Castro's grandson in Cuba

[dgixxer252525]

https://www.ruetir.com/2021/03/02/fidel-castros-grandson-shows-off-mercedes-benz-on-video-they-broadcast-it-in-networks/

 

In this link, Fidel's grandson Sandro is seen in his mercedes benz speeding and bragging...he called it one of his little toys...

So is there money in Cuba or is there not?

How does he have money to buy a new MB? 

Weird I know...

[Fosgate]

"Whereas the father was a miser who only wanted to hoard his money, the son comes to appreciate all the lavish pleasures that money can buy. Manipulated by bad associates, he abandons reverence and moderation and begins to regard anarchy as freedom, extravagance as magnificence, and shamelessness as courage. When he is older, though, some of his virtues return and he is sometimes pulled toward moderation. Yet he thinks all pleasures (those of moderation and of indulgence) are equal, and he yields to whichever one strikes his fancy at the moment. There is no order or necessity to his life."

Spark Notes Summary of Plato's Republic Book 8. https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/republic/section8/page/2/

[NSXCIGAR]

Kim Jong Un lives pretty good in North Korea too. Cuban cigars, the finest liquor, the best women. 

The party elites have all the money. Always have, always will.

This is the image that should cause the Cuban people to rise up. Violently. Any illusion that the party has their best interests in mind is laughable. 

[BrightonCorgi]

Digging in his girlfriend

[helix]

It is said Fidel had $100 of millions.

[mprach024]

Well at least it’s a pretty old model?

Ive been a Merc customer for quite a long time and I don’t remember that interior, or at least having to plug in a key fob since....’05ish?  That being said, point is valid, not the best message to send your suffering people who are “hunting” hours to find basic goods.

[NSXCIGAR]

4 hours ago, helix said:

It is said Fidel had $100 of millions.

I'm sure he did. That was a pretty nice Adidas track jacket he used to rock in the later days.

 

[Nino]

Quote

From the article :
"Sandro Castro is DJ and businessman, in addition to being the owner of Efe Bar Cuba, Fantaxy and Espacio La Habana bar, all nightclubs in the Cuban capital."

Fantaxy was closed 2 years ago for drug dealing, prostitution, underage prostitution, customer beatings, extorsions and some other violations ... the gvmt was too pissed off with the guy and his scandals, but he was never prosecuted.

All pigs are equal but some are bigger pigs than others...

PS : Happy it is NOT that Espacios

[Nino]

3 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I'm sure he did. That was a pretty nice Adidas track jacket he used to rock in the later days.

 

Forget the tracksuit, I want his Bay of Pigs island Cayo Piedra ...

From his bodyguard of 17 years :

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/juan-reinaldo-sanchez-fidel-castro-s-bodyguard-who-blew-whistle-leader-s-secret-life-10295608.html

"In the book, due to published here by Amberley Publishing on 15 June, Sanchez, a former lieutenant-colonel, a black belt in judo and karate and a multiple national sharpshooting champion, dismisses the official Cuban media line that Castro lives on a small salary (900 old pesos a month, around £25) and shares the hardships of his people. In fact, he says, after repelling the farcical CIA-backed invasion attempt by Cuban-Americans at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, Castro came across a Robinson Crusoe-style island off the same bay known as Cayo Piedra (Stone Cay).

He commandeered it and turned it into a paradise of mansions, guest houses, a half-Olympic-size pool, a heliport, a dolphinarium where two tame dolphins did tricks for visitors, a turtle lagoon, marina, a luxury yacht Aquarama –a gift from the then Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev – and two deep-sea fishing speedboats. Guests were looked after by attractive young women, plucked from the barrios of Havana and pledged to discretion and secrecy.

The island’s existence was banned from the state media but Castro’s best friends, from the East German communist leader Erich Honecker to CNN owner Ted Turner and Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, were regular guests, according to Sanchez. He said he went deep sea fishing, scuba-diving or spear-fishing with the Cuban leader “hundreds of times” watching him wash down his own freshly caught lobster with his favourite scotch, 12-year-old Chivas Regal.
 

He said the revolutionary leader had his own hospital boat, where he always kept two of his security staff with the same relatively rare blood group as his, A-negative, in case he needed transfusions; one of them went with him everywhere. Sanchez also wrote that he witnessed Castro selecting Cuban criminals from jails to join the so-called Mariel Boatlift to Miami in 1980, ridding himself of a problem while imposing thousands of dangerous criminals on the US. The character Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino in the 1983 film Scarface, was based on one such Cuban."

 

Quote

 

 

[Fuzz]

3 hours ago, mprach024 said:

Well at least it’s a pretty old model?

Ive been a Merc customer for quite a long time and I don’t remember that interior, or at least having to plug in a key fob since....’05ish?  That being said, point is valid, not the best message to send your suffering people who are “hunting” hours to find basic goods.

That's a CLK interior. And the key fob plug in is behind the push button start. For newer models with a smart key fob, there will be a slot under the dash to plug in the fob, if you need to authorise.

 

[Ryan]

It is an older car, but older Mercedes go for a lot of money in Cuba. I know someone there who had made money in Europe, moved back to Cuba and paid $90,000 in 2014 for a 1994 W-124 model e-class.  The body was fine but the suspension was shot.

[helix]

Sanchez's book is an eye opener. Fidel was involved in cocaine trafficking and when almost exposed blamed it on his top loyal General and had him executed  to cover it up.

[Puros Y Vino]

4 hours ago, nino said:

Forget the tracksuit, I want his Bay of Pigs island Cayo Piedra ...

From his bodyguard of 17 years :

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/juan-reinaldo-sanchez-fidel-castro-s-bodyguard-who-blew-whistle-leader-s-secret-life-10295608.html

"In the book, due to published here by Amberley Publishing on 15 June, Sanchez, a former lieutenant-colonel, a black belt in judo and karate and a multiple national sharpshooting champion, dismisses the official Cuban media line that Castro lives on a small salary (900 old pesos a month, around £25) and shares the hardships of his people. In fact, he says, after repelling the farcical CIA-backed invasion attempt by Cuban-Americans at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, Castro came across a Robinson Crusoe-style island off the same bay known as Cayo Piedra (Stone Cay).

He commandeered it and turned it into a paradise of mansions, guest houses, a half-Olympic-size pool, a heliport, a dolphinarium where two tame dolphins did tricks for visitors, a turtle lagoon, marina, a luxury yacht Aquarama –a gift from the then Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev – and two deep-sea fishing speedboats. Guests were looked after by attractive young women, plucked from the barrios of Havana and pledged to discretion and secrecy.

The island’s existence was banned from the state media but Castro’s best friends, from the East German communist leader Erich Honecker to CNN owner Ted Turner and Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, were regular guests, according to Sanchez. He said he went deep sea fishing, scuba-diving or spear-fishing with the Cuban leader “hundreds of times” watching him wash down his own freshly caught lobster with his favourite scotch, 12-year-old Chivas Regal.
 

 

Thanks for the reminder. I need to get this book. Out of curiosity, I Google Earthed "Cayo Piedra".  The resolution on the satellite image is horrible. Can't make out any details.  Looks like a great spot for Fidel to hide and gallivant around. 

[Puros Y Vino]

12 hours ago, helix said:

It is said Fidel had $100 of millions.

I heard billions.  About 7/8 years ago. I was on a cigar IRC chat. Lots of members from all over the world.  One was in Saudi Arabia.  And one day while chatting he was interrupted by his boss and had to excuse himself.  He worked in the oil industry there. (what are the chances?).    He was gone for about 20 minutes and came back.  He had announced that his departure was due to having to join in on a tour of the refinery and talk about the control area he worked in.   The guest? Fidel Castro.  About a dozen people were escorting him around the facility. He was dressed in his classic military drab green uniform and was in full charm mode.  Asking questions, gesturing, joking, smiling, etc. We asked if he broached the topic of cigars with him and he did.  Fidel basically said something along the lines of (and I paraphrase from hearsay) "I miss them and they are no longer for me".  But he was glad that he (our fellow IRC chat member) enjoyed Cuban cigars.  I have no idea if this is true.  This guy did work in SA.  We looked him up in LinkedIn.  And sure enough, it was him. Though, he could have given us a name that was already in there as a cover. Now whatever Fidel would be doing in SA, I have no idea. Perhaps he was looking to take his billions and retire there? Trying to make a deal to secure some oil for Cuba?  Whether this was true or not, it made for an interesting IRC session.

 

[Nino]

36 minutes ago, bundwallah said:

Thanks for the reminder. I need to get this book. Out of curiosity, I Google Earthed "Cayo Piedra".  The resolution on the satellite image is horrible. Can't make out any details.  Looks like a great spot for Fidel to hide and gallivant around. 

Cayo Piedra is a few kilometers south of Playa Larga and west of Punta Perdiz,

I've tried to take pictures of the key from the road down to Playa Giron but it is too far away and mostly too hazy.

All you can see is the scrubs in the distance ...

Here are the Google maps pictures.

 

[BrightonCorgi]

1 hour ago, bundwallah said:

I heard billions. 

Yasser Arafat also supposedly had billions too.  The people he served are just as poor and futile.  Poverty is a good fund raising back drop.  Benefactors eventually want an audit when donations don't seem to yield any results.

[Fosgate]

2 hours ago, bundwallah said:

Thanks for the reminder. I need to get this book. Out of curiosity, I Google Earthed "Cayo Piedra".  The resolution on the satellite image is horrible. Can't make out any details.  Looks like a great spot for Fidel to hide and gallivant around. 

You can play around with Eros USGS Earth Explorer and it doesn't have it fogged out like google maps.  https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/

You can also watch live satellite passover streaming https://earthnow.usgs.gov/observer/ click on the location at the first map to see what time the satellite is scheduled to passover. 

[LLC]

Thanks for the reminder. I need to get this book. Out of curiosity, I Google Earthed "Cayo Piedra".  The resolution on the satellite image is horrible. Can't make out any details.  Looks like a great spot for Fidel to hide and gallivant around. 

I really enjoyed that book.


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[WalterG]

15 hours ago, Ryan said:

It is an older car, but older Mercedes go for a lot of money in Cuba. I know someone there who had made money in Europe, moved back to Cuba and paid $90,000 in 2014 for a 1994 W-124 model e-class.  The body was fine but the suspension was shot.

Wow 90k for a W124! That hurt my soul haha. 

[Ryan]

4 hours ago, Big Al said:

Wow 90k for a W124! That hurt my soul haha. 

I know. I got 300 euro for my 1995 when I traded it in, in 2011.

[shippers]

9 hours ago, LLC said:

I really enjoyed that book.


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Me too - although maybe I am just a poor reader but I did struggle to follow along at times. He goes through names, places and dates at a pace! But once I gave up trying to follow to closely it was fine.

[Wookie]

Good book! They threw the author in jail for a spell too, in return for his long loyalty to Castro. 

[WalterG]

9 hours ago, Ryan said:

I know. I got 300 euro for my 1995 when I traded it in, in 2011.

I'm hunting for a nice 124 but they are hard to find clean. I currently have a 140 that is a joy to drive ?

[helix]

The whole revolution was a con job , faked battles and radio broadcasts  . Batista , the little chicken shit weasel , who was detested by the population , hopped a plane with a few million$ or so and fled. The Military dropped arms and Castro cruised into Havana unopposed (any dissidents where promptly executed shortly there after). The rest is history.

[Ken Gargett]

23 hours ago, helix said:

The whole revolution was a con job , faked battles and radio broadcasts  . Batista , the little chicken shit weasel , who was detested by the population , hopped a plane with a few million$ or so and fled. The Military dropped arms and Castro cruised into Havana unopposed (any dissidents where promptly executed shortly there after). The rest is history.

not defending either side in any way and i would be stunned if there were not many instances where cuban forces downed arms and swapped sides but i am not sure you can call it a con job. the attack on the barracks was back in 1953. not sure they were faking battles back then and for the next few years. it took a further six years of fighting and insurgency to get rid of batista - he may well have seen the writing on the wall at the finish, although plenty of accounts suggest he was very surprised the revolution was successful. 

but i would join everyone in suspecting that castro and his ilk led very privileged lives after the revolution, in comparison with fellow cuban. 

perhaps the ultimate example of living in luxury while your people live in poverty was mobutu in zaire. reputedly had billions. 

remember driving through there while he was in power and we came across a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. bizarre place. about a kilometre of paved roads and ornate street lighting. amid the slums and ratty grass huts. given that we drove from algiers to nairobi and did not see a paved road anywhere else, this was really weird. turned out it was mobutu's mother's village. he'd done it for her. 

another time, we were in goma (fantastic place till the massacres and the nearby volcanos rather spoilt things). mobutu had his winter palace there. bizarrely, it was completely unguarded and he had built a wall out into the lake it was on to prevent crocs and hippos ruining the day. a couple of us spent a terrific afternoon swimming and swanning about in the grounds and the pool. not a local in sight.