Sandro Castro, grandson of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, sparked controversy on social media again after posting a video in which he stated: “If you want to be healthy, don’t exceed 10 beers. But don’t stop having your nine daily either.”
In the video, he appears wearing a black robe with red crosses and a plastic bag as a hat, while offering what he calls his "sacred blessing of every Friday," an eccentric ritual that, far from being amusing, has sparked outrage.
The apparent joke actually reveals a profound disconnect from the economic reality of Cuba. According to online sales platforms like Micerveza.com, a 330 ml can of Cristal beer costs approximately $0.66 USD.
Following Sandro's "advice" —nine beers a day— would lead to a monthly expense of $178.20 USD. At the exchange rate of the informal market, about 370 CUP per dollar, that amounts to 65,934 Cuban pesos, more than 31 times the minimum monthly wage on the island, which is 2,100 pesos.
This type of content is not new on the profile of the dictator's grandson. In the past, he has starred in several reels where he appears drinking Cristal, showcasing refrigerators filled with green cans, and repeating phrases like “that medicine cannot be missed”, among other inconsistencies and references that objectify women and demonstrate his disdain for the common people, so typical of the aporophobic elite of the Cuban regime.
None of these materials clarify whether they are paid advertisements, which suggests a covert promotional strategy in favor of the state-owned company Cervecería Bucanero S.A., whose leaders are Eduardo Lacerda, director of Cerbuco Brewing Inc., and Nelson Arias Moreno, president of the state-owned Corporation Alimentaria S.A. (CORALSA).
For many Cubans, the message is insulting. According to data from the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, only 24% of the population receives remittances from abroad. The remaining 76% survives on state salaries that are well below the cost of living, amid blackouts, shortages, and lack of supplies.
Eighty-three percent of those who do not receive external assistance have had to reduce their daily food intake, and fifty-eight percent have stopped eating breakfast altogether.
In that context, the image of a power heir promoting the daily consumption of an expensive product is not only provocative but also a cruel mockery to millions of families who, amid food shortages and the collapse of public health services, struggle to keep their members healthy.
While the people line up to obtain meager and expensive food, Sandro continues his toasts to the sun accompanied by Cristal beer. He can afford to spill liters of beer and laugh at the Cubans because he has the protection of the repressive machinery of the totalitarian regime established by his grandfather.
But nothing is more certain and unchanging than "one day follows another," and the day will come when there will be no "cristach" to bring joy back to the "vampirach," and the “young revolutionary” who mocks the people will learn the lesson that it seems they did not teach him within the mafia family of the Castros.
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