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Sandro Castro, the grandson of Fidel Castro, published a series of images generated by artificial intelligence this Tuesday on his Instagram Stories, featuring two figures trapped in a cage in front of the Capitolio de La Habana, with labels identifying Alex Otaola and Mario Pentón as “Vulture Rencón” and “Aura Carrín,” respectively.
The images, with an epic and cinematic aesthetic, arrived a day after El Cangrejo gave its first interview to a U.S. media outlet, USA Today, in which it offered to negotiate directly with Donald Trump regarding the future of Cuba.
Both Otaola and Pentón had harshly criticized that public appearance.
In the first image, the two imprisoned figures display their mocking nicknames, and the cage's lock features a crowned "C," a direct reference to Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known as "El Cangrejo," grandson of Raúl Castro and colonel of the MININT.
The slogans surrounding the scene include "The People United Defeat Chaos," "With Everyone and For the Good of Everyone," and "Long Live Free and Sovereign Cuba," while a crowd celebrates with Cuban flags.
The second image, even more elaborate, depicts a hybrid human-vulture character—wearing blue glasses, a white beard, and a necklace with a dollar sign—confined in a rusty iron cage beneath the sign "Ducado de Castaca" and a poster that reads "Only for Beautiful People VIP."
A crab in a military uniform and a badge that reads "Imperial Crustacean Guard" stands guard by the cage with a crowned golden key.
The high-production style of AI contrasts with the mocking and sarcastic tone of the message: Sandro Castro uses "Cangrejo" himself as a guardian and symbolic executioner of his media opponents, in a satire that blends revolutionary imagery with references to the privileged elite of the regime—“castaca” is the Cuban term for that class.
The immediate trigger was the on Monday, in which he stated, "If I'm appointed, I can negotiate with anyone selected by the U.S. Government. If given the opportunity, of course, with Trump." The appearance sparked mass outrage in the Cuban community due to the contrast between his words—"it hurts me deeply that people cannot live like I do"—and his image in Hugo Boss clothing and Hermès sneakers.
Otaola described the maneuver as a "desperate" attempt by the regime to gain international sympathy, while Pentón, a journalist who has reported on the regime's repression, also spoke out critically. Sandro Castro, who has publicly stated that "you can't talk to Otaola" but maintains a more cordial relationship with Pentón, confined both of them in the same symbolic cage.
The Havana influencer, who made it to the pages of the New York Times in March 2026 and has amassed over 160,000 followers on Instagram, is known for an ambiguous political satire that targets both Díaz-Canel and figures from the exile community.
El Cangrejo, for its part, suggested in the interview that Cuba could release political prisoners under "appropriate conditions," a statement that has not received official support from the regime nor independent verification.
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