The Cuban journalist and political analyst Camilo Loret de Mola dismantled the public persona of Sandro Castro, the grandson of Fidel Castro, in an interview with Tania Costa, dismissing him as any kind of real political alternative: "Sandro Castro is a clown manipulated by the regime, and this man is saying the things he is induced to say or that he is told to say."
Loret de Mola warned that the media appearances of the young Castro —who since March 2026 has granted interviews to CNN and NBC criticizing Díaz-Canel and defending capitalism— are part of a strategy orchestrated from above, rather than a genuine dissenting voice.
«Don't be fooled, that's a decoy. All of that is fantasy,» the analyst declared, identifying the objective of the operation: Raúl Castro seeks to secure a place for the family in the political spectrum of Cuba's future, regardless of the transition scenario.
The analyst was blunt in describing Fidel's grandson: "Who does he think that drunken, boastful kid who sometimes resorts to abuse is going to be—a thinker? This is Cuba's Ramfis Trujillo."
The comparison refers to the son of the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, a figure with no real substance who attempted to perpetuate Trujillismo after his father's downfall.
Loret de Mola also questioned the scenes of Sandro Castro distributing food in the streets of Havana: "When he distributes food to the unfortunate on the Cuban street, it is like a poorly staged circus, a third-rate operetta. Sandro Castro is not a figure, he is not a figure."
His advice was blunt: "Sandro Castro, don't even look at him, they are giving him ratings, giving him attention, and putting money into the account of that stupid, incongruous clown."
The analyst placed Sandro Castro on the same level as Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, nicknamed "El Cangrejo," the grandson of Raúl Castro and a lieutenant colonel in MININT.
According to Loret de Mola, Raúl Castro put him in a prominent negotiating position above his own son, who had prior experience negotiating with the United States through the Vatican and was sent to Mexico.
But "El Cangrejo" doesn't convince the analyst either: "That man can't handle a conversation at a table for more than 20 minutes, let alone a professional negotiation."
This assessment gains significance in light of recent diplomatic movements: the Trump administration confirmed a separate meeting with "El Cangrejo" on April 10, on the first official U.S. flight to Havana since 2016, even before engaging in dialogue with the Cuban Foreign Ministry.
Loret de Mola also explained how Raúl Castro eliminated the figures he himself had nurtured: he tried to create an institutional succession in the style of the Mexican PRI, but he destroyed that plan by taking direct control during the crisis. "To hell with the party, to hell with Díaz-Canel, Marrero, go to a corner and I will handle this," the analyst summarized.
In that process, Raúl Castro "ushered his son out through the narrow door, turned off the lights on Mariela Castro, and removed Fidel's children."
The Cuban opposition has already demanded the exclusion of the Castro family from any negotiations, while the new generation of the Castro family is gaining media ground in parallel with diplomatic contacts.
"Every decision goes to Raúl Castro, including the leading role that each of the elements in today's official Cuban history may have," concluded Loret de Mola.
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