Castro lived lavish secret life: bodyguard

Fidel Castro was revered as a model of communist equality. Photo / AP

He portrayed himself as a man of the people who shunned the trappings of wealth.

But in reality Fidel Castro, the longtime communist leader of Cuba, lived a life of pampered luxury and had a fortune of hundreds of millions.

Away from the prying eyes of his people, who suffered poverty and hardship after he seized power in a communist coup 55 years ago, Castro lived like a king. He had his own private island called Cayo Piedra which featured a floating restaurant, helipad and even a pen containing two pet dolphins.

Few people ever visited the island, one of them being Erich Honecker, the leader of East Germany until the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of Germany.

After seizing power, Castro made sure his people, who saw him as a paragon of communist equality, did not know about the island, where he would spend weekends relaxing at a beach house with views over the Caribbean.

Its existence has been revealed by a former bodyguard who has written a book exposing the double standards of Castro.

Juan Reinaldo Sanchez was by the dictator's side for 17 years before becoming disillusioned with his hypocrisy and trying to flee to the US.

In his book

The Double Life of Fidel Castro Sanchez

tells how Castro came across the island hideaway shortly after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 when CIA-trained exiles tried to overthrow the Cuban Government.

Castro, who stood down as Cuban leader in 2008 and handed power to his brother Raul, kept secret his wealth, which ran into the "hundreds of millions", as well as up to 20 other properties dotted around Cuba, said Sanchez, whose book was serialised in the

New York Post

.

- Daily Mail