A secretive business empire linked to Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) manages billions of dollars in assets while the Cuban state faces near-total economic collapse, according to a report by elmostrador.cl.
Gaesa (Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.) operates with extreme opacity, lacking an official organizational chart, public financial statements, or any traceable corporate structure. The conglomerate controls the island's most profitable sectors, including tourism, remittances, foreign trade, and medical missions.
Leaked documents provided to the Miami Herald suggest the holding company possessed assets totaling at least $17.9 billion in 2024, including $14.4 billion held in bank accounts. This fortune exceeds the international reserves of several regional neighbors, such as Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.
This massive accumulation of wealth stands in stark contrast to Cuba's current insolvency. The national economy has seen a 15% drop in GDP over the last five years, leaving the country unable to pay international creditors.
While Gaesa accumulates billions, nearly 90% of Cubans live in conditions of extreme poverty or survival, according to the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights. The crisis is compounded by daily power outages and acute shortages of food, medicine, and fuel.
An economy within an economy
Gaesa emerged in the 1990s during the 'Special Period' to manage foreign currency businesses for the military. Over time, it expanded into a massive conglomerate under the leadership of Raúl Castro.
“Gaesa is like a large holding, an octopus that has taken over the Cuban economy in almost all its profitable sectors during the last 15 years,” said Emilio Morales, president of Havana Consulting Group, as reported by elmostrador.cl.
The group absorbed strategic state companies like Cimex, Gaviota, and Habaguanex, as well as control over the telecommunications provider Etecsa and the Mariel port. It also maintains control over the Banco Financiero Internacional (BFI), which handles Cuba's international transactions.
Economist Pavel Vidal described the entity as “an economy within another,” noting that its balances are secret and it does not appear in state budgets. The holding company does not pay taxes and operates outside the jurisdiction of the state's auditing bodies.
Recent political shifts suggest attempts to investigate the group have failed. In 2024, Cuba's comptroller general, Gladys Bejerano, was removed from office after admitting the state lacked the jurisdiction to audit Gaesa's accounts.