After Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas is under fire for dating the dictator’s son

After Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas is under fire for dating the dictator’s son

Ana de Armas has restricted her comments on Instagram as she faces massive backlash for dating the stepson of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, widely seen as an authoritarian leader who runs a repressive regime in the communist island nation.

The Cuban actress, 36, is being attacked online by other Cubans and Cuban-Americans for dating a representative of the dictatorship from which she herself escaped. reported the Daily Mail .

De Armas, whose last high-profile relationship was with Ben Affleck, was photographed last week on a romantic stroll in Madrid with Manuel Anido Cuesta, Diaz-Canal’s 26-year-old stepson.

The Knives Out star and Bond Girl left Cuba and moved to Spain at the age of 18. She previously dated Tinder vice president Paul Boukadakis after dating Affleck. He was her co-star in the erotic thriller Dark Water, and they were together until 2021, becoming paparazzi darlings while living together in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The photos by de Armas and Anido Cuesta, first published in Hola! The magazine shows the lovebirds walking through Madrid with a dog, smiling, laughing and kissing. However, the photos reportedly angered many Cubans and Cuban Americans. This is due to Anido Cuesta’s connection to the current Cuban regime.

Anido Cuesta is the son of Díaz-Canel’s second wife Liz Cuesta and is considered a “close advisor” to the president. Diaz-Canal himself was a longtime Community Party official who was handpicked by Raul Castro and “selected” as his successor in “an election” in 2018 that did not allow opposition challengers, according to the Daily Mail and reported the BBC.

Diaz-Canal often took his stepson with him to official events and on trips to places like the Vatican and the United Arab Emirates, the Daily Mail and other media outlets reported.

It appears the president and his wife are sympathetic to Anido Cuesta’s reputation for enjoying a luxurious lifestyle – even as the majority of Cubans live in poverty in a collapsed economy and face arrest or prison for protest and dissent.

“As Cuba experiences one of its worst crises in decades, marked by daily power outages, rampant inflation and a massive exodus that is draining the nation, this official regime leisurely strolls through Madrid, the capital of capitalism, and enjoys a romance with a Hollywood star like Ana de Armas”, wrote Luis Flores, Columnist for the English-language digital news portal CiberCuba.

“From Ben Affleck to the son of a dictator, what a crazy life” someone wrote in the FauxMoi Reddit thread. “Full of decisions, some bad decisions and some decisions that make you question your humanity.”

Ana’s own brother, photographer Javier Caso, is a long-time activist against the Cuban regime, the Daily Mail reported. In 2020 he was interrogated over his links to opposition artists and activists.

CiberCuba also reported that de Armas has long remained silent about government dysfunction and alleged human rights abuses in Cuba, even as his own brother was questioned. She said she grew up with food rationing, fuel shortages and power outages, but described her early life as happy. CiberCuba said the most powerful thing she ever said about Cuba was that she felt she had to leave the island to pursue professional development, which is what happened to her in Hollywood and led her to roles in “Knives Out,” ” No Time to Die,” and the Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde” in 2002, for which she received an Oscar nomination for best actress.

“However, Ana de Armas’ years-long silence on Cuba is now eloquent after images were published confirming the actress’s romance with Manuel Anido Cuesta,” CiberCuba also said.

While de Armas has limited comments on some of her Instagram posts, some criticism has been allowed on her other posts, including one in which she promoted her role as a brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton jewelry.

One person directed their comment at the luxury design company: “You need to make a better choice next time. A woman who supports the Cuban dictatorship does not deserve to be the image of an international brand #vivacuba#vivacubalibre.”

A self-described Cuban also wrote, “It pains me deeply to see someone with your platform joining a regime that has brought so much suffering to our people.” As a Cuban, I know firsthand what it means , living in a system that oppresses, divides families and destroys dreams. Your support of this dictatorship is a betrayal of all of us who have suffered and of those who are still fighting for freedom in our homeland.”

“I expected more from you, but it is clear that you have chosen to ignore the pain of your own people,” the person continued.

The Daily Mail also quoted some comments from

Another person said: “Ana de Armas is dating the stepson of the tyrant who runs the dictatorship she fled? This is bad, this is bad, this is very bad.”

With gallows humor, one person on Reddit expressed sympathy for her publicist, saying that “her whole damn PR team must be on suicide watch right now.”

Originally published:

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