An image is being shared across various social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter with the claim it shows Jill Biden, the wife of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, standing beside the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
As per several netizens, the now-viral picture was clicked when Jill Biden visited Cuba during the final months of the Barack Obama administration back in October 2016. Castro had passed away a month later on November 25.
The claim
The purported image shows Castro posing with a blond woman and an elderly man. However, a bunch of social media posts cited that the woman in the picture is the former second lady of the United States.
"Joe Biden did not expect this photo to exist, nothing is hidden under the sun. His wife Jill Biden had a meeting with Fidel Castro in Cuba under the Obama administration!!!" the caption on the top of the image read in Spanish.
Below is a screenshot of one such post:
Fact-Check
International Business Times, India carried out a fact-check and found that the claims made regarding the picture in question are completely baseless. The image actually shows Castro with late Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his wife Jacqueline Beer.
On conducting a reverse image search, we stumbled upon the original post that carried the picture. It was posted in 2016 by the official Facebook page of Kon-Tiki Museum, a museum in Oslo dedicated to the life and legacy of Heyerdahl, who is known for his 1947 "Kon-Tiki" expedition across the Pacific Ocean.
"Thor Heyerdahl met Fidel Castro on several occasions, and Castro sent a card on the occasion of Heyerdahl's 100th birthday," the caption of the post said.
Thor Heyerdahl met Fidel Castro on several occasions, and Castro sent a card on the occasion of Heyerdahl's 100th birthday. Fidel Castro (1926-2016)
Posted by The Kon-Tiki Museum on Saturday, 26 November 2016
Furthermore, Martin Biehl, director of The Kon-Tiki Museum, himself confirmed that the image shows Castro with Heyerdahl and his better half.
"They were good friends and the museum has several pictures from several occasions and visits," Beihl told Reuters, adding that he and Heyerdahl's son Thor Heyerdahl Jr. had a good laugh when they saw the claims being made about the picture.
Thus, we hereby conclude that the claims made by social media posts are false as the image does not show Joe Biden's wife Jill Biden with Castro.
