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The daughter of the current head of the military conglomerate GAESA, Brigadier General Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, resides in Panama, where she has built a career in the port and logistics sector after beginning her professional journey at one of the most strategic economic enclaves of the Cuban regime: the Mariel Container Terminal (TC Mariel).
Any Rodríguez Lastres, a graduate of the University of Havana, began working in 2014 as a commercial specialist at TC Mariel, as noted in her professional profile.
In that phase, she participated in the preparation of commercial budgets, the containerization processes of cargo, the acquisition of volumes, and billing management, according to research by Martí Noticias.
Subsequently, he advanced to areas of Commercial Strategy and Market Research, engaging in studies and analyses aimed at supporting high-level decisions within the port.
Mariel is not a minor infrastructure within the Cuban state framework: it is the main logistical-industrial project promoted by the regime in recent decades and is closely linked to structures under military control.
GAESA (Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.) is the conglomerate controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) that dominates crucial sectors of the Cuban economy, such as tourism, currency exchange commerce, port logistics, and a significant portion of hard currency revenue.
Various analyses have indicated that the group holds a substantial portion of the foreign currency entering the country, amidst an economic crisis that leaves the population facing power outages, food shortages, and a decline in basic services.
After his time in Mariel, Rodríguez Lastres moved to Panama, where he has worked with international companies connected to the port and logistics sector. Consulted records indicate that he has traveled to multiple international destinations, including Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany, and Singapore.
Their case has reignited the debate about the privileges of the elites connected to power in Cuba, in contrast to the official discourse of resistance and collective sacrifice. While the regime insists on urging the population to endure hardships in the name of the "defense of the Revolution," relatives of high officials are building careers abroad and maintaining ties with international business networks.
“Here you can see the privileges of this new caste,” stated researcher Luis Domínguez from the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, in remarks to Martí Noticias. “How many Cubans have the right and the ability to travel the world like the daughter of a government official?”
The trajectory of Rodríguez Lastres gains greater significance due to the weight of the surname. His mother, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, took on a central role within GAESA following the death in 2022 of General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, regarded as the architect of the military business empire and former son-in-law of Raúl Castro.
Since then, the structure of GAESA continues to be one of the pillars of real economic power in Cuba. The conglomerate manages businesses linked to tourism, stores in freely convertible currency (MLC), finance, import-export, and strategic logistics, including key infrastructures such as Mariel itself.
Domínguez emphasized that information about figures in GAESA's circle is not inaccessible. "Just put the name in Google and companies, records, and connections will appear. We are talking about where the money stolen from the Cuban people is hidden," he asserted.
According to available data, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera is also listed as the owner of a company with several apartments registered in her name in Panama, which adds another dimension to the debate about the accumulation of assets abroad by figures associated with the Cuban economic-military power.
"They used to talk about a caste. Well, here it is again. The names have changed, but it remains the same structure of privileges," concluded Domínguez.
In a country where the average salary barely covers a fraction of the basic needs and where thousands of young people emigrate due to a lack of opportunities, stories like this fuel the questioning of the concentration of power and resources in the hands of an elite closely tied to GAESA, the true financial heart of the totalitarian regime.
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