A recent investigation by the Miami Herald revealed that Orbit S.A., the company currently processing remittances sent from the United States to Cuba, is controlled by Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), the powerful military conglomerate that dominates the dollarized economy of the island.
This finding contradicts the claims of the Cuban regime and the Joe Biden administration, which authorized an agreement with Orbit in 2022 on the condition that it had no military ties.
The study, based on confidential documents from CIMEX—a subsidiary of GAESA—and testimonies from internal sources, demonstrates how the Cuban government created a civilian façade to evade the sanctions imposed by the administration of Donald Trump in 2020.
These sanctions halted the operations of Fincimex, the company that previously handled remittances and was also linked to the business network controlled by the Cuban military.
A military framework disguised as civilian.
Orbit S.A. was introduced as an independent company under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Commerce and Foreign Investment, but evidence reviewed by the Miami Herald suggests otherwise. According to the documents analyzed by that outlet, Orbit operates as an appendage of CIMEX, which in turn reports directly to GAESA.
The connections are close: Diana Rosa Rodríguez Pérez, the current director of Orbit, has a background of high-ranking positions at CIMEX and GAESA. Before taking on her role, she served as executive vice president of GAESA and vice president of CIMEX. This latter detail, although removed from many public sources, was confirmed by archived posts on social media.
Rodríguez Pérez is not the only connection. The staff at Orbit is primarily made up of former employees of Fincimex, and the company shares office space in Miramar, Havana, with other entities of the GAESA conglomerate.
A thorough investigation published in November 2022 by Proyecto Inventario highlighted the connection between Orbit S.A. and Fincimex. In addition to the employment history of some of its employees at Fincimex, the investigation emphasized the physical proximity of Orbit's offices to the headquarters of several companies belonging to CIMEX and GAESA.
How the scheme works
Documents analyzed by the Miami Herald reveal that CIMEX oversees all operations of Orbit, including the money transfers processed by Western Union and remittance agencies based in Miami, such as VaCuba and Cubamax.
Orbit uses CIMEX's financial infrastructure to carry out these transactions, and the data from both companies is included in the same monthly reports that CIMEX prepares for the senior executives of GAESA.
A report from January 2024 indicates that Orbit lost $12 million due to a cybersecurity incident that impacted CIMEX's electronic systems. This detail confirms that both companies are operationally integrated.
Additionally, a letter from Colonel Héctor Oroza Busutil, president of CIMEX, addressed to the president of the Central Bank of Cuba, Juana Lilia Delgado Portal, mentions a decline in the transfer orders from VaCuba to Orbit and requests a meeting with those responsible for the agency to resolve the issue. This contrasts with the official statement that CIMEX has no relationship with Orbit.
An economic lifeline for GAESA
Remittances represent a crucial source of foreign exchange for GAESA, which manages these transactions in an opaque manner. According toEmilio Morales, director ofCuba 21st CenturyIt seems that the text to be translated is missing. Please provide the text you would like me to translate, and I'll be happy to help.GAESA retains the dollars sent from abroad and converts them into local currency for the recipients on the island.It appears that there is no text provided for translation. Please share the text you'd like me to translate.
This allows the conglomerate to maintain a steady flow of foreign currency, which, instead of being used to meet the basic needs of the population, is employed to finance projects such as the construction of tourist hotels.
Despite the Cuban regime's promises to allocate resources to the private sector, the reviewed documents show that military authorities have maintained strict control over remittances. In 2020, when Trump imposed sanctions on Fincimex, the military refused to transfer the business to a genuinely independent entity.
The Biden administration in the eye of the hurricane.
The agreement between Orbit S.A. and the U.S. Department of the Treasury was authorized on the condition that the company had no ties to the Cuban military. However, the Herald's investigation calls this premise into question, and the revelations could lead to a reevaluation of remittance policies.
In response, Cuban-American Congress members like Mario Díaz-Balart and María Elvira Salazar have intensified their criticisms of the Biden administration. Díaz-Balart described the case as an example of the importance of strictly enforcing sanctions. Meanwhile, Salazar stated that the Cuban regime "has been exposed once again for stealing the money that exiles send to their families."
Western Union, which resumed operations with Orbit in March 2023, did not provide any comments in response to inquiries from the Herald. The same was true for VaCuba and Cubamax, other agencies that process remittances through Orbit.
An opaque and centralized system
Led by Brigadier General Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, GAESA operates as a parallel economy to the central government. The former Comptroller General of Cuba, Gladys María Bejerano Portela, stated that she could not audit the military business conglomerate because it was not under her supervision.
GAESA has "superior discipline and organization" due to its decades of business experience, said Bejerano Portela in an interview with EFE last May. Shortly after, she was removed from her position without explanation, and Mirian Marbán González, who had been serving as the first deputy general controller since 2018, took over.
This centralized control has allowed GAESA to use remittances to keep its business machinery afloat, while the population faces a severe economic crisis characterized by shortages of food, medicine, and fuel.
Political and economic consequences
The revelations from the Miami Herald could have profound implications for relations between the United States and Cuba. The Biden administration, which had sought to open channels of communication with the Cuban government, may face renewed pressure from hardline sectors in Congress to tighten sanctions.
Moreover, the possibility that GAESA continues to benefit from remittances raises serious doubts about the effectiveness of U.S. policies aimed at isolating the Cuban military. Emilio Morales emphasized that the lack of transparency in the operations of Orbit and CIMEX makes it nearly impossible to ensure that remittances reach Cuban families directly.
The future of remittances to Cuba
Meanwhile, remittances continue to be a lifeline for many families on the island. According to estimates, the country receives approximately 2 billion dollars annually in remittances, including informal transfers and goods sent from abroad.
However, the perception that a significant portion of these funds ends up in the hands of the Cuban military could lead to a new wave of restrictions.
Some experts suggest that a future administration, such as a possible return of Donald Trump, could implement stricter measures to prevent money from reaching the hands of a totalitarian regime that has impoverished the Cuban population and seized national wealth, while violating citizens' rights and freedoms, and seeking to maintain power by transitioning to a mafia-style market state, reminiscent of Vladimir Putin's Russia.
Filed under: