The Cuban lawyer Alberto Luzárraga, residing in Miami, was categorical in analyzing the role of Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA) in the island's economy: the military conglomerate is not part of the solution, but "part of the problem that needs to be resolved."
"It is not fair that the most profitable company in the state belongs to the military. This is something that only exists in Cuba," stated Luzárraga in a recent interview, days after participating as a panelist in the Symposium "The Helms-Burton Law and the Cuban Democracy", organized by Patria de Martí last Thursday in Miami.
Luzárraga, with experience in privatization processes in Latin America during the 1980s and 1990s, rejected the argument of those who see GAESA as a necessary player for any transition, considering it the only entity with capital and a business structure.
"In reality, they are companies of the Cuban military," he insisted, emphasizing that the conglomerate operates thanks to monopolies that ensure profitability, not due to actual efficiency.
GAESA controls approximately 40% of the Cuban economy with over $18 billion in liquid assets, according to 2024 data, and operates through an opaque structure with companies registered in Panama, Cyprus, and Liberia to evade international sanctions.
The conglomerate was established in the 1990s so that the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) could generate their own foreign currency income following the Soviet collapse.
By the end of that decade, his companies already accounted for 80% of the FAR's operating budget, reversing the logic: it is the state that depends on the military, not the other way around.
Regarding Cuban exports, Luzárraga acknowledged that the island still sells tobacco abroad, but he was straightforward in his assessment: "There are a few small things that still remain, but in reality, it is a very poor export. For a country with 10 million inhabitants, it is extremely meager."
He also pointed out the global trend of reducing tobacco consumption, especially among millennials, as a factor that will increasingly impact that sector in the long term.
In 2021, Cuban tobacco exports reached 204 million dollars, making it the second largest export sector after mining, according to the National Office of Statistics and Information.
In addressing the scenario of a transitioning Cuba, Luzárraga identified two avenues for investment for Cuban Americans and Cubans abroad.
The first and most accessible: real estate. "I believe that in a free and prosperous Cuba, any investment in real estate will be good," he stated, including houses, farms, and properties by the beach.
The foundation of his optimism is geographic: "Cuba will fix itself. And why will it fix itself? Because of its geographical location."
However, he warned that for real privatizations to occur, two conditions are required that currently do not exist on the island: legal stability and social peace. He rated the complexity of the Cuban case as "10.5 on a scale of 1 to 10".
Luzárraga suggested that the first step in any transition process would be to "conduct a thorough audit of state-owned enterprises to determine which ones are viable and which are not," noting that many operate at chronic losses, have excess personnel, and fail to justify the budgets they receive from the state.
His position aligns with that of economist Orlando Freire Santana, who in April 2026 recommended privatizing state-owned enterprises, freeing prices, and dismantling GAESA as conditions for any real reform, as well as repealing the 2019 Constitution.
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