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The Cuban economist Mauricio de Miranda, a member of the group Cuba Transformación, stated this Wednesday that the package of 176 economic measures announced by the regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel completely omits any reference to GAESA, the military-financial conglomerate that controls a significant portion of the island's economy.
Miranda stated bluntly in an interview with Tania Costa: "There's no hint of it in the 176 measures. Not a hint of anything related to the transformation of GAESA, or the dismantling of GAESA, or the elimination of GAESA, which ultimately is what I believe should happen."
The economist was categorical about the very nature of the conglomerate: “That should not exist. GAESA is a military and financial entity. What are military personnel doing in business? What are military personnel doing buying and selling? What are the military and state security doing engaging in questionable financial operations with dubious mechanisms?”
According to Mauricio De Miranda, the mission of the Armed Forces and state security has a clear limit. "I believe that the responsibility of the Armed Forces and State Security is to defend the country and ensure the security of the nation and the state, not the government. They are institutions that answer to society, to the country, to the state, not to the government."
The economist's argument points directly to market logic. "Businesses should be in the hands of those who are dedicated to business. The Armed Forces should not be engaging in business."
What concerns De Miranda the most is not just the commercial activity of the army, but its lack of transparency. "It makes no sense whatsoever that there exists a military and financial conglomerate controlling a significant portion of the country's economy and that it cannot be audited by the state regulatory entities. That cannot happen."
This criticism is supported by the regime's own legal mechanisms. The Law 158 of 2022 protected GAESA by explicitly eliminating the possibility for the General Comptroller's Office to audit military institutions, leaving that control solely in the hands of Díaz-Canel. In 2024, the then Comptroller Gladys Bejerano publicly admitted that GAESA was not under her supervision.
The 176 measures were approved on June 19 in an extraordinary session of the National Assembly, presented by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz. The package includes the transformation of state-owned enterprises into joint-stock companies, the creation of private banking, the removal of the cap of 100 workers for Mipymes, and greater openness to foreign investment, including Cubans abroad.
However, the Cuba Transformación group has warned that without addressing the power of GAESA —which controls between 40% and 70% of the formal Cuban economy— the reforms risk resulting in an oligarchic capture of the State in the Russian style, benefiting elites connected to military and political power.
Other analysts share that concern. Economist Miguel Alejandro Hayes warned that the measures do not aim for real development but rather to rebuild the political pact that supports the regime, and the organization Food Monitor Program alerted on Wednesday about the risk that the reforms could lead to a “crony capitalism”.
Cuba Transformación, the group of five Cuban economists that includes De Miranda along with Pedro Monreal González, Pavel Vidal Alejandro, Omar Everleny Pérez Villanueva, and Ricardo Torres Pérez, estimates that the Cuban economy could contract by at least 15% of GDP in 2026 due to the energy crisis, inflation, and the scarcity of foreign currency.
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