The publication Diálogo Américas, linked to the United States Southern Command, published this month a in-depth analysis of the Cuban military conglomerate GAESA, describing it as a structure with no equivalent in Latin America and the Caribbean that "represents a threat to the security of the entire region."
The Business Administration Group S.A. (GAESA), the economic arm of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), controls, according to independent estimates, between 40% and 70% of the formal economic activity in Cuba, including ports, logistics, tourism, financial services, foreign trade, and telecommunications, all managed by the military apparatus without independent oversight mechanisms or financial transparency.
The U.S. State Department has described the conglomerate as "the heart of the Cuban kleptocratic communist system," noting that it opaquely channels the revenues from the most profitable sectors of the economy for the benefit of political and military elites, rather than the population.
The Cuban political scientist Juan Antonio Blanco, president of the research center Cuba Siglo 21, goes further in his characterization: “Over time, this institution has transformed into an octopus with many tentacles, managed outside of State control, while its subordination to the FAR is more nominal than real. It is a true Cuban Cosa Nostra.”
Blanco also warns about the repressive dimension of the conglomerate: "It is a paramilitary complement to the repressive apparatus. When the regime needs to intervene to suppress demonstrations or suspend the Internet, GAESA acts as a paramilitary aid to the Ministry of the Interior."
The group's structural opacity is total. According to Blanco, "this oligopoly has offshore accounts, its shareholders are invisible, its main companies are registered in Panama under different nationalities, and they cannot be audited either by administrative institutions or by the policies of the island."
Internal financial documents published by the Miami Herald revealed that in March 2024, GAESA companies reported assets amounting to $17.9 billion, including over $14 billion in bank accounts, figures that illustrate the magnitude of economic power concentrated in military hands.
The concern of Southcom is not solely economic. By controlling the main ports, logistics, and a significant portion of foreign investment, GAESA has become the privileged channel through which extra-regional actors like China and Russia establish relations with strategic sectors managed by the Cuban military apparatus.
That threat has triggered a cascading U.S. offensive throughout 2026. On May 7, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced direct sanctions against GAESA and its CEO, Brigadier General Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, describing the conglomerate as "the heart of Cuba's kleptocratic communist system."
In June, Washington sanctioned the Banco Financiero Internacional (BFI) and the financial firm Rafin S.A., key entities in the regime's currency mobilization.
When GAESA attempted to evade these measures by transferring the assets of the Mariel Container Terminal to a new subsidiary named Coral Marítima S.A., the U.S. responded by sanctioning both entities on July 24.
The international shipping companies Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM have officially suspended their operations related to Cuba following the sanctions, indicating the global reach of the pressure on the conglomerate.
On August 5, the Southern Command announced the creation of a joint task force with 18 allied countries to exert "sustained pressure" against networks that threaten hemispheric collective security, as part of a broader strategy of pressure on Cuba.
Blanco summarizes the impact of this model on the Cuban population: "By insisting on maintaining totalitarian control over economic activity and production, this mafia-type governance regime is driving an increasing number of Cubans into misery at an alarming rate."
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