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The Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz posted a series of messages on his X account in which he challenged the sanctions imposed by the government of Donald Trump against the military's business conglomerate, now known as GAESA, and asserted that Washington will not succeed in "suffocating" Cuba.
In his message, he addresses the "government of the United States," but it is a clear and direct response to the recent statements made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the policies of President Donald Trump.
In his thread of posts on the social network X, Marrero wrote: "The GAE is present in vital areas, amidst a fierce pursuit of its operations. The goal of all the measures is the same: to suffocate us. They have not succeeded, despite all the pressures, nor will they succeed."
The Prime Minister explicitly supported the speech delivered by Miguel Díaz-Canel on Saturday at the Karl Marx Theater in Havana, during the event celebrating the 95th birthday of Raúl Castro and the 65th anniversary of MININT.
Marrero cited the official: "As President Díaz-Canel expressed in his recent speech, the U.S. government's attack against the GAE has been coldly calculated. It responds to their desire to destroy the avenues that Cuba has found to face a relentless economic war."
In a third message, the prime minister rejected the corruption allegations that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made against the Cuban military conglomerate.
"If the resources generated by the GAE were only for a few, as they say, the U.S. government wouldn’t care. But they have helped maintain and develop social achievements and promote strategic sectors. That affects their plan, which seeks to eliminate everything that benefits the people," he said.
Marrero's messages amplified the stance that Díaz-Canel had established the day before at the Karl Marx, where he characterized the sanctions as a "state calumny" and stated that the U.S. had not presented "a single piece of evidence or proof" of corruption.
Díaz-Canel also stated at that event: "They are targeting a system of enterprises because they know of its effectiveness against the ongoing economic blockade by the United States against the Cuban people."
The escalation of sanctions began on May 1, 2026, when Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14404, which identified GAESA as a primary target and introduced secondary sanctions against any foreign actor engaging with the conglomerate.
Marco Rubio formalized the appointments on May 7 against GAESA, its executive president Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera —brigade general of the FAR— and Moa Nickel S.A.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) set June 5 as the deadline for foreign companies and financial institutions to close their operations with the conglomerate under the threat of secondary sanctions.
The impact was immediate: Iberostar ceased management of 12 hotels starting June 1, and Blue Diamond Resorts, which operated 62 hotels with over 12,900 rooms, announced the complete halt of its operations on May 31.
The regime broke its silence on June 2 with a statement in Granma that described the sanctions as "the most intense, disproportionate, and dangerous escalation in the recent history of relations between Cuba and the United States," and on the same day, the conglomerate removed the reference to "Sociedad Anónima" from its name to officially become GAE.
Washington accuses GAESA of controlling between 40% and 70% of the Cuban economy and of having diverted up to 20 billion dollars in illicit assets abroad.
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