Related videos:
The trial against the former Minister of Economy of Cuba, Alejandro Gil Fernández, concluded this Thursday in Havana, following sessions held behind closed doors, under strict secrecy and without guarantees of transparency.
The process, held at the Marianao Court and supervised by the Supreme Popular Tribunal, is now "concluded for sentencing," as journalist Mario J. Pentón confirmed on Facebook.
Gil Fernández faces accusations of crimes including espionage, embezzlement, bribery, tax evasion, money laundering, forgery of public documents, influence peddling, and acts detrimental to economic activity or contracting, among others.
The case has unfolded in an atmosphere of complete secrecy, with limited presence of family members and a total absence of independent press—yet another indication of the opacity of the Cuban judicial system when it comes to crimes categorized as "against state security."
In recent hours, her sister and former television host, María Victoria Gil, made statements to the YouTuber Darwin Santana: “The trial was held for two days behind closed doors, with a significant security presence for both the public and the press, and it was conducted with absolute secrecy.”
Visibly affected, the sister of the former minister asserted that her family feels excluded and betrayed by the process, which she describes as a “closed trial, lacking transparency.”
"My niece has not been allowed to enter... only my nephew has been allowed in, and he hasn't said anything at all," she recounted.
Although he expressed respect for the president of the Supreme Court, Rubén Remigio Ferro, and for the defense attorney Abel Solá, a well-known criminal lawyer specializing in espionage offenses, he admitted that his institutional trust is intertwined with a bitter resignation.
"All my hopes that a dismissal of the case would be granted before the trial due to lack of evidence... did not happen. I prayed a lot to God for it, but it was not fulfilled," she lamented.
María Victoria Gil believes that her brother's fate is already sealed: “I sadly think that it is a sentence already passed. God willing, I am wrong.”
Three possible scenarios
According to María Victoria Gil, there are now only three possible scenarios:
1: That the Prosecutor's Office maintains its request for life imprisonment, reaffirming the provisional conclusions.
2: To modify the conclusions and request a lighter sanction.
3: That he completely withdraws the accusation, although María Victoria Gil herself acknowledged that this last possibility is "like asking God for something impossible."
"I swear on the most sacred things that I have no information at all," she clarified.
A trial under surveillance and censorship
The case of Alejandro Gil, former minister and one of the most influential figures in Miguel Díaz-Canel's economic team until his fall from grace, has been surrounded by censorship and official silence, amid an unprecedented context of economic, health, and political crisis in Cuba.
No state media has published details about the accusations or the evidence presented during the trial, which could result in a landmark life sentence or a symbolic ruling aimed at sending a disciplinary message within the political apparatus.
The family of Gil Fernández clings to a minimal hope in a judicial system that, in their words, "does not offer transparency, justice, or mercy."
"We are facing a process that seems preordained. My brother is in the hands of a system that punishes the fall, not the crime," concluded María Victoria Gil.
Filed under: