Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, defended the Trump administration’s decision on Friday to impose new sanctions on Cuba, including the largest one targeting GAESA, or Grupo de Administración Empresarial, a conglomerate of businesses run by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.
In addition to GAESA and its leader, the sanctions announced on Thursday also targeted Moa Nickel, a Cuban joint venture with Canadian company Sherritt International, which immediately announced its withdrawal from the activity, ending 32 years of presence on the island.
The May 1 decree and the new designations announced on May 7 significantly broaden the legal authority allowing the US government to impose sanctions on nationals and companies of third countries, explained Lee Schlenker, a researcher at the Global South program at the Quincy Institute.
“Not only are their assets likely to be frozen, but their accounts in the United States as well as their travel to the United States, those of their shareholders, investors or employees, are also at risk,” Schlenker emphasized. “This will inevitably have a tremendously important impact on the presence of foreign companies in Cuba.”
Economist Pavel Vidal, a Cuba specialist at Pontifical Javeriana University, told The Associated Press that these measures were “very worrying” for an economy already “virtually paralyzed.”
The United States has blocked fuel shipments to Cuba since January, further exacerbating the economic crisis the island has been facing for years.
Vidal pointed out that the new sanctions could discourage remaining partners of GAESA, stating that “very few of them will take the risk of defying them.”
“These new measures amount to a ‘total isolation’,” Vidal estimated, motivated by the fear they inspire in banks, insurers, and international companies.
As an expert who has analyzed GAESA’s internal documents, Vidal noted that the deep presence of the conglomerate in almost all sectors of the Cuban economy makes any connection with the island a risk under the new US rules.
According to reports analyzed by Vidal, GAESA controls almost 40% of Cuba’s gross domestic product. By early 2024, the conglomerate held $14.5 billion in liquid reserves, with annual revenues three times the total budget of the Cuban state.
Family ties to the Castros
Created in the 1990s under military control, GAESA was the Cuban armed forces’ strategic response to the economic collapse following the fall of the Soviet Union and the tightening of US sanctions at the time.
Although owned by the state, GAESA is not subject to audits by the General Comptroller’s Office. Gladys Bejerano, head of the entity, acknowledged this lack of oversight in a 2024 interview; shortly after, she retired.
For years, until his death in July 2022, Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja held the position of GAESA’s general director. Son-in-law of former President Raúl Castro, he was a pillar of the family, a legacy perpetuated by his son, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro.
While the younger Castro officially holds the position of the chief of his grandfather’s inner circle, he has recently emerged as a key intermediary in sensitive discussions with the United States.
This week’s sanctions also added Ania Guillermina Lastres to the US blacklist. As the successor to López-Calleja, she currently serves as GAESA’s executive president, overseeing the conglomerate’s vast international financial interests.
Based on limited information available, GAESA oversees dozens of retail outlets, offering everything from food and clothing to appliances, as well as a vast network of services including car rental agencies and travel agencies.
It notably manages Cuban financial institutions, currency exchange offices, and the administration of the country’s main hotels.
In statements to the press on Friday, Rubio affirmed that the sanctions were not aimed at the Cuban people and described GAESA as a company that “monopolizes everything that brings money in Cuba and also puts it in the pockets of a few regime insiders.”
Cuban authorities argue that these sanctions constitute a “collective punishment” aimed at strangling the island’s economy, claiming that the Trump administration’s policies show contempt for the well-being of the Cuban people in favor of a political leverage.
These new sanctions against Havana add to the weight of the American energy blockade, which has caused widespread water and electricity cuts as well as serious shortages of gas and water.
Andrea Rodríguez, The Associated Press.
