The Cuban writer Carlos A. Aguilera, who resides in Prague, stated in an interview with Tania Costa that the only real way to achieve a transition in Cuba is through American military intervention, and he identified specific targets where this action should be focused.
The author of "Theory of the Chinese Soul" was emphatic in describing the type of action he considers necessary in Cuba. "The only real way to remove the fascists from power in Cuba is precisely that; it’s simply an intervention. In other words, a surgery—a microsurgery, to speak in medical terms—a very well-placed microsurgery to where it needs to be placed, and that’s it, end of story."
When the interviewer asked him to specify where this "microsurgery" should be applied, Aguilera responded directly: "At the Business Administration Group (GAESA) and in the Cuban State, which is very well located in two or three places within Cuba: the Council of State, the house of Raúl Castro and the house of Alejandro Castro."
"To achieve a real transition within Cuba, there must be an American intervention, I truly believe that," declared Aguilera, whose words come in the context of the debate generated by the public defense of GAESA that the official newspaper Granma published for the first time this Tuesday.
Aguilera argued that after seven decades of regime, peaceful means are insufficient. "After 70 years, the people no longer have weapons other than to shout or simply lie down to sleep without eating, which is also a form of protest," said the author of the novel "El imperio Oblómov."
Regarding the actual structure of power on the island, Aguilera stated that the GAE— as the regime renamed GAESA after the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration— does not have a defined physical headquarters, but operates through its key figures. “Wherever Raúl Castro is, there is GAESA because Raúl Castro is working for the GAE.”
The writer also identified Ania Guillermina Lastres as the current director of GAESA, who inherited the position following the death of General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja in July 2022.
Lastres was sanctioned by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on May 7, 2026, along with the conglomerate itself, under the Executive Order 14404, signed by the Trump Administration on May 1.
Aguilera described GAESA as "almost the true State Security within the business realm or within the Cuban economic space," and pointed out that the Granma article, in its attempt to defend the conglomerate, ultimately reveals its nature: the text acknowledges that GAE operates parallel to the Cuban State and only informs it of some of its actions, which the writer equates to the behavior of a paramilitary group.
"What they are saying is that this country works, but it doesn’t work because of the Cuban state. It works due to other elements, other groups, who are the ones making things, so to speak, move around here," he stated.
Regarding the scenario following a potential military intervention, Aguilera imagined that internal Cuban actors could play a significant role in the transition, eventually leading to a referendum or free elections.
The interviewer Tania Costa, for her part, compared the construction figures of GAESA —more than 10,000 houses in 30 years according to Granma— with those of the Spanish region of Murcia, which built 11,888 houses in the year 2000: "What Murcia achieved in one year, GAESA did in 30. I don't know who they think they are fooling."
Voices close to Rubio and Trump were advocating in May 2026 for a strategy of total pressure on Cuba with no confirmed immediate military plans, while the regime faces the highest level of international scrutiny regarding its business conglomerate in decades.
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