Military conglomerate GAESA manages at least eight companies in Angola

Of the 20 Cuban companies with presence in Angola, at least eight are public limited companies, are linked to the military conglomerate GAESA, listed in the Taxpayer Registry of that African country and have their headquarters in luxury neighborhoods of Luanda such as Ingombotas and Alvalade, according to an investigation published by The touch.

These companies, interconnected with each other, are managed by Antex, included in the Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) blacklist of the United States Department of the Treasury, as part of the US Government's sanctions against the Cuban regime.

After consulting the records of the Ministries of Finance and Justice and Human Rights of Angola, the investigation - carried out by the Cuban journalist Annarella Grimal - verified that these commercial companies linked to the Business Administration Group SA (GAESA) emerged between 1993 and 2009 and They later evolved from limited companies to public limited companies, a category that allows them to open branches.

Among these eight companies linked to GAESA are Meditex, another two from Antex dedicated to projects, representation and contracting and five different companies from Imbondex, whose name refers to the national tree of Angola, the imbondeiro or baobab, related to construction and management. business.

Antex Angola, Imbondex General Trade, Imbondex Tourism, Meditex, Imbondex Constructions and Antex Projects would be part of the network controlled by GAESA.

GAESA, adds the journalistic investigation, is the main beneficiary of all the commercial activity of these eight companies.

In addition, it stands out that the companies included in Imbondex are large and offer services in sectors such as tourism, health, construction, real estate, transportation, mining, fishing, electronics and computing.

These firms emerged in the 1990s and make it possible to establish a connection between Angola and Liechtenstein, a tax haven located in Europe, which the Cuban regime would have used to carry out low-profile commercial activities and bypass United States sanctions, as published by the Miami Herald.

In December of last year, The Cuban Observatory of Citizen Audit (OCAC) accused GAESA of looting the public health system of Cuba for more than a decade. In the report "Cuba: GAESA's looting of health security" the institution subordinate to the military command on the island is accused of looting the State coffers to allegedly appropriate at least 69.8 billion dollars ($69,866,399,679).

This money comes from the salaries of doctors in the international brigades. The Cuban State said that these resources would be invested in the public health system, but investments in that sector are declining precipitously, which has caused a collapse of services and poor quality in medical care.

Major General of the Armed Forces Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, who was head of the GAESA business conglomerate, died in July 2022 from cardiorespiratory arrest, according to a brief official note.

López-Calleja, 62, was a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and a deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power.

Former son-in-law of Army General Raúl Castro, he was a key figure in the hierarchy of the Cuban government, considering that he had under his command GAESA, the main administration and business management group of the country's economy with the leadership of the Cuban military leadership.