Sandro Castro, grandson of Fidel Castro, posted on his Instagram stories this Thursday a message that evokes the bonfires that Cubans have lit in the streets of Havana during the nighttime protests sparked by the blackouts.
He ended his video with a reference to "the stone," which his followers immediately interpreted as an allusion to his grandfather's tomb.
The message arrives amid the largest wave of protests recorded in the capital since July 11, 2021.
Since last Wednesday, residents of at least 12 municipalities —including Santos Suárez, Guanabacoa, Marianao, Playa, Vedado, and Habana del Este— have taken to the streets with pot-banging, road blockades, burning trash, and bonfires, shouting "Down with the dictatorship!"
“Don’t use the stone against me to light the fire,” Sandro said. Coincidentally, his video comes after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs used an old speech from his grandfather to refer to "political changes in Cuba".
The double meaning of the message from Sandro Castro is characteristic of his style on social media.
"The stone" can be interpreted as the flint of a lighter or match to make fire, directly referring to street bonfires; but it also alludes to the tomb of Fidel Castro.
That unfinished monolith, nearly four meters tall, located in the Santa Ifigenia Heritage Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba, is popularly known as "The Stone."
Sandro Castro has developed a systematic pattern of double-meaning publications throughout 2026 that allows him to evade censorship through metaphors and symbolic references.
In January, he published: "When I am with you, I forget that Díaz-Canel is president." In March, after the protests in Morón, Ciego de Ávila, he wrote: "I am looking for a rooster to have tequila, but the rooster got away. Good for him."
That same month, he appeared in the pages of the New York Times as "grandson of Fidel" for his critical messages against the regime.
In April, during a visit to the Zoológico de 26 in Havana, he posted a reel where he appeared coming out from behind a large rock, an image that his followers also interpreted as a reference to his grandfather's grave. Additionally, upon seeing the monkey in the enclosure, he promised it a tie, directly mocking the President of the National Assembly, Esteban Lazo.
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