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The United States government warned that it will continue to investigate those who maintain ties with the Cuban regime, following the arrest of Adys Lastres Morera in Miami, sister of the executive president of the Business Administration Group S.A. (GAESA), the military conglomerate that controls up to 70% of the island's economy.
The arrest took place on Thursday, May 21, a day after the State Department determined that Adys Lastres Morera was deportable under Section 237(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, for posing a threat to the interests of U.S. foreign policy, the Department of Homeland Security reported in a statement.
John Condon, acting executive associate director of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Division, was unequivocal in justifying the arrest: “GAESA, controlled by the Cuban military and the core of the country’s kleptocratic communist system, controls up to $20 billion in illicit assets.”
Condon also warned that allowing Lastres Morera to remain in the country would send the wrong message: "Networks connected to the Cuban regime could continue to access financial, educational, and social institutions in the United States, which is not the case."
The official was explicit about the next steps: "HSI will continue investigating those with links to the adversaries of our nation and will take the necessary measures to neutralize threats against our homeland."
Adys Lastres Morera entered the U.S. on January 13, 2023, during the Biden administration, at the request of her son Ernesto Carvajal Lastres, a U.S. citizen.
Since his arrival, he was listed as a manager or registered agent in real estate companies in Florida, including REMAS Investments LLC and Santa Elena Investments LLC, based in Boca Raton.
The U.S. government found no records of having applied for naturalization citizenship or a U.S. passport.
Her sister, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, heads GAESA and is responsible for managing the group's illicit assets internationally.
According to authorities, the organization's revenue exceeds the Cuban government's budget by more than three times and only benefits the regime's elite, while ordinary Cubans remain mired in crisis.
The arrest is part of a coordinated offensive by the Trump-Rubio administration against the regime. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, announced new sanctions against GAESA on May 7, including Ania Guillermina Lastres, under Executive Order 14404 signed by President Trump on May 1.
That order expands the sanctions regime, extends the risk of secondary sanctions to foreign actors, and even applies to adult relatives of already designated individuals.
The U.S. set June 5 as the deadline for foreign companies to sever ties with GAESA, under the threat of secondary sanctions.
The arrest of Adys Lastres Morera occurred one day after the Department of Justice declassified a formal indictment against Raúl Castro and five former Cuban officials for the shooting down of two planes from Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, which resulted in the deaths of four Cuban Americans.
Adys Lastres Morera remains in ICE custody awaiting deportation proceedings, while the Trump-Rubio administration maintains what it describes as a maximum pressure strategy against the Havana regime.
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