Cuban movie star Ana de Armas: Sleeping with the enemy

Since becoming famous, Cuban movie star Ana de Armas has refrained from discussing politics, even to the point of being silent while her fellow Cubans are being brutally oppressed by a communist dictatorship. However, it seems she has no problem with politics in her bedroom.

Cuban independent journalist Ana Leon writes from Havana via CubaNet (my translation):

Ana de Armas: Sleeping with the enemy

Starring in a spin-off of the John Wick saga might not be enough to clean off all the shit she’s covered herself with.

“Ana de Armas doesn’t get involved in politics, but she sleeps with it,” was the remark of a friend upon seeing the images published by ¡Hola! magazine confirming the romantic relationship between the Cuban actress and Manuel Anido Cuesta, the son of Lis Cuesta Peraza, wife of the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel. Social media has exploded, and there’s enough drama for a whole script. While Ana de Armas has stirred countless opinions in recent years due to her frequent visits to the island, showing off her new love has taken the controversy to another level.

In April 2023, the actress traveled to Cuba with her then-boyfriend, millionaire Paul Boukadakis, the founder of Tinder, to celebrate her birthday. She was welcomed with the unique status of being “Hollywood’s Cuban,” after having portrayed none other than Marilyn Monroe. Cloaked in this aura of exclusivity, many compatriots on both sides of the ocean defended her right to visit and associate with whomever she wanted; after all, her family remains on the island, and her lifelong friend still works with La Colmenita.

Less enthusiasm greeted the lavish meal prepared by Miguel Ángel, Lis Cuesta’s private chef, but people let it slide because, at that time, Ana, the Cuban, was Marilyn to the world. This highly selective role overshadowed many memories of her involvement in Wasp Network, a film that attempted to whitewash the Cuban dictatorship. Conveniently, some also avoided mentioning the actress’s silence when her brother, Javier Caso, was detained and interrogated by State Security. To this day, Ana de Armas has not spoken out about the matter—an odd stance that her defenders at the time justified as her right to avoid politics.

Today, the actress insists on staying out of politics but prefers to engage directly with the regime. Many people are shocked and disappointed. The flood of comments has shredded Manuel Anido Cuesta’s reputation, while those who had predicted this outcome over a year ago are reveling in their “I told you so” posts. Meanwhile, the situation on the island worsens by the minute.

Ana de Armas’s behavior seemed inevitable. Her flirtations with government-affiliated individuals were too blatant, and her apparent detachment from the socioeconomic collapse her country is experiencing was conspicuous. The cracks in her alleged neutrality began to show until she finally decided to “come out of the closet,” doing so in the headlines.

The Bond girl might very well be a Cuban counterintelligence agent, strategically placed at the heart of the global film industry by a long-reaching arm. Her departure from Cuba, her professional career in Spain, and her rise in Hollywood cannot be justified solely by her “talent” or beauty.

A helping hand in her past might explain why now, after achieving what no other Cuban actress has, she risks her career by embroiling herself in such an unseemly scandal, arm in arm with a man closely tied to the longest-standing dictatorship in the Americas. Manuel Anido Cuesta is not just the stepson of the man who issued “the combat order” or the son of a woman who has posted the most unfortunate messages imaginable for a First Lady (or whatever her title may be); he’s also a handpicked advisor who travels abroad and lives a lavish lifestyle at the expense of the Cuban people—a fact that is drawing less attention than the romance in question.

Ana de Armas has just publicly “burned” herself, and her stroll through Madrid with her new love, along with their dinner at the luxurious Numa Pomilio restaurant with Rodolfo and Lourdes Dávalos—representatives of the regime in the London trial—seems like a hastily staged event to cover up something far more serious. This comes right as Cuban ministers and deputy ministers are caught up in corruption scandals, and a day after the London Court of Appeals rejected the appeal filed by the National Bank of Cuba against the investment fund CRF, to which it owes 72 million euros.

Perhaps Ana de Armas, in addition to covering her boyfriend’s expenses—something his state salary could never afford—intends to use her net worth (estimated at $20 million) to pay off part of the debt incurred by the government advised by Anido Cuesta. Who knows? Love can do anything.

In any case, the cartoonist Alen Lauzán was right, and his illustration, which caused such a stir over a year ago, now explains itself. If Raspadura Girl is indeed an infiltrated agent in the heart of Hollywood, she should brace herself for what’s coming. Starring in a spin-off of the John Wick saga might not be enough to clean off all the shit she’s covered herself with.

2 thoughts on “Cuban movie star Ana de Armas: Sleeping with the enemy”

  1. Well, I suppose this is one way to drum up publicity and “buzz,” and some showbiz people have always believed there’s no such thing as bad publicity. And yes, one could have seen this latest development coming. If she’d truly wanted to avoid Cuba-related politics, she’d never have gone near that Wasp Network movie, and she’s been flirting with the status quo in Cuba ever since–and now she’s part of it.

    As if we didn’t have enough to be ashamed of already. I guess there’s always more where that came from.

  2. She was born in Cuba and knows how the regular people in Cuba live with not medicines and medical services, food and now no electricity. Her brother was arrested and she never mentioned it or said anything so I guess she is more concerned about her family. There are 2 quotes for her
    ” You are FREE to choose but you are not FREE from the consequences of your CHOICE”
    ” FAMILY is not an important thing. It is everything.” Michael J Fox

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