Lis Cuesta Peraza, wife of the Cuban ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel and "not the first lady" of Cuba, once again made headlines this Monday upon her arrival in Honduras with the president, during an official visit to attend the inauguration of Xiomara Castro as the new pro tempore president of CELAC.
Beyond the diplomatic purposes of the trip, what caught the most attention was the accessory that Cuesta Peraza chose to complete his outfit: luxurious Italian brand Gucci sunglasses, model "Square Acetate and Metal Sunglasses," valued at around 300 euros, which is more than seven times the monthly minimum wage in Cuba.
To this amount, one would need to add the cost of installing polarized magnifying lenses like those worn by the official from the Ministry of Culture in Tegucigalpa, which could add another 500 euros to the bill. The sequence of her descent from the private jet she traveled on allowed us to see how the lenses of her luxurious glasses darkened.
The image of Cuesta Peraza, smiling and wearing expensive designer glasses, quickly went viral on social media and independent media, stirring outrage among users like @Taoro8, who emphasized that "Cuba proudly showcases to the world its latest batch of communists, addicted to the luxury brands of wild capitalism."
In a country where most citizens can barely access basic products like bread, coffee, or medicine, the luxury displayed by the so-called "not first lady" has reignited the debate on the cynicism of the Cuban power elites.
Yes, I am a communist! So what?! Is it a utopia, is socialism still under construction, will I not see it come to fruition? So what?! It's better to think and fight for EVERYONE than to be selfish. And that is communism. I celebrate the Communist Manifesto,” wrote Cuesta Peraza in February 2023, commemorating the 175th anniversary of the text by Marx and Engels.
Socialism for the people, capitalism for the elite?
The contradiction is glaring: while the official discourse of the regime insists on the need to practice “creative resistance” and calls on the population to “heroically sacrifice themselves” in the name of socialism, its main leaders live surrounded by capitalist luxuries.
In its propaganda, the government promotes a Cuba of equity, austerity, and revolutionary principles, but the reality of its closest leaders reveals a model of class privileges that are unattainable for the majority.
Cuesta Peraza is not a stranger to controversy due to her ostentatious tastes. In February 2025, during an international congress held in Havana on "sustainable human development," she was seen wearing a watch by Aigner valued at 549 euros.
Earlier, in December 2022, while defending her doctoral thesis "Pedagogical Model for the Export of Academic Services in the Paradiso Agency," the event organizer from the Ministry of Culture (MINCULT) wore a Cartier watch, which costs between 5,000 and 12,000 dollars, depending on the model.
Díaz-Canel's Rolex and the premium cigars
Miguel Díaz-Canel, for his part, has also been at the center of controversy due to his fondness for high-value accessories.
In August 2024, the leader appointed by Raúl Castro was seen in official photos welcoming the Cuban delegation returning from the Paris Olympic Games with a Rolex GMT Master II on his wrist, priced at around 13,000 dollars.
Years earlier, during a visit to Santiago de Cuba in 2019, he wore a TAG Heuer watch costing $1,750, another imported luxury that is difficult to justify from his platform of “perfected socialism”.
Most recently, in March 2025, Díaz-Canel was spotted at the XXV Festival del Habano, one of the most exclusive events in the country, lighting a cigar during a charity auction that raised over 4.6 million euros. What was the highest representative of the regime doing at a luxury event aimed at wealthy foreigners while basic tobacco is scarce on the island?
The son of the "not first lady": Strolling with Ana de Armas and luxury in Madrid
The privileged lifestyle is not limited to the presidential couple. Manuel Anido Cuesta, son of Cuesta Peraza, stepson and alleged "advisor" to Díaz-Canel, has become a media figure in Spain due to his relationship with actress Ana de Armas and his high standard of living.
In November 2024, he was spotted on the streets of Madrid , which included a Moncler jacket priced at 1,950 euros and .
The young man lives in an exclusive neighborhood of the Spanish capital, frequents luxury restaurants —such as Numa Pompilio in the Salamanca district— and has been photographed with the actress on getaways through Italy,
Structural poverty and political misery
While the Cuban "royal family" flaunts Swiss watches, Italian sunglasses, and dines at five-star restaurants, millions of Cubans are facing a chronic shortage of food, medicine, transportation, and basic services.
Inflation, the devaluation of the Cuban peso, and the increasing dollarization of the economy have further impoverished the citizenry, forcing many to emigrate or rely on remittances to survive.
Far from taking responsibility for the economic debacle, the regime blames external factors—such as the U.S. embargo—and continues to promote an epic narrative of resistance.
While Díaz-Canel calls for filling the squares to celebrate the "resilience of the people" and other slogans of communist propaganda, the sacrifices demanded of the nation do not seem to apply to "heirs" of the regime like Sandro Castro, or to those holding high positions within the upper echelons of the so-called "continuity" in power.
Hypocrisy without disguise
The episode of the Gucci glasses is not merely an aesthetic oversight. It is, in itself, a political statement. It serves as further evidence that power in Cuba has transformed into a "revolutionary aristocracy", whose access to luxury brands, travel, and privileges stands in stark contrast to the daily deprivations of the people.
This normalization of luxury in the discourse and image of the regime's leaders demonstrates a complete disconnection between the communist rulers and the national reality. It's no longer just cynicism: it's an insult. It's looking at the camera while wearing 300 euro glasses and smiling, while millions stand in line to buy a package of chicken or a pill for a fever.
Until when?
Cuesta Peraza's landing in Honduras, wearing Gucci glasses and a haughty smile, has been a perfect portrait of the current political moment in Cuba: leaders shielded by privilege, masking a deeply capitalist and exclusionary power structure with socialist rhetoric.
Ironies of life: while Cuesta Peraza proclaimed his fervent communism in 2023 and declaimed like a devoted martyr who perhaps would not live to “see socialism,” what he does manage to clearly visualize —with luxurious clarity— is the reflection of a power fortified with privileges.
It is done behind the dark lenses of nearly 300 euro Gucci glasses, which not only filter the sun but also the reality of the Cuban people, who have been condemned to a blindness imposed by the hypocritical discourse of their leaders.
Perhaps, in the end, what Cuesta mPeraza prefers not to see is the "perfected socialism" created by her husband, and the indignation it stirs in the people because of her clan's ostentation, for which she chooses the finest polarized glasses on the market.
As they insist on "perfecting socialism", the regime's “oligarchs” also refine the art of disconnection, ostentation, and hypocrisy. And the Cuban people, once again, foot the bill, wondering "how much longer?"
Filed under:
