Alina Fernández Discusses Her Father Fidel Castro and U.S. Policy Toward Cuba

Alina Fernández, who lives in exile in Miami, said her earliest memory of Fidel Castro was watching his long speeches on television as a child. “My generation used to pray in front of the TV for him to finish, so we would be able to watch our cartoons,” she recalled in a CNN interview Monday.

” Fernández said she learned at age 10 that Castro was her father. She described the news as unsurprising at the time but noted a later sense of betrayal when she realized others had known before her.

Fernández fled Cuba in 1993 with her daughter.

She said she left after concluding that remaining would subject her child to the same restrictions she had experienced. She stated that she has lived according to her own beliefs and does not share her father’s political views. Fernández described Miami as the only place where she has felt comfortable.

Views on U.S. statements about Cuba owe more to Secretary of State Marco Rubio than to President Donald Trump. She added that she believes an indictment of Raúl Castro is part of a broader strategy. U.S. military action would likely place civilians in danger.

“We know that these regimes put civilians on the front line,” she said. Fernández said the Cuban government has been prepared for threats for decades and would not give up easily.