1949–2018). After the divorce, Castro was not granted custody of their son. Instead, Fidel Jr. was estranged from his father until he stayed with him after a visit in Mexico, prior to his father's return to lead the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

. In 1956, Díaz-Balart married Emilio Núñez Blanco (1925–2006), the son of a former Cuban Ambassador to the UN,

Emilio Núñez Portuondo Emilio Núñez Portuondo (September 13, 1898, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. – August 19, 1978, in Panama City, Panama) was a Cuban politician, lawyer, and diplomat. He was the 13th Prime Minister of Cuba in 1958. He received the Nation ...

. The couple lived with her children at Havana's Tarará beach resort. Díaz-Balart lived in

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

with her family after 1959, the year in which Castro's revolution succeeded. She was deprived of the company of her son for many years as he studied in Cuba and the Soviet Union. The '' Miami Herald'' claimed in 2000 that she was still living in Spain, and that occasional visits to Cuba were arranged by Raúl Castro, her former brother-in-law. By 2018, the year in which her son Fidelito committed suicide, she was reportedly once again living in Cuba at age 90. Díaz-Balart is the aunt of anti-Castro Republican Party

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Mario Díaz-Balart Mario Rafael Díaz-Balart Caballero (; born September 25, 1961) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 25th congressional district. A Republican, he was elected in 2002, and his district includes much of so ...

() and his brother, former U.S. Congressman

Lincoln Díaz-Balart Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart (born Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart y Caballero; August 13, 1954) is a Cuban-American attorney and politician. He was the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previousl ...

, and TV anchor

José Díaz-Balart José Díaz-Balart Caballero (born November 7, 1960) is a Cuban-American journalist and television anchorman. On September 7, 2021, Diaz-Balart stepped down as anchor of the weeknight editions of Noticias Telemundo. He is currently anchoring a n ...

. She is the sister of the painter

Waldo Díaz-Balart Waldo Díaz-Balart y Gutiérrez (born February 10, 1931) is a Cuban painter and sculptor currently living in Madrid, Spain. Biography Born in Banes, Cuba, Díaz-Balart is the son of the mayor of Banes, Rafael José Díaz-Balart. Díaz-Balart st ...

and

Rafael Díaz-Balart Rafael Lincoln Díaz-Balart y Gutiérrez (January 17, 1926 – May 6, 2005) was a Cuban politician. Díaz-Balart served as Majority Leader of the Cuban House of Representatives and Deputy Secretary of Interior (1952-1954) during the presid ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz-Balart, Mirta Living people Fidel Castro family Mirta Cuban women 1928 births Cuban expatriates in Spain