Rubio defends new US sanctions on Cuba, targeting military-run conglomerate GAESA

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration’s expanded sanctions on Cuba, announced May 1 and 7, which target GAESA (Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.), a conglomerate controlled by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. The sanctions include asset freezes, U.S. travel bans, and restrictions on shareholders, investors, and employees tied to GAESA and its leader, Ania Guillermina Lastres, who succeeded Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja as executive president. The sanctions also impacted Moa Nickel, a joint venture with Canada’s Sherritt International, which immediately announced its withdrawal from Cuba after 32 years. The measures broaden U.S. legal authority to penalize third-country nationals and firms linked to GAESA, which commands nearly 40% of Cuba’s GDP and holds $14.5 billion in liquid reserves. Economist Pavel Vidal of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana warned the sanctions will deter foreign partners, further isolating Cuba’s economy, which is already crippled by U.S. fuel blockades and chronic shortages. GAESA’s deep ties to the Castro family—including López-Calleja, former President Raúl Castro’s son-in-law—highlight its political influence, while its operations span retail, finance, and state-controlled industries. The conglomerate’s accounts are exempt from Cuban government audits, and its vast financial reach makes any foreign collaboration risky under U.S. rules. Experts note the sanctions aim to pressure Cuba by leveraging GAESA’s dominance, though the move risks deepening the island’s economic paralysis. The U.S. designations also blacklisted Ania Guillermina Lastres, GAESA’s current executive president, and her son, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, who acts as an intermediary in U.S.-Cuba discussions. The sanctions follow years of strained relations, with GAESA established in the 1990s to counter economic collapse after the Soviet Union’s fall.