The economist Elías Amor revealed in an interview with CiberCuba that the origin of the military conglomerate GAESA dates back to a decision made by Marino Murillo, the right-hand man of Raúl Castro, who created its predecessor during the Special Period to concentrate the economic power of the Armed Forces.
"It was created by Marino Murillo, who was Raúl Castro's right-hand man. The former czar of the economy. Marino Murillo, the one responsible for the disaster of the Cuban economy with the task of 'ordenamiento,'" Amor stated on the program.
According to the account, before the Special Period, Raúl Castro - then in charge of the military - had turned military enterprises into profitable entities that rewarded their collaborators with what was known as a "jabita." When the crisis struck, those companies individually had "less bargaining power," which led Murillo to create the Business Action Group (GAE).
«That GAE was the Business Action Group of the Army, which began operating in either '93 or '94, during the Special Period,» explained Amor, noting that this organization was the precursor to what is now known as GAESA, the conglomerate that controls the Cuban economy.
Amor also explained the name change of the conglomerate: originally called Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., it has now dropped the "S.A." initials because, in his view, "communists detest joint-stock companies" and "are enemies of capital."
When Raúl Castro came to power, the conglomerate was handed over to his son-in-law, Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja.
“Raúl Castro came to power, what did he do? He appointed his son-in-law. These things happen. When there is no democratic parliamentary system or an independent judiciary, nepotism is commonplace,” noted the economist.
López-Calleja passed away on July 1, 2022, and following his death, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, a brigadier general and former first executive vice president of GAESA, was appointed to the position, confirmed in February 2023.
Amor does not have a favorable opinion of her management: "They put this girl there, who is just a figurehead and doesn't even understand what's going on."
The expert goes further and describes a structure designed to conceal who holds the real power: "According to what I've been told by people familiar with GAESA's procedures, no one there knows anything. Everything is very mechanized, very formalized, so it falls into the hands of those who need to have it, which I can't specify at this moment..." He left the sentence unfinished.
These statements occur in the context of the mass exodus of hotel chains from Cuba -Meliá, Iberostar, and Blue Diamond, among others-, all of which are linked to GAESA, which Amor attributes to the collapse of tourism and not to the ultimatum from the Trump administration.
On May 7th, the United States sanctioned GAESA and its president Ania Lastres Morera under an executive order signed by Trump on May 1st, as part of the maximum pressure policy on the Cuban regime.
Amor had previously warned that the only way out for Cuba involves dismantling this framework: “GAESA must be eliminated to save Cuba”, a stance he maintains due to the consolidation of power that the military conglomerate has achieved over more than three decades without any transparency or accountability.
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