Fidel Antonio Castro Smirnov, the grandson of Fidel Castro and one of the figures who has increasingly taken on a public defense of the Cuban dictator's legacy in recent years, provided a peculiar interpretation of how his grandfather led Cuba: as a scientist who turned an entire nation into his "object of study."
Castro Smirnov is not unfamiliar with the scientific world that he turned to in order to make that comparison. He holds a doctorate in Biology and Physical Sciences, is a full professor of Nuclear Physics, a senior researcher at the Higher Institute of Technologies and Applied Sciences (InSTEC), and a full member of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba.
Son of the late nuclear scientist Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart, known as Fidelito, in recent years has combined his academic activities with a frequent presence at events, conferences, and political forums both inside and outside Cuba, where he champions the image of his grandfather and defends the Cuban system.
In an interview given to teleSUR from Birán, Holguín, Castro Smirnov precisely drew upon his scientific background to present the author of the "ten million sugar harvest" and the "energy revolution" — among thousands of other experiments — as a researcher.
I can reiterate that Fidel was a scientist and acted as a researcher, he stated.
According to his explanation, Castro applied a "scientific method of thinking", gathering information and making decisions following that procedure.
But the comparison took on another dimension when Castro Smirnov explained what the equivalent would have been for the laboratory material that his grandfather worked with.
"With the sole difference that its object of study was not a sample in a test tube, or a Petri dish, or a cell. In other words, we are talking about the fact that its object of study was a nation, with all the historical, political, economic, and social implications," he stated.
The phrase is particularly significant because it does not come from a critic of Castroism, but from the grandson who each year "risks his life" jumping from a plane with a parachute to defend the “legacy” of his grandfather.
Unaware of the impact of his words, Castro Smirnov made his remark as a compliment to highlight his grandfather's supposed analytical abilities.
However, the description ultimately presented Cuba as a kind of social laboratory: a country observed, studied, and transformed by a ruler whom Castro Smirnov attributes an experimental method to.
"The experiments often had irreversible consequences."
The scientist himself immediately delved into that analogy and spoke about the consequences that Fidel Castro's "experiments" could have.
"In that scientific approach of Fidel, trial and error were not acceptable. In other words, experiments often had irreversible consequences," he acknowledged.
The two statements, practically articulated as part of the same explanation, created a striking image: Castro as a researcher, a nation as an "object of study," and political decisions described as "experiments" capable of provoking irreversible consequences.
Castro Smirnov used those terms to praise the caution and preparation that, in his opinion, characterized his grandfather.
But the words took on a very different meaning when viewed through the historical experience of millions of Cubans who have lived for decades the consequences of the decisions made under the system established by Fidel Castro.
Birán as the "first observation laboratory"
Castro Smirnov even pinpointed the origin of this supposed scientific method in Birán, the Holguin town where his grandfather was born in 1926.
During the interview, he described the place as "sacred" and recalled that Castro grew up in contact with agricultural work, poor workers, and Haitians employed in the area.
"He truly lived from his early years between working the land and living and interacting with very poor and humble people. I believe this made this place his first laboratory of observation," he stated.
According to his interpretation, that experience allowed Castro to observe social inequalities from a young age and subsequently develop a conception that reality should first be understood and then transformed.
"The reality was not an abstract entity that could be learned from books. In other words, it was a reality that had to be lived in order to be understood, and it had to be understood in order to be transformed," he explained.
In this way, Castro Smirnov's own narrative establishes a line that begins with an "observation laboratory" in Birán and ends with an entire nation turned into an "object of study".
The "Fidel method"
When the interviewer asked what he would teach his students about his grandfather's method, Castro Smirnov listed several principles.
The first, he said, consisted of "studying real problems" and not starting exclusively from "abstract theory."
It also emphasized the accumulation of information as a fundamental element of the decision-making process.
According to his recollection, Castro conveyed the idea that one should not fear having much more information than seemingly necessary because "overinformation is rarely a problem, but lack of information is always a problem".
Castro Smirnov also attributed to him the ability to connect different disciplines.
I could provide a biological fact, relate it to a geographical fact, and place it in a historical context, he stated.
Another element, according to the scientist, was that Castro never definitively considered an idea to be concluded and could modify it based on new knowledge.
From Scientist to Public Defender of Fidel's Legacy
The interview is part of the increasing public exposure of Castro Smirnov as a defender of his grandfather's legacy.
In recent months, he has participated in political meetings and international events in countries such as the United Kingdom, Russia, and Spain, where he has combined scientific references with the defense of the Cuban system and the figure of Fidel Castro.
In July, during a solidarity meeting with Cuba held in Gijón, Spain, he used concepts from nuclear physics to discuss politics and stated that "Cuba represents the physics of dignity". In other appearances, he has also drawn on his status as a scientist to convey politically favorable messages about the regime.
Her admiration for her grandfather is not new either. As far back as 2017, she stated that the “DNA of Fidel” is present in millions of revolutionaries and went on to declare: “My name is Fidel, and my life is called Fidel.”
In the interview from Birán, he once again made that identification clear. «Of course all Cubans want to be like Fidel», he stated.
Cuba, the great "laboratory" of Fidel
Castro Smirnov intended to portray his grandfather as a leader who used scientific knowledge to solve problems and anticipate the future.
However, some of the metaphors chosen by the scientist himself ended up providing a much more unsettling description of the dictator's power.
In his account, Birán was the "first observation laboratory"; Fidel was a "scientist" and a "researcher"; his "object of study was a nation"; and the decisions he made were "experiments" capable of generating consequences "often irreversible."
An inadvertently revealing definition of a system in which, for decades, the political, economic, and social decisions of Fidel Castro directly impacted the lives of millions of Cubans, whom, at the peak of his scientific career, the dictator transformed into a mass of "Haitian laborers" without rights or freedoms, much like those his father employed in Birán to enhance his personal wealth.
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