Dalia Soto del Valle, away from the cameras since the death of the leader, was covered with a hat and mask.
14ymedio, Havana, 24 May 2025 — Dalia Soto del Valle, Fidel Castro’s widow who has not been seen in public since the Cuban leader’s funeral in 2016, briefly appeared on Cuban Television on Friday along with several of her children. Their appearance during a talk by Brazilian priest Frei Betto in Havana lasted only a few seconds. Dressed in yellow, and wearing a skullcap and face mask, she looked decidedly unwell.
At her side were Alexis Castro, whose frequent posting on X abruptly ended last year “on the advice of doctors;” Alex Castro, the Cuban dictator’s longtime official photographer and father of Sandro Castro, the focus of multiple online scandals; and Antonio Castro, the former physician of the Cuban baseball team.
Except for Sandro Castro’s online antics and the occasional interview that Alex Castro gives to promote an exhibition or pay homage to his father, Soto del Valle and her sons have been almost entirely absent from the public eye.
Without identifying them, Cuban Television’s cameras briefly focused on them sitting in the audience during a celebration of the 40th anniversary of “Fidel and Religion,” a book-length interview Castro gave to Frei Betto in which the Cuban leader recalled his religious upbringing and summarized his stance on leftist Christian groups in Latin America. In his exchange with the Dominican friar, Castro made no mention of the Communist Party’s systematic persecution of the Catholic Church and other denominations it has monitored since 1959.
The event took place in the Fidel Castro Center in Havana’s Vedado district. In addition to Soto and her sons, attendees included a number of religious figures with ties to the regime. Notable among them were Sava Gagloev, a Russian Orthodox priest with close ties to Patriarch Kiril and Vladimir Putin.
Published in May 1985, “Fidel and Religion”did not receive a commemorative edition or even a mere reprint to mark this anniversary. During the event, Betto had to make do with an old copy of his book from the Fidel Castro Center library.
The last time the Castro-Soto family was seen filmed was during Fidel Castro’s funeral in Santiago de Cuba. Dalia Soto and her children paid their respects at the dictator’s grave while relegating Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart — the first-born son from his earlier marriage to Mirta Díaz-Balart, the daughter of a prominent anti-Castro political family — to a minor role. That son committed suicide a year later.
Dalis Soto appears alongside a frail Fidel Castro in official photos taken during a visit by Pope Francis. Always a shadowy figure, she did not marry Castro until after the death of Celia Sánchez, his secretary, who was also rumored to be his lover. A native of Trinidad, Soto shunned public life. Her face was unknown to the public until the Special Period, when she discreetly began attending official events.
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.