Sandro Castro, grandson of Fidel Castro, posted a video on social media this Wednesday in which, draped in a Cuban flag, he delivered a messianic message to the Cuban people: "we are agonizing, then we will purify and the wounds will gradually heal over time."
The video arrives just 24 hours after Sandro gave an interview to CNN in which he criticized President Miguel Díaz-Canel for not doing a good job and stated that the majority of Cubans want capitalism, not communism.
In the new video, Sandro addresses his followers "from the most beautiful island in the world, amidst so much darkness," with a message that blends empathy with personal involvement.
"We must stay united, do not lose faith or hope, more than your vampire, I will be your angel of light. Do not stop trusting in me," he affirms.
The rhetoric is striking coming from Sandro, the grandson of the former dictator Fidel Castro and one of the most visible faces of that family in Cuba.
He is also the owner of the exclusive Bar EFE in Vedado, with an entry fee of 1,000 Cuban pesos per month and a minimum consumption of 15,000 pesos per table —more than two average salaries of 6,500 pesos— while the people he claims to represent are facing blackouts, food shortages, and a structural crisis without a visible solution.
Analysts and independent journalists question whether Sandro's statements represent genuine dissent or, as some analyses note, "a readjustment of the discourse, not necessarily a change of system; a calculated management of discontent, not necessarily an opening".
In the interview with CNN, conducted by correspondent Patrick Oppmann in his apartment in Havana, Sandro described himself as a "revolutionary of ideas, progress, and change" and denied having privileges because of his surname: "I am just like any other citizen," he said.
The journalist Luz Escobar criticized that interview as a "whitewashing" due to the lack of probing questions, pointing out that the format favored the public image of Fidel's grandson without subjecting him to real scrutiny.
Sandro Castro's behavior pattern is filled with contradictions. In this video, he appears wrapped in a Cuban flag, a gesture that has led to years of imprisonment for several activists on the island.
The New York Times profiled him on March 21, 2026 as a symbol of privilege amidst the Cuban crisis, while he builds an image of being a critical voice of the regime from the comfort of someone who has never suffered the consequences of 67 years of communist dictatorship.
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