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Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new direct sanctions on Thursday against the Business Administration Group S.A. (GAESA) and described the Cuban military conglomerate as the core of a "communist kleptocratic" system that controls up to $20 billion in illicit assets, funneled into hidden bank accounts abroad while the Cuban people suffer from hunger and blackouts.
The official statement from the State Department points out that GAESA's revenues "likely triple the Cuban state's budget" and that the conglomerate controls about 40% or more of the island's economy, designed "to generate income not for the Cuban people, but solely for the benefit of its corrupt elites."
Alongside GAESA, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera was appointed, serving as the executive president of the conglomerate and brigadier general of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), identified as responsible for managing those illicit assets abroad; and Moa Nickel S.A. (MNSA), a joint venture between the Canadian Sherritt International Corporation and the Cuban state-owned company Compañía General de Níquel, accused of exploiting natural resources using assets originally expropriated from American citizens and companies.
Sanctions are applied under the Executive Order 14404 signed by Trump on May 1, 2026, which authorizes the blocking of assets and prohibits transactions with individuals linked to the Cuban regime.
The impact was immediate in the markets: Sherritt's shares fell by 30% on the same day of the announcement, and the company suspended its direct participation in the joint venture, repatriating its Canadian employees from Cuba.
The profile of Ania Lastres Morera, the woman behind GAESA becomes particularly significant in this context, as her sister Adys Lastres Morera resides in Florida and manages real estate companies, adding a domestic dimension to the conglomerate's network of interests.
The accusation regarding illicit assets does not come out of nowhere. In August 2025, leaked financial documents revealed that GAESA had more than 14.467 billion dollars deposited in unidentified bank accounts as of March 2024, a figure that led the U.S.-Cuba Economic and Trade Council to question whether the regime had lied about its true capacity to honor its external debts, estimated between 28.5 billion and 28.7 billion dollars.
Rubio also linked the sanctions to Cuba's support for Russia's war against Ukraine, citing U.S. intelligence that estimates Havana has deployed more than 18,000 troops in that conflict.
"Just 145 kilometers from U.S. territory, the Cuban regime has devastated the island and turned it into a platform for foreign intelligence, military, and terrorist operations," stated the Secretary of State.
This action is part of a broader campaign by Marco Rubio against the financial core of the regime that includes Cuba's reinstatement on the list of state sponsors of terrorism in January 2026 and the designation of 20 additional firms linked to the FAR in March 2026. Since 2022, Washington has imposed sanctions on more than 50 Cuban officials and entities for similar actions.
The economist Pavel Vidal published an analysis this Thursday in which he proposes reducing GAESA's monopolistic control and transferring its functions to transparent civilian structures as a condition for any credible economic reform in Cuba.
Rubio warned that the measures are not yet complete: "New sanctions are expected in the coming days and weeks."
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