The U.S. government has arrested the younger sister of the head of the military corporations "GAESA," which effectively controls Cuba's economy.
On the 21st, Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State, said on the social media service X (formerly Twitter) that "we arrested Addis Lastres Morera, the sister of GAESA's executive director."
Minister Rubio said Morera has supported Cuba's communist regime while managing real estate in Florida.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also said in a separate statement that Morera entered the United States in 2023 as a lawful permanent resident and is currently in custody while removal proceedings are underway.
Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, the older sister of the arrested Addis Lastres Morera, is a brigadier general in the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces and the executive director of the military corporations GAESA. GAESA is known to control up to 70% of Cuba's economy.
Minister Rubio criticized GAESA as "a military-controlled conglomerate that, at the direction of the Cuban regime, diverts millions of dollars in aid meant for its own people."
According to Reuters, GAESA is a military corporations group founded about 30 years ago by Raul Castro, once Cuba's most powerful figure, and is under the control of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.
GAESA operates numerous five-star hotels, ports, commercial banks, supermarkets, gas stations, and remittance companies in Cuba, generating massive revenue.
Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Calleja, Raul Castro's former son-in-law, led GAESA until his death in 2022, after which Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera took over as successor. The U.S. government placed Lastres Morera under sanctions earlier this month.