With just over 120,000 followers on Instagram, one of the grandchildren of dictator Fidel Castro (1926-2016) has become one of the most commented figures of the family in recent times. Unlike what you might imagine, your fame is not related to ideological activism such as your grandfather’s, but to humorous videos published on their social networks, which in fact have not taken laughs from Cuban citizens and communist “revolutionary” island.
In one of the clips that has viralized in recent days, Sandro Castro appears inside an old domestic tank, used by Cubans to store water during the long periods of scarcity, from where he mocks the catastrophic situation of the island ruled by leftist Miguel Diáz-Canel, considered pupil of Fidel and Raúl Castro.
“There is no better pool than the ghetto tank,” he says in the video, accompanied by a US flag in the background, a provocative gesture that contradicts the official rhetoric of the Cuban opposition regime to the United States.
This is just one of the videos he recently published on his Instagram profile. The influencer also jokes with the constant blackouts and the lack of food on the island, some of the effects of the long crisis generated by the mismanagement of the communist regime. The type of humor used by the Castro family member shows a complete disconnection with the country’s reality, which has been sunk for years in misery.
For some, the next president; For others, a disfigure of the Castrism
Sandro Castro, 33, uses the nickname “Vampirach” on social networks – in reference to a vampire – one of the characters he “plays” on the internet. Some users who support the influences of the influencer even call him Cuba’s “next president” in the comments. Meanwhile, among the pro-regime activists, the heir of the Castro family is considered a disfigurement of the movement started by his grandfather.
In addition to the comic publications that ridicule the regime and disrespect the population of the island, Fidel’s grandson often exhibits a life of ostentation, with refined cigars from Habanos, his Mercedes-Benz and trips on private jets alongside his friends. In photos on social networks, the influencer also appears wearing clothes from American brands, like Nike.
Sandro was born and raised in Cuba. He is the son of Rebecca Arteaga and telecommunications engineer Alexis Castro Soto del Valle, one of Fidel’s five children with Dalia Soto del Valle, his last woman, with whom she lived a discreet life, far from the spotlight.
In an interview with The countryCuban history teacher and expert in the historical process of Castrism Sergio López Rivero explained that this discretion around the Castro family is one of the “fundamental wires that shape the construction of revolutionary myth in Cuba.”
According to the expert, the goal of Fidel and family members to hide his luxuries and maintaining details of private life away from the press was not only with the end of protection, “but also to give legitimacy to the regime, built on assumptions of trust and certainty.”
According to Rivero, to this day, few Cubans are aware of how Punto Cero is, a residential complex located in the Playa neighborhood of Havana, where Fidel’s family resides, including Sandro. With his posts on the networks, he became the family member who gave more details of how the Castro live.
