Alexis Castro Soto del Valle with his family and Sandro Castro
The Castro-Soto del Valle family bid farewell to 2024 with a lavish dinner at Punto Cero in Havana, where an abundance of meat, cigars, and fine wine was enjoyed. Photos shared by a great-nephew of Raúl Castro depict an atmosphere of opulence, highlighting a stark disconnection from the reality faced by most Cubans.
The same disconnection contrasts sharply with the deep poverty that persists, teen prostitution, crumbling houses, food rations. Political opponents are executed or sentenced to decades of hard labor. However, the Castro’s continue their lives of luxury without remorse.
(Source: In part -CiberCuba and New York Post Wednesday, January 3, 2025 - 1:55)
The late communist dictator’s grandson reportedly announced the party on his Instagram account over the weekend. Castro often uses his Instagram account to share content showcasing his luxury lifestyle — one that most Cubans, impoverished and forced to endure inhumane living conditions for more than six decades of communism, could not possibly hope to emulate.
Sandro Castro Arteaga is the son of Alexis Castro Soto del Valle, one of the offspring that Fidel had with Dalia Soto del Valle, his last wife. Fidel and the discreet Dalia had five children, all boys with initial A: Alexis, Alex, Alejandro, Antonio and Ángel.
The lavish event took place on Thursday, December 5, at the EFE Bar, a “VIP” establishment he owns, located in the Havana district of Vedado, known for its extravagant parties. EFE Bar is advertising the party in an Instagram story on its account at press time (Instagram “stories” are usually scheduled to disappear within 24 hours).
The communist disaster has dramatically worsened in recent years, and as of July, 90 percent of Cubans are now forced to live in conditions of extreme poverty.
The inhumane living conditions have forced a growing number of Cubans to flee communism in recent years, prompting what is now described as the largest exodus of Cubans in the country’s history. More than 850,000 Cubans have arrived in the United States since 2022. The record-breaking number of Cubans fleeing their country forced the Castro regime to admit in 2023 that the country’s population is collapsing.
Cuba’s rundown power grid, which forces Cubans to live with near-endless blackouts, completely collapsed in October. While the ruling communists managed to bring it back online, particularly in luxurious parts of Havana, it currently operates at a much more diminished capacity. Cubans are expected to begin facing in December blackouts worse than the ones they endured on an almost daily basis prior to October’s collapse.
The Castro regime announced a series of “wartime economy” measures in July with the desperate goal of “saving socialism.” As of late November, the measures have had no effect on improving the country’s dramatic situation, leading to communist officials openly begging international sympathizers of the regime to engage in “economic cooperation” and help fund the authoritarian regime in a November gathering of communists held in Paris, France.
Sandro Castro’s expensive lifestyle has been the subject of fierce criticism from outraged Cuban nationals who struggle to survive in the communist nation. In September, Fidel Castro’s grandson recorded himself partaking in a luxury meal at an elite seafood restaurant in Cuba where dishes range in price from $175 to $437. In July, Castro posted a photo of himself during his stay at El Patrón, a luxurious estate away from the reach of regular Cubans.
(Source: Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter)
Today, 50 years after his death, many people still remember Ernesto “Che” Guevara as a warrior for social justice. For so many celebrities, politicians, and activists, Che Guevara is a kind of Good Samaritan who fought against oppression and tyranny. It is unfortunate, though, that these people ignore some of their idol’s defining character traits.
Che Guevara was in fact an intolerant and despicable man.
In the process of building a communist society after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 in Cuba, one of the ideas Che Guevara presented and promoted was the notion of the “new man.” This concept grew out of Guevara’s aversion to capitalism, and was first explained in his note on “Man and Socialism in Cuba“. He believed that “The individual under socialism is more complete,” and that the state should educate men and women in anti-capitalist, cooperative, selfless and non-materialistic values.
Anyone who deviated from the “new man” was seen as a ”counter-revolutionary.” The truth is, Guevara enjoyed the ritual of the firing squad and approached his task with the same glee one would have when opening a birthday present. Tradition dictates that one of the rifles used by a firing squad was filled with blanks. However, Guevara insisted that every rifle was filled with live ammunition to ensure each man in the squad knew he was an executioner.
Of course, actions speak louder than words and Guevara mastered the art of murder. While many of the executions he ordered were members of the former regime, he didn’t hesitate to kill just about anyone who got in his way. Journalists, businessmen and former colleagues who didn’t agree with him were all executed on his orders.
Che Guevara also helped establish the first Cuban concentration camp in Guanahacabibes in 1960. This camp was the first of many. From the Nazis, the Cuban government also adapted the motto at Auschwitz, “Work sets you free,” changing it to “Work will make you men.” There were unimaginable atrocities committed in the two main prisons; Santa Clara and La Cabana. Reinaldo Arenas is a Cuban writer, and he spent time in La Cabana. According to Arenas, he was arrested for his anti-authoritarian views and wrote about the appalling conditions inside. There was no bathroom, while beatings were commonplace as were executions.
Arenas also spoke of how his colleague, Herberto Padilla, had his spirit crushed in La Cabana. For 30 days, Padilla was locked in a prison, beaten and tortured until he branded himself a traitor and renounced all of his previous work which was critical of the regime. The exact number of people executed on Che’s orders is unknown, but it is probably in the thousands.
Guevara also espoused racist views. In his diary, he referred to black people as “those magnificent examples of the African race who have maintained their racial purity thanks to their lack of an affinity with bathing.” He also thought white Europeans were superior to people of African descent, and described Mexicans as “a band of illiterate Indians.”
In the article “My Cousin, El Che,” Alberto Benegas Lynch Jr. describes how Che Guevara enjoyed torturing animals —a trait common to serial killers. His record of murdering and torturing people is extensive. Researchers have documented 216 victims of Che Guevara in Cuba from 1957 to 1959. Suspicion was all that was needed to end a life. There was no need for trial because he said the Revolution could not stop “to conduct much investigation; it has the obligation to triumph.”
Guevara was handed the roles of Finance Minister and President of the National Bank and overall, his programs were a complete failure. Productivity dropped while absenteeism increased markedly. One of his former deputies said Guevara was: “ignorant of the most elementary economic principles.” Cuba was reliant on huge money transfers from Moscow and in return, the island nation became a beachhead for Soviet nuclear weaponry. By diverting resources to industries that ultimately failed, he helped destroy the Cuban economy. In just two years, he managed to halve the nation’s sugar harvest.
Death, to Guevara, was a necessity for revolution. He had no regard for human life. Today, 50 years after his death, it is important to remember Ernesto Che Guevara as the person he was: a homophobic, racist, mass murderer willing to use any means to achieve his self-declared superior society.