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With a name that seems to be straight out of a Soviet manual, Marxlenin Pérez Valdés is not only a doctor of Philosophical Sciences and a professor of Marxism at the University of Havana, but also the wife of Fidel Castro Smirnov, the grandson of the late dictator Fidel Castro Ruz and the son of his firstborn, Fidel Ángel Castro Díaz-Balart.
This familial connection to the historical power structure of Cuba is complemented by his open admiration for Miguel Díaz-Canel and his wife Lis Cuesta, with whom he shares smiling photos on his social media.
Host of the state television program "Cuadrando la Caja," Marxlenin has recently found herself at the center of controversy following a disastrous episode in which an agricultural official claimed that Cubans should eat less rice and potatoes because they are "not indigenous products." The scene sparked ridicule, outrage, and memes across the country, but the host, rather than staying silent, stepped up to defend the guest and to challenge his critics.
In a Facebook post, where she disabled comments, she referred to "worms" those who questioned her statements and recommended watching "the full program so as not to be told tall tales (like rice)." The irony of the comment was enough to make her a trending topic, while thousands of Cubans reminded her that rice is part of the national identity.
From "Balancing the Cash Register" to the Cult of Fidel Castro
It's not the first time that Marxlenin has been at the center of a controversy. A few weeks ago, she signed an article in Cubadebate titled “It Was Worth Living in Fidel's Century,” in which she called to “turn to the horse, to the genius”, as she referred to the dictator, to confront the current crisis in Cuba. According to her, Castro's “legacy” remains the country's “revolutionary” compass.
The text, which coincided with the anniversary of the leader's speech at the University of Havana, was met with a wave of criticism and sarcasm on social media. Many Cubans seized the opportunity to remind him that the "genius" he proposes as a solution was precisely the one who left the country in ruins.
The irony does not go unnoticed: while Cubans are struggling to obtain rice or a piece of cassava, the wife of Fidel Castro's grandson asks for faith in the legacy of the man who sank the national economy and in the socialism that, 67 years later, is still "balancing the books" with the hunger of the people.
Fan of Díaz-Canel and Lis Cuesta
As if that weren't enough, Marxlenin does not hide her admiration for Miguel Díaz-Canel and his wife Lis Cuesta. On her social media, she shares photos smiling alongside both of them, whom she happily receives on the show she hosts, where, according to her, "consensus is debated from the perspective of Cuban socialism."
In a Cuba where the majority survive amidst food and medicine shortages, blackouts, inflation, and endless lines, the presenter’s posts come across as mockery. And although her name might seem invented by a satirical screenwriter, Marxlenin Pérez Valdés is very real: a woman with revolutionary pedigree, a university position, and an official discourse, embodying the disconnected world of the elite that lives to justify the unjustifiable.
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