In the ongoing political battle over wealth and inequality, the left has made billionaires a central villain. Figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders have declared that “billionaires should not exist,” while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has argued that no one can legitimately earn a billion dollars—claiming such wealth requires exploiting labor, breaking laws, or wielding disproportionate market power. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has repeatedly criticized billionaires for not paying “their fair share.”
But according to a new analysis in American Thinker, these same voices have a notable blind spot: Fidel Castro, the late Cuban dictator whose 100th birthday was celebrated this past week. Despite the left’s professed hatred of the ultra-wealthy, Castro died a billionaire—and his fortune was not built through innovation, but through seizure and corruption.
A Centenary Celebration in Havana
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, more than 1,500 activists, diplomats, and solidarity representatives from over 60 countries traveled to Havana to mark Castro’s 100th birthday. The attendees included British trade unionists, leftist NGOs, and leftist political activists. Al Jazeera even published a large photo spread of the festivities.
This outpouring of affection is striking given the left’s rhetorical war on billionaires. Castro, who ruled Cuba for nearly half a century, reportedly died with a net worth of $900 million, according to a 2006 Forbes report cited in American Thinker. His bodyguard, Juan Reinaldo Sánchez, who defected, detailed in his book The Double Life of Fidel Castro the dictator’s 29 luxury homes, four yachts, and a private island—all while 89 percent of Cuba’s population lived in extreme poverty.
Fontova, a historian of Castro’s regime, told American Thinker that Castro “owns everything in the country,” making his wealth far greater than official estimates could capture.
Luxury Amidst Poverty
This lavish lifestyle stands in stark contrast to the conditions of ordinary Cubans. As noted in a recent essay by John Suarez of the Center for a Free Cuba, millions in Cuba go hungry and die from easily treatable diseases, while the Castro family, military elites, and their inner circle reportedly sit on cash reserves of $18 billion. Suarez writes that these elites live with “opulent wealth” in Cuba, Europe, and the United States.
The wealth, according to Suarez, was not spent on infrastructure, hospitals, or other public goods, but on yachts and tax-shelter accounts—funds that should have served the public were hidden from them.
This pattern was not inevitable. Before the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power, Cuba had a sizeable middle class and strong labor unions that protected workers’ rights. Even under the Batista dictatorship, an independent judiciary survived, and lawyers represented their clients, not the state. Suarez argues that the revolution did not lead to working-class empowerment but to a new class of elites seizing and holding power.
A Double Standard on Wealth
The left’s celebration of Castro, while vilifying figures like Elon Musk, reveals a troubling double standard, according to American Thinker. Musk, who earned his fortune through electric cars, payment systems, and space exploration, is cast as an enemy. Castro, who stole and hid his wealth, is celebrated as a hero.
As American Thinker puts it, the left does not actually hate billionaires—they simply prefer those who get rich by seizing public assets over those who produce value. “That is what they like: lionizing bandits while raining hatred on anyone who produces things of value,” the outlet writes.
While some may argue that Castro’s wealth was a product of his political power rather than a reflection of his personal beliefs, the inconsistency remains stark. The same activists who decry billionaires as a plague on society attended a birthday party for a man who hoarded billions while his people suffered.
As the left continues to push for policies that target the rich—such as wealth taxes in California that have driven many millionaires to flee—the Castro centenary serves as a reminder that the rhetoric may be less about inequality and more about who gets to be wealthy.
Source: www.americanthinker.com — https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/08/the-one-billionaire-the-radical-left-lionizes-celebrates-and-seeks-to-imitate/