The daughter of the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro gave a surprising answer when asked if she is the half-sister of former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. 

Theories that the Cuban communist revolutionary fathered Justin have circulated since Castro died in 2016, with some pointing to physical similarities between the two.

The rumors resurfaced several times in the years since, particularly as his mother admitted to having a relationship with Castro, and after Castro's eldest son left a suicide note referring to Justin as his half-brother.

Fact-checkers, however, maintain there is no evidence that the Canadian is Castro's son because his mom, Margaret, did not visit Cuba and meet Castro until four years after he was born.

But Castro's daughter, Alina Fernandez, may have just reignited the rumors once again after she refused to deny the rumors in a recent interview with NewsNation.

During the interview, host Katie Pavlich asked, 'For years, we've heard rumors that Justin Trudeau, the former prime minister of Canada, could be your half-brother. What do you think of that?'

With a wry smile, Fernandez replied: 'The only thing I can say is that his mother used to visit the country very often.' 

Pavlich then said, 'Well, that may be a tell then. I guess that's a half answer. Do you plan to call him and maybe find out?'

Fernandez answered, 'No, no, I won't do it. If he wants, he's gonna be welcome, but I won't. I won't. I think he keeps that to himself, and you have to respect that.'

Fernandez's responses will surely become another piece of circumstantial evidence that conspiracists latch onto.

Justin is the son of Canada's late former prime minister Pierre Trudeau and activist Margaret Sinclair, who took her husband's name. He was born in 1971, and his parents divorced 13 years later during his father's last months in office.

Margaret would later admit - in her 1982 book Consequences - that she had had affairs with actors Jack Nicholson and Ryan O'Neal and singer Lou Rawls, as the relationship broke down.

And through her public persona, she said she became associated with members of the Rolling Stones, top US government officials - and even Cuban revolutionary leader Castro. 

The latter of those relationships has led to speculation over the past decade, including by President Donald Trump, that Pierre is not truly Justin's father. 

The rumors began in 2016 and exploded two years later when Castro's eldest son, Fidelito, died by suicide in 2018 and several outlets reported he had left a note referring to Justin as his half-brother.

Photos have emerged of Fidel Castro hosting Justin in 1976 as the Canadian prime minister and his wife landed in Havana in a historic visit, becoming the first NATO leader to set foot in Castro's Cuba. 

But there is no evidence that Margaret or her husband had met Castro before Justin was born.

'Experts say it would have been impossible for an earlier visit to Cuba to go unnoticed,' the AP noted in 2018.

'Cuban media have been unusually open about the death of Castro's oldest son, Fidelito, describing it as a suicide after a long depression. Neither state media nor independent reporters covering the death have reported the existence of a suicide note.'

Still, President Trump entertained the rumors in his 2024 book, Save America. 'His mother was beautiful and wild. In the 1970s, she would go "clubbing" with the Rolling Stones, but she was also somehow associated with Fidel Castro,' he wrote. 

'She said he was "the sexiest man I've ever met," and a lot of people say that Justin is his son. He swears that he isn't, but how the hell would he know!

'Castro had good hair, the "father" didn't, Justin has good hair, and has become a Communist just like Castro.'

Despite the President's musings and the popularity of the rumors, there remains no hard evidence that Castro was indeed Justin's father.