English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
A tour of El Vedado reveals the decline of the commercial network that the military built to control remittances, tourism, and foreign currency stores. 14ymedio, Havana, Yoani Sánchez, July 29, 2026 / There are buildings that collapse with a crash, while others crumble in silence. The former Fincimex card processing center on 23rd Street in … Continue reading “Havana Chronicles: A Tour of the Ruins of the Gaesa Empire”
The military conglomerate has also divested itself of the joint venture that managed the Miramar Business Center in Havana. 14ymedio, Madrid, June 28, 2026 — Terminal de Contenedores Mariel S.A. (TCM), owned by the military conglomerate Gaesa and operator of Cuba’s main commercial port, has transferred its assets to Coral Marítima S.A., a state company … Continue reading “Gaesa Transfers Its Assets in Mariel to Another State Company to Evade U.S. Sanctions”
Unlike Katapulk, Supermarket23, Cubamax, and Cuballama, which continue to operate, this platform worked directly with Cimex stores. 14ymedio, Madrid, June 15, 2026 — “For reasons beyond our control, we are unable to continue providing our services.” With that brief message, EnvíosCuba announced on Sunday the closure of one of the main platforms used by Cuban … Continue reading “Spanish Platform EnvíosCuba, Linked to Gaesa, Suspends Operations”
In a statement defending the corporation, Havana denies accusations of “opacity” and claims it has always reported its activities “to the Party, the State, and the Government.” 14ymedio, Madrid, June 2, 2026 — The Cuban Government has issued an institutional statement, published by the official press, defending the military conglomerate Gaesa, which has come under … Continue reading “The Cuban Regime Presents Gaesa as the Entity That Has Made It Possible to Save the Revolution”
The Spanish hotel chain remains active in Cuba through six properties belonging to Cubanacán and Gran Caribe. 14ymedio, Havana, June 1, 2026 — On Monday, the Spanish hotel company Iberostar severed its ties with Gaviota, the hotel chain controlled by the Business Administration Group S.A. (Gaesa), and stopped managing the twelve hotels associated with that … Continue reading “Iberostar Follows Blue Diamond’s Lead and Leaves Gaesa Hotels”
“The rent-seeking logic of the military elite in Cuba hinders the increase of national production,” says Food Monitor 14ymedio, Havana, May 27, 2026 — The NGO Food Monitor Program filed a complaint this Tuesday before the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food against the all-powerful military conglomerate Business Administration Group (Gaesa) — … Continue reading “Gaesa is Denounced Before the UN for Limiting Access to Food in Cuba”
The list falls under Trump’s executive order from six days ago, which establishes sanctions for those “responsible for repression in Cuba and threats to the national security” of the United States. 14ymedio, Madrid, May 7, 2026 / The State Department named new individuals within the Cuban regime, on Thursday, sanctioned by the United States. They … Continue reading “The US Sanctions the Cuban State Company Gaesa, Its President and the State-Owned Nickel Mining Company”
The British weekly says that poor investments in hotels have drastically reduced the foreign currency reserves of the Castro-era empire, while the Central Bank has barely 3 billion dollars. 14ymedio Madrid, March 25, 2026 – Far from the idea of a multimillion-dollar empire that exists about the Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (Gaesa), the military … Continue reading “The Military Conglomerate Gaesa Is on the Verge of Bankruptcy and the Cuban Economy Will Fall by 7.2% This Year, According to The Economist”
Customers can pay with MLC, but employees suggest that they are going to remove this option 14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodriguez/Olea Gallardo, Havana, 6 January 2025 –Although it has not attracted as much attention as the Supermarket on 3rd and 70th, which opened a day later, the store on Infanta and Santa Marta in Havana is … Continue reading “Cuban Military from Gaesa Partner with the Spanish Vima in Another Dollarized Store”
‘The Miami Herald’ reveals that the hotel arm of the conglomerate has 4.261 billion dollars in its accounts 14ymedio, Havana, 1 January 2025 — Gaviota, one of the hotel companies owned by Gaesa — the economic and financial arm of the Cuban military — has roughly 4.261 billion dollars in “current assets.” The figure, accessed … Continue reading “Cuba’s Military Company Gaesa is Responsible for the ‘Abrupt Impoverishment’ of the Country”
A report published by the organization points to the military-run conglomerate as the main cause of inflation, blaming it for putting its interests before those of the nation. 14ymedio, Madrid, 20 May 2024 — War has been declared on the Cuban economy but it is not being waged from a department within the CIA. Instead, … Continue reading “Cuba’s Military Officials Running GAESA Have Destroyed the Economy, Claims Cuba Siglo 21”
14ymedio, Madrid, 7 March 2023 — The Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (Gaesa), the all-powerful conglomerate belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces, has been deliberately drowning the private sector in Cuba since 2016, and the SME law (micro, small and medium enterprises), promulgated in 2021, is only a “false opening” to attract foreign investment and … Continue reading “Gaesa Used the ‘Small Business’ Law to End the Competition of Cuban Entrepreneurs”
14ymedio, Havana, August 12, 2022 — The Cuban Conflict Observatory (OCC) is sponsoring a competition — “What Do You Know about Gaesa?” — in which all Cubans living on the Island are invited to participate. To participate, contestants must answer a series of questions: Can you explain why so much has been invested in hotels … Continue reading “A Contest to Find Out What Cubans Know about Gaesa”
Juan Juan Almeida, 2 February 2017 — On July 30, 2016 the new military management that officially took over the Cuban tourism company Habaguanex and other business entities that had belonged to the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana is planning to satisfy its own own financial needs by doing away with social … Continue reading “Eusebio Leal’s Social Programs in Old Havana Disappear under GAESA / Juan Juan Almeida”
The State Department penalizes five entities and eight senior Cuban officials, including the Minister of the Armed Forces, Álvaro López Miera 14ymedio, Madrid, August 7, 2026 / Two weeks later, following the last wave, the United States has once again announced sanctions against five state entities and eight senior Cuban officials, including the Minister of the … Continue reading “New US Sanctions Against Those Who ‘Facilitate Arms Shipments to the Cuban Regime’”