While the majority of Cubans struggle with poverty and regular shortages, one individual’s life has become a topic of controversy; Sandro Castro, the grandson of Cuba’s revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. In direct contrast to the lives of the common citizen, Sandro tends to flaunt his lavish lifestyle on social media.
Cuba’s financial crisis is deep-rooted. The median monthly income is a paltry $16.50, and life is characterized by price inflation and shortages of commodities like food, gasoline, and medicine. Power cuts of 16 to 20 hours are routine. Against this background, Sandro’s updates of yachts, luxury automobiles, and costly parties have been widely criticized.
In his videos, Sandro has made fun of the problems in the country. He has made jokes about internet fees, poked fun at long blackouts, and made sarcastic remarks about the scarcity of chicken. At one point, he stood next to a U.S. flag and invited Donald Trump to help Cuban immigrants. All of these stunts have elicited angry responses on social media.
The backlash picked up after he joked about Havana’s power outages in a recent video. His tone-deaf joking made many users angry, particularly given the struggles of most Cubans.
Sandro is the son of Alexis Castro Soto del Valle and Rebecca Arteaga. His father is one of five sons Fidel had with Dalia Soto del Valle, who stayed with Fidel until he died. Sandro grew up in Punto Cero, a very secured and secluded area, where he had privileges way from the daily hardships of most Cubans.
While his precise sources of income are unknown, Sandro is estimated to make money from operating well-known nightlife spots such as EFE and Fantaxy. There is even rumor of money from social media and inheritance, but none of this has been confirmed.
For others, Sandro symbolizes the long-standing injustices embedded within the system his grandfather used to create. Juan Pablo Pena, a young Cuban who was interviewed by El Pais, stated, “The grandson of the dictator who has become an influencer is the ultimate stage in the story of a promise that could have been redemptive and ended up being parasitic. Sandro is not only privileged, he’s a grotesque satire of Castroism. Sandro is the result of a failed social experiment that won’t die.”
He went on to describe how Sandro’s situation is not an anomaly but a mirror of what the Cuban system has become, a system where principles of justice and fairness have been employed to accumulate individual power and transmit it down like a generational heirloom.
Public feeling is split. Critics of the government view Sandro’s conduct as boorish, accusing him of ridiculing the struggles of regular people. However, even some government allies feel he does not reflect the kind of values that were once represented by the Castro name.
