Cuba has had an unexpected influencer for a few months now: his name is Sandro Castro, and yes, he is Fidel's nephew. On his Instagram profile, socialist revolution and guerrillas give way to cat-filtered videos, dance routines, while holding the famous Cristal beer (filmed by girls with sensual movements).
The author is always Sandro, who describes himself as a “content creator” on his account and has over 120,000 followers. Reactions to the videos and photos are mixed, with numerous comments: some encourage him to become president, others mock the family connection, surprised by the lightness of the content.
The online audience is divided; and taking root in Cuba, Sandro and his appearances are certainly very talked about. But who is Sandro Castro? The 33-year-old was born in 1992 when Fidel was 65 and still politically active: it was the height of what was known as Cuba's "special period", a historical period marked by rationing, energy cuts and measures aimed at addressing a severe economic crisis.
During that period, relations with Russia were damaged, ties with former friends were severed, and new diplomatic alliances were formed. Today, the political landscape has changed, but the overall scenario remains complex. And negative: in Cuba, power outages are frequent, medicine is hard to find, inflation is very high, gasoline is scarce or prohibitively expensive, and the issue of immigrants remains an ongoing issue.
In this context, Sandro's profile cannot fail to arouse curiosity, especially considering that Fidel, throughout his life, had always tried to maintain a certain level of privacy for himself and his family. The nephew is the son of Rebecca Arteaga and Alexis Castro Soto del Valle, a telecommunications engineer born to Dalia Soto del Valle, Fidel's second wife, with whom he had five children.
Fidel's figure has always attracted controversial opinions, and many have accused him of being a dictator who led the country to ruin (an accusation also made in certain comments under Sandro's posts). The stories range from a luxurious lifestyle to shoe-hole stories, such as those recounted by writer Norberto Fuentes, who is close to the family. He leaves little room for doubt about their standard of living.
Antonio, one of Fidel's sons, was photographed on a yacht in Turkey and claimed to have booked five suites at one of the most exclusive hotels. His son, Tony, who is said to be a model (and bears a striking physical resemblance to his grandfather), has a private social media profile, but it is full of leaked photos showing luxury yachts, fancy dinners, expensive cars and trips. And then there are the other members of the first family with lobsters on their plates and Louis Vuitton bags under their arms.
Sandro, with his public account and his photos posing in front of luxury cars, has so far offered the most complete access to his private life, allowing us not only to follow his days and interests closely, but also – literally – to share them. Hence, the late-night parties, private events during the pandemic and wild birthdays. All this, while citizens across the country are without electricity or experiencing serious financial difficulties.
Sandro's Cuba is profoundly different from Fidel's Cuba: El País reports the comments of several Cubans who, in interviews, highlight the privileges of an elite that are not shared by ordinary residents, who struggle to live with dignity.
“These people are the demonstration of a class that has used the justification of social justice only to establish its own dynastic privilege,” Juan Pablo Peña told the Spanish newspaper. “My father once told me: ‘Cuba has become exactly what Fidel never wanted; what we see is a grotesque satire of Castroism.’ Now, I understand that he was trying to defend something that was wrong from the beginning.”
(BalkanWeb)
