
Alina Fernández Revuelta (born 19 March 1956) is a Cuban
anti-communist
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...
activist
Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...
. She is the daughter of
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
and
Natalia Revuelta Clews. She is one of the best-known Cuban critics of the
government of Cuba
Cuba is communist and has had a socialist political system since 1961 based on the "one state, one party" principle. Cuba is constitutionally defined as a single-party Marxist–Leninist socialist republic with semi-presidential powers. The pre ...
, where she lived until 1993, and her father's and
uncle
An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent, as well as the parent of the cousins. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an un ...
's rule.
Biography
Fernández lived with her mother, Natalia "Naty" Revuelta Clews, who was born in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.[model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , .
Models can be divided in ...](_bl ...<br></span></div> in 1925 and stepfather, Orlando Fernández. In Cuba, she worked as a <div class=)
and
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
director
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Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
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* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
for a Cuban fashion company, according to the University Program Board. In 1993, at age 37, she left Cuba for
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
using false documents and a wig. Elena Díaz-Verson Amos, a Cuban immigrant, and wife to John Amos (an
Aflac, Inc. founder) helped Fernández leave Cuba. Fernández lived in
Columbus,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
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People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
with Díaz-Verson for several years.
Fernández has one daughter. In an interview in 2008 with ''Foreign Policy'' magazine, she said she had been closer to her uncle,
Raúl Castro
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz ( ; ; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the One-par ...
, than she was to her father. She said Raúl Castro, who succeeded her father as the Cuban president, had helped her on several occasions. "He was the person to whom you could go to and ask for help every time you had a practical problem. I personally asked for his help a couple of times, and he always helped me immediately. In the family he was the only help you could find. On these kinds of issues, Fidel was totally unhelpful."
Fernández's aunt,
Juanita Castro, sued Fernández for libel and defamation over passages in her autobiography about Juanita and Fidel's parents, Ángel Castro and Lina Ruz. In 2005, a Spanish court ordered Fernández and Plaza & Janes, the
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
Random House
Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
publisher, to pay US$45,000 to Juanita Castro. Juanita stated: "People who were eating off Fidel's plate yesterday
eferring to Alinacome here and want money and power, so they say whatever they want, even if it's not true... Part of my family was responsible for a lot of suffering in Cuba — you can't change that," she said. "But nobody has the right to offend Fidel's family. Insult Fidel — there's plenty to say." An English version, published under the title ''Castro's Daughter: An Exile's Memoir of Cuba'', omits the offending passages.
References
External links
Castro's Daughter Pleads for Her Own ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Alina
1956 births
Living people
Cuban anti-communists
Cuban emigrants to the United States
Fidel Castro family
Opposition to Fidel Castro
Activists from Havana
Cuban exiles
Children of presidents of Cuba
Children of prime ministers