14ymedio, Havana, June 14, 2025 — Frank Cuspinera, owner of Diplomarket, the “Cuban Costco,” imprisoned in the Combinado del Este, completes two weeks without eating this Saturday. The Cuban-American businessman began his fast on June 1, and his health is deteriorating rapidly, according to a family member who spoke to 14ymedio. ” He remains determined to continue until justice is done in his case,” confirms the source.
“It’s bad,” says Luis, close to the inner circle of Cuspinera, 48 years old, but with his name changed for fear of reprisals. The entrepreneur, who is being investigated for tax evasion, currency trafficking and money laundering, has been in solitary confinement since refusing to eat. The strike also began with a refusal to drink, but last Tuesday the Cuban-American drank “some water”.
The prison authorities have allowed Cuspinera to make phone calls to his family in an attempt to have relatives convince him to stop the hunger strike, but so far they have not managed to get him to eat anything. The first week of fasting, he received a visit from his wife, Camila Castro, who was free but also being investigated for the same crimes, to perform “family dynamics,” says Luis. This is what they call it, “when the relatives of a plantado are brought in to convince him to stop the strike.”
The strategy didn’t work either: “They wanted to appeal to the family dynamic without even knowing Frank’s emotional profile, without even having found out why he is carrying out the strike,” Luis said. “Obviously they were only complying with an institutional protocol, so it will be recorded in some file that they complied with their part, that they met with the family.”
Cuspinera’s wife did not accept the “dynamic”, and although she traveled to the prison, she was not allowed to see her husband
Cuspinera’s wife did not accept the “dynamic,” and although she traveled to the prison, she was not allowed to see her husband. The relatives fear, says Luis, that the Cuban-American will end up in the hospital, and his body will suffer permanent damage from not eating because he suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure.
Cuspinera announced his hunger strike in a handwritten letter signed on May 21 and sent from the Combinado del Este prison, almost a year after his arrest and with absolutely nothing known about his whereabouts. In the letter, he made “an appeal to the international community and international and human rights organizations,” as well as to the United States Department of State, “to intervene with the Cuban institutions for the constant violations of my rights and the denial of legal guarantees for my defense by the Cuban State institutions and their representatives.”
The businessman attacked State Security and the Cuban judicial apparatus “that are viciously activated against me” and that managed, with “multiple falsehoods,” to start an investigation against him “without the right of defense.”
The case of Cuspinera has caused deep concern in the private business sector on the Island. The lack of procedural guarantees and the ferocity that he denounces from prison have increased the suspicion of entrepreneurs about investing in Cuba. While some accuse the Cuban-American of being naive for putting his money into a local business, others see his arrest as a revenge of the government.
“They had a complaint for tax evasion, without ever having done a prior audit,” says Luis
“They had a complaint for tax evasion, without ever having done a prior audit,” says Luis. These officials “reviewed everything,” and then the Technical Directorate of Investigations was introduced. The entrepreneurs were arrested and their business licenses taken away “immediately” from both Cuspinera SURL, the firm under which the supermarket operated, and Kmila-mart (his wife’s company), leaving them “inoperable.”
For the couple it was, says Luis, a shock: “They thought it would be a misunderstanding, that they would let them reopen the companies after solving it, that they would allow them to return the goods to some suppliers or even that Frank could respond to the process on bail, but they have not agreed to any of this.” The authorities were, he says, “more severe and arbitrary as time went on.”
At the time of the arrest, officials claimed “that the money from the sales was not deposited in the bank and caused damage to the State and discontent among the population,” says Luis. “Here everyone knows that all the MSMEs do currency trafficking, because when they made the private business law, it was done knowing that there would never be availability in the bank to obtain the currency legally. It is known that the largest percentage of everything sold in Cuba are imported products obtained with transactions in currency, because here nothing is produced, so you have to import to produce later,” says the source.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
