On X (formerly Twitter), a post made by an account named ‘@WallStreetSilv’, which links Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro has now gone viral.
The post shares photos of Trudeau and Castro, claiming that they are father and son. It also shows a photo of Trudeau’s mother, Margaret, standing close to Castro.
An archive of this post can be seen here.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
Another version of this claim shows a black-and-white photo of Margaret, a baby, and Castro.
An archive of this post can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
Who is the baby?: Firstly, the baby in the photo isn’t Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. So who is the infant?
We carried out a reverse image search on the photo, which led us to the same photo on the stock image website Alamy.
Here, the caption noted that it was taken in 1976, and showed Castro holding Pierre and Margaret Trudeau’s youngest son, Michel.
The photo shows a baby Michel Trudeau, who passed away in 1998.
(Source: Alamy/Altered by The Quint)
A similar photo is available in the archives of the Canadian government’s website.
What do we know about Justin Trudeau?: Trudeau, born in December 1971, was around four years old during this visit to Cuba.
Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau, had also been the country’s Prime Minister for 15 years, winning four elections.
He married Margaret Sinclair in January 1971, and the couple welcomed Justin, the first of their three children, in December that year.
Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau with his wife Margaret, and their three children Justin, Alexandre and Michel.
(Source: Getty Images)
As several news organisations reported, the Trudeaus visited Cuba in 1976, marking the first time the leader of a country affiliated with NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) had visited the country, which was under Prime Minister Fidel Castro's regime then.
This archival news bulletin by CTV News discusses the Trudeau family’s first official visit to the nation, which was dubbed ‘Three Nights in Havana’.
Given that Pierre Trudeau had been prime minister of Canada since 1968, it would have been nearly impossible that his prior visit to Cuba would have gone undocumented, much less unnoticed.
Since the Trudeaus’ first visit to Cuba was in 1976, during which Justin Trudeau was around four years old, it seems highly unlikely that former Cuban PM Fidel Castro fathered him.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)