The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, emphatically denounced this Friday that GAESA, the Cuban military conglomerate, accumulates more money than the island's own government with not a single cent reaching the people, while explaining the new sanctions announced against the business group on Thursday.
In statements shared on social media and reported by journalist Eric Daugherty, Rubio was straightforward: “It is a holding company created by generals in Cuba that has generated billions of dollars in revenue, none of which benefits the Cuban people.”
"Not a single cent benefits the Cuban people. Do you understand this? I don't know if you are aware. There is the Cuban government, which has a budget. And then there is this private company that has more money than the government itself," stated the Secretary of State.
Rubio emphasized that none of those funds are designated for building roads, bridges, or feeding the population: "Not a single road, not a single bridge, not a single grain of rice for any Cuban, except for those who are part of the company."
The State Department estimates that GAESA's revenues are three times the Cuban state budget, a figure that internal leaks from 2025 analyzed by the Miami Herald and economist Pavel Vidal place at 3.2 times the state budget.
The conglomerate controls between 40% and 70% of the formal Cuban economy and maintains illicit assets in hidden accounts abroad estimated at up to 20 billion dollars, according to the State Department itself.
Rubio described the sanctions as a direct blow against those who steal from the people: "We are sanctioning a company that essentially takes everything that generates money in Cuba and illegally lines the pockets of a few close to the regime."
The Secretary of State insisted that the measures are not against ordinary Cubans, but against the elite that strips them of their resources: “These are not sanctions against the Cuban people, because the Cuban people do not benefit from GAESA.”
Along with GAESA, its executive president, Brigadier General Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, and the state mining company Moa Nickel S.A. were sanctioned. The total package includes 12 Cuban officials, seven military and security entities, and three vessels.
The sanctions are framed within Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, 2026, which expands a national emergency declared in January of that year and establishes a new sanctions program with the capability for secondary measures against third countries.
GAESA was created by Raúl Castro during the Special Period of the 1990s to provide the Revolutionary Armed Forces with an autonomous financial base after the Soviet collapse, and it was formally established on February 28, 1999.
The conglomerate operates with total opacity: it does not pay taxes on dollar profits, does not allow audits by the state comptroller, and maintains companies registered in Panama, Cyprus, and Liberia to evade international sanctions.
Foreign companies operating with GAESA have until June 5 to terminate those operations, under the risk of secondary sanctions that could include the prohibition of correspondent accounts in the U.S.
Rubio concluded his statements with a warning that leaves no room for doubt: "We imposed them yesterday, and we are certainly going to do more."
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