Fidel Castro’s son Antonio found the 26-year-old Colombian, Claudia Valencia, attractive. The two never met, but they had an eight-month-long cyber romance. He fell for her and even told her that he wanted to make love to her. While in the ‘relationship’, Antonio lifted the lid on the lifestyle of Havana’s elite.

But then, Claudia turned out to be a 46-year-old male based in Florida, who gave the story to a Miami television and newspaper.

Luis Dominguez said he used the character to begin an online relationship with 40-year-old Antonio, the BBC news website reported. He refused to apologise for the deception, saying he wanted to show the “opulent lifestyles” of the Castros.

Dominguez, a Cuban-born, said he wanted to “shatter the myth” of an impenetrable security system around the Castro family.

According to reports, Antonio is said to have conducted more than 20 Internet chats with Claudia since October 2008. A report in the Guardian said: “He divulged no state secrets, but, according to Dominguez, spilled the beans on freedoms and material privileges enjoyed by the ruling class.”

“While everyday Cubans were banned from using the Internet cafes in Havana hotels, this guy had a BlackBerry and unlimited access to the web,” Dominguez was quoted as saying by the Miami Herald.

Dominguez used Antonio’s alleged weakness for young women and sports. “Based on a study of Antonio’s former girlfriends, he created a virtual woman to fit the ideal, and last summer claudiacartagena82 @yahoo.com e-mailed ‘tonysport’ to say she was a sports journalist and that they had met at a tournament,” the Guardian stated. Antonio shared details of his daily life in Cuba and his trips around the world with Raul Castro, the Cuban President.

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