Mirta Díaz-Balart, Fidel Castro’s first wife who supported him as he rose to power in Cuba but fled after the communist takeover, died in Spain at the age of 95, the Washington Post reports. Díaz-Balart and Castro married in 1948, honeymooning in New York City. She was the aunt of Republican Florida Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart.
A member of a once-prominent Cuban family, Díaz-Balart divorced Castro after her husband led failed attacks on military barracks and was imprisoned. She married the pre-revolutionary Cuban ambassador to the UN, ultimately moving to Madrid, but she would in visit Cuba in trips arranged by her former brother-in-law Raoul Castro.