Sandro Castro, grandson of Fidel Castro and an influencer with over 150,000 followers on Instagram, made an apparent jab at the troubadour Silvio Rodríguez by ironically describing the existence in Cuba of a "dinosaur" with an AK47 who sings, directly alluding to the controversial incident in which the regime handed a real AKM rifle to the 79-year-old singer-songwriter.
The statements were made this Friday in an Instagram story by Sandro.
The episode that triggered the satire began on March 18, when Silvio Rodríguez published on his blog Segunda Cita: "I demand my AKM if they launch it. And I make it clear that I am very serious," in response to President Donald Trump's statements, who referred to Cuba as a "failed nation" and stated that it would be "a great honor" to take the island.
The regime quickly acted upon the troubadour's request. On March 20, as part of National Defense Day, the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, General Álvaro López Miera, presented Silvio Rodríguez with a real AKM rifle and a symbolic replica in the Granma Hall of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, at an event presided over by Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The official media Cubadebate specified that the Ministry of the Armed Forces awarded the singer-songwriter "a replica of the AKM rifle and his combat rifle in fulfillment of his noble and revolutionary demand."
Upon presenting the certificate, General López Miera clarified: This is only symbolic.
The next day, Major General Víctor Leonardo Rojo Ramos, head of the Political Directorate of the Armed Forces, attempted to frame the gesture as cultural and political resistance against the threats from the United States government, dismissing it as a call to war.
A chain reaction
The episode generated a wave of criticism on social media, where many Cubans highlighted the contrast between the regime's militaristic rhetoric and the severe economic crisis, power outages, and shortages that the population is suffering.
The Cuban artist Gessliam Suárez was one of the most outspoken voices: she accused Silvio Rodríguez of "rehabilitating that corpse that is the Cuban revolution" by accepting the rifle.
In that context, Sandro Castro's description aligns with his usual style of generational satire: the term "dinosaur" is often used by critics of the regime to refer to revolutionary figures they consider outdated and clinging to their privileges.
Sandro Castro, 33 years old and son of the photographer Alexis Castro, has been at the center of several viral incidents in March 2026, including a leaked video featuring a Trump impersonator, a mockery of the "rusty" ship from the solidarity convoy coming from Mexico and a dispute with Gerardo Hernández regarding the use of tricycles on social media.
On March 22, the newspaper The New York Times published an extensive profile of Fidel Castro's grandson turned influencer, which amplified his international visibility amidst rising tensions between Cuba and the United States.
Silvio Rodríguez, for his part, has faced increasing criticism in recent years for his support of the regime: in October 2025 he declared that "he has never been disappointed with the Revolution", and in February 2026 he maintained that Cuba "has always been in crisis," statements that deepened the distancing from a significant portion of the Cuban public.
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