GAESA

Government documents reveal Cuban military conglomerate GAESA hordes $18 billion dollars while regime keeps Cubans in misery, and detains those who complain.

Raul Castro, 94, appeared at July 26, 2025 rally in Santiago, Cuba with Miguel Diaz Canel. Office of the Presidency of Cuba.

Reinaldo Arenas in his posthumous autobiography Before Night Falls (1992) wrote: “The difference between the communist and capitalist systems is that, although both give you a kick in the ass, in the communist system you have to applaud, while in the capitalist system you can scream. And I came here to scream.”  This quote came to mind reading two stories on Cuba published today.  Journalist Nora Gamez Torres in her article published in the Miami Herald today, “Where is Cuba’s money? Secret records show the military has massive cash hoard” reveals that the Cuban military through its “umbrella group known as GAESA, short for Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A” has bank accounts containing $18 billion USD, which is “larger than larger than the international reserves of nations like Costa Rica, Uruguay and Panama.”

Nora also points out that 63 priority medications “have been in short supply in Cuban pharmacies.” Maintaining the annual supply of these critical medications is $43 million USD, and that to maintain Cuba’s electrical grid, which has been collapsing due to a lack of upkeep, would cost $250 million annually to operate and maintain.  Interest on the $18 billion would cover these costs that have not been met.

On May 1, 2025  Nora Gamez Torres spoke virtually to the Hudson Institute on a panel discussion titled, Cuba’s Kleptocracy: How It Works and Why It Matters for US Policy, in which she described how GAESA’s funds are not being used to benefit the Cuban people.  She also hinted during this event at having additional information, which was released today.

Yesterday, on the 31st anniversary of the August 5, 1994 mass protests in Havana that came to be known as the Maleconazo, Agence France Presse reported early today that “activists, journalists and relatives of jailed dissidents say they were briefly detained or prevented from leaving their homes by state security agents.”

 

Cuba is a communist kleptocracy, where regime elites live lives of luxury, while the vast majority of Cubans live in misery and poverty, but can be jailed for complaining about this inequality and injustice. Reinaldo Arenas recognized this reality in 1980, and it has only worsened over the past 45 years.

 

For example, Manuel Anido Cuesta, the stepson of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, was seen kissing actress Ana de Armas in Madrid. The pair were photographed during a PDA-filled date night in November 2024. 

 

 

 

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