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The second trial against the ousted former Minister of Economy Alejandro Gil Fernández concluded this Saturday at the Marianao Court in Havana, reported journalist Mario J. Pentón.
The accusation included economic crimes such as embezzlement, tax evasion, influence peddling, and money laundering, specified the note from Martí Noticias.
The Gil children were able to attend the trial after signing a confidentiality agreement.
In an interview this Saturday with Pentón, María Victoria Gil, the sister of the accused, stated that the former minister admitted to some economic crimes, although she claimed it is all about finding a scapegoat for the regime's crisis.
"The true culprits have disappeared from the process. Alejandro is the scapegoat," he commented.
Díaz-Canel as a witness
María Victoria also stated that the Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel appeared as a witness for the prosecution in the trial for economic crimes against his brother, whom he had portrayed as his trusted man for years, mentored academically and publicly praised even after his dismissal.
The process, which took place under strict secrecy and behind closed doors, is the second against the former minister: the first was for espionage, a case in which the Prosecutor's Office sought life imprisonment and which was indeed announced on the National News of Cuban Television.
On this occasion, however, not a single official notice has informed the public about the trial for corruption, money laundering, influence peddling, and other economic crimes, which has outraged the accused's family.
María Victoria, who resides in Spain, stated that she has direct sources within the process and confirmed that the trial lasted four days and has concluded for a verdict, although under “absolute secrecy.”
"The population has not even received information through the national television news... It is a disrespect to the people of Cuba," he denounced, recalling that in Spain, even the trials against high-ranking state officials are made public.
One of the most controversial points revealed by María Victoria is the presence of Díaz-Canel as a prosecution witness.
"The President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel, has appeared in the trial against my brother as a witness for the prosecution. A witness for the prosecution is a witness for the accusation," he emphasized.
The lawyer recalled that the relationship between the two was very close: Díaz-Canel was the advisor for Alejandro Gil's Economics thesis.
On February 2, 2024, a day after his dismissal, he publicly congratulated him on his "excellent work."
On February 6, on his birthday, he congratulated him again and even invited him to continue working for the revolution.
“They were inseparable, they were inseparable. My sister-in-law used to say, ‘They adore each other, they can't live without one another.’ And now, simply to clean up his severely damaged image both nationally and internationally, he is willing to appear against my brother as a witness for the prosecution in a corruption trial. I find it shameful,” María Victoria stated to Pentón, describing Díaz-Canel's actions as a personal and political betrayal.
The sister of the former minister also reported direct pressures on the family to keep them silent.
"My niece begged me, 'Aunt, please don't speak anymore, because instead of helping, it harms my father,'" she recounted.
Despite that request, María Victoria decided to speak publicly, claiming that “the people of Cuba have the right” to know the inner workings of a high-level corruption case.
"I speak because I have the truth in my hands and because it seems incredible to me that the people are deprived of the right to know what has happened with one of the most important ministers in the country," he stated.
The lawyer acknowledged that her brother has confessed to several of the economic crimes he is accused of. "I know my brother committed economic crimes... Power corrupts, and when you are in a corrupt circle, the environment gradually leads you without you realizing it," she said, while emphasizing that no minister comes out "clean" from a system she described as structurally corrupt.
A "scapegoat"
Maria Victoria insisted that Gil is being used as a "scapegoat."
"It is impossible that all this corruption has happened and only Gil falls... The important ones have vanished along the way and only small levels remain. Here, the only one paying for everything is Alejandro Miguel Gil Fernández," he denounced.
He announced that he will take the case "to the fullest extent," even to the International Court of Justice, and ensured that his goal is that if economic crimes are proven, "everyone who needs to fall will fall," including other high-ranking officials who may have participated or turned a blind eye.
María Victoria also questioned the abandonment by the elite surrounding the former minister during his time in power.
He mentioned names of public figures who used to frequent his home and benefited from their closeness to power, and who he claims have now disappeared.
“At what point during these tough years have they gone to visit my brother in prison, or asked my family if he is well?” he wondered, noting that “those who once honored him and asked him for favors are no longer here.”
While the regime keeps the trial shrouded in opacity, the only news that emerges comes through independent press and from María Victoria herself, who has chosen to confront the imposed silence and denounce what she sees as a political operation to protect the image of the leadership, with Díaz-Canel at the forefront, at the expense of one of his closest associates.
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