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In a significant move, U.S. authorities have detained the sister of the executive president of GAESA, a vast network of military-operated enterprises in Cuba. The arrest is linked to her alleged connections with the Cuban communist government.
GAESA has come under scrutiny for accusations of misappropriating funds intended for the Cuban populace, allegedly at the regime’s direction, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He highlighted these concerns in a social media post on X, Thursday.
Adys Lastres Morera was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the State Department annulled her lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, as reported by Rubio.
Officials claim that while Morera was managing real estate in Florida, she was also supporting the communist authorities in Havana.
The revocation of her residency status was executed under Rubio’s authority. Morera had initially gained lawful permanent residency in the U.S. in 2023, according to a report by Reuters.
“Today, Adys Lastres Morera, a Cuban national with ties to the communist regime in Havana, was arrested following the Department of State’s termination of her lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, at my direction,” Rubio said.
Morera is the older sister of Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, who was sanctioned earlier this month for her role as executive president of GAESA.
GAESA has been described by officials as an exploitative communist entity that siphons resources from the Cuban population.
“While the Cuban people suffer from the collapse of Cuba’s non-functioning communist economy, GAESA functions to allow a small circle of regime elites to plunder all the remaining resources of the island, squirreling away as much as $20 billion in illicit funds away in hidden overseas bank accounts,” Rubio said.
He added that Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, as a senior executive, is responsible for managing international assets allegedly used to fund the “lavish lifestyles” of the Castro-era elite, as well as supporting efforts tied to broader ideological influence abroad.
Rubio also pointed to worsening conditions inside Cuba, including widespread blackouts and severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, arguing that GAESA is diverting resources away from basic needs under the communist system.
“GAESA’s ill-gotten riches are not spent on repairing the collapsing power grid, stocking empty pharmacies, feeding hungry families, or providing for the most basic and essential needs of the Cuban people. Instead, they are used to enrich Havana’s elites and underwrite their ongoing campaign of espionage, subversion, and revolutionary militancy against the free peoples of this hemisphere,” he said.