While Cuba faces a serious humanitarian crisis With hospitals undersupplied and medication shortages, leaked documents show that companies controlled by the Cuban military hide billions of dollars.
According to records obtained by journalist Nora Gámez Torres, from the Miami Herald, Seagullone of the tourist companies of the military conglomerate GAESAhas 4.3 billion dollars in their bank accountsalmost 13 times more than the 339 million dollars that the regime estimates it needs to supply the country’s pharmacies each year.
The Cuban health system lacks 70% of essential medicinesas the prime minister recently acknowledged. In parallel, The national economy is going through its worst moment since the crisis of the 90s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Despite the emergency, GAESA continues investing in the construction of hotels y keeps its financial resources separate from public coffersworsening the crisis and the national debt.
The records leaked by the aforementioned media offer a rare insight into the financial operations of GAESA, group that includes companies in sectors such as tourism, telecommunications and remittances. These data challenge the claims of the Cuban dictatorship, which blames US sanctions for the humanitarian crisis.
The dictator Miguel Diaz-Canel He reiterated this month at a Communist Party meeting that the US embargo is primarily responsible for the crisis. However, experts like Pavel Vidala Cuban economist based in Colombia, point out decades of economic mismanagement, an outdated centralized system y failed monetary policies as key factors.
Vidal emphasizes that GAESA’s priorities, such as massive investment in hotels, contradict the official narrative. For the expert, spending enormous amounts on building hotels while the rest of the economy “falls apart” undermines the premise that Cuba operates under a centrally planned economy and “It is evidence that for a long time there have been two parallel governments”.
In July of this year, a financial statement revealed that Seagullwhich manages 115 hotelshad liquid assets of 4.3 billion dollars. This figure contrasts with the data of the regime, which claimed to need only 129 million dollars annually for medical supplies and 250 million to maintain the country’s electrical grid.
Besides, Almestanother GAESA company dedicated to hotel investments, received 668 million pesos from the state budget in 2023along with others 4.7 billion pesos in public investments.
Despite this, it only reported two million pesos in taxeswhich calls into question the economic benefits that tourism should bring to the population.
The sanctions imposed by the United States in recent years have limited the Cuban regime’s sources of income, affecting remittances and tourism. However, between 2021 and 2023, 36% of government investments went to the construction of hotelswhile only 2.9% went to agriculture and 1.9% to health programs.
Emilio Moralesan economic consultant in Miami, estimates that investments in hotels since 2008 could amount to 24 billion dollars.
This expansion policy was maintained even when the pandemic drastically reduced tourist arrivals. In 2023, tourism revenue fell 62% compared to 2019, and most hotel rooms remained empty.
Since 2008, GAESA has consolidated its control over the most lucrative sectors of the Cuban economyincluding telecommunications, retail and logisticsas he has repeatedly denounced Cuba 21st Century.
In addition, the conglomerate manages foreign exchange through the International Financial Bank, where remittances y medical mission salaries.
The analysis of the leaked documents reinforces the criticism towards the lack of transparency and the use of public resources by the militarywhile the population faces urgent needs.
The continued construction of hotels and the accumulation of capital in the midst of the crisis illustrate the distancing between GAESA’s priorities and those of the rest of the country.
The Herald also reported on secret documents that show that GAESA obtains remittances from abroad through their companies, Fincimex y Orbit.
The result is a parallel economysaid Morales, who operates unsupervised and it is under the control of a few people who benefit from resources that are supposed to belong to them.”to the town”.
“The most significant thing here is the transformation of the government system in Cuba, which went from being a socialist or communist country (if it ever was) to becoming a mafia. They have the money and the government has to knock on their door to ask for it.”Morales concluded.
