14 DAY TRIAL // A Cuban exile blogger says he has created an online female alter ego to reach Fidel Castro's son, the 40-year-old Antonio Castro, according to the BBC. He also says he was motivated by the desire to expose the "opulent lifestyles" of the family members.
Playing into Antonio Castro's alleged weakness for women and sports, Luis Dominguez, now living in Miami, created the Internet persona Claudia, a 27-year-old Colombian sports journalist, and then used her to make contact with Castro's son and chat over a period of eight months. Dominguez has since published pictures and transcripts of the chats between Antonio and the fake sports journalist on his blog and isn't apologetic about the invasion of privacy as he believes what he was trying to achieve is more important.
"I'm a Cuban and I'm a Cuban American and I have not been able to go back to my country since 1971 when I left," Dominguez said. "I use whatever tools I have to be able to get back at these people. In Cuba people are put in prison for no reason at all. Their rights are violated... So, why can't I do the same thing to them? I have no remorse whatsoever."
Antonio Castro revealed no state secrets in the chats just some daily details as well as stories of his trips abroad with his uncle and Cuba's new president, Raul Castro. Still, the blogger believes he has achieved what he set out to do by exposing “the opulent lifestyles” of the ruling family, in stark contrast with those of the average Cuban. False identities have been around as long as the Internet and stories like these abound, though not on this level. However, what Dominguez achieved is no mean feat as details of the Castro family members’ private lives have been very hard to come by.