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The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced this Thursday the arrest in Florida of Adys Lastres Morera, sister of the executive president of GAESA, the business conglomerate controlled by the Cuban Armed Forces and considered by Washington as one of the main economic structures of the Havana regime.
Through a message posted on the social network X, Rubio assured that Lastres Morera administered real estate and resided in Florida while collaborating with the Cuban state apparatus.
The head of US diplomacy also accused GAESA of appropriating millions of dollars in aid intended for the Cuban people under orders from the regime. As Rubio explained, the woman previously lost her permanent residency in the United States by decision of the US authorities before being detained by immigration agents. The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, reported that Adys Lastres Morera lost his permanent residency and was taken into custody by immigration authorities in Florida.We recommend reading: Raúl Castro could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted in the United States
"I am pleased to announce that she was arrested today and is now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement," the official stated.Rubio also issued a warning against foreign individuals linked to governments considered adversaries of Washington.
“There will be no place on this planet, much less in our country, where foreign citizens who threaten our national security can live in luxury”, he maintained. The announcement comes amid the hardening of the Donald Trump administration's policy towards the Cuban dictatorship following the murder accusation against former dictator Raúl Castro. GAESA controls a large part of the strategic sectors of the Cuban economy, including hotels, ports, businesses, real estate companies, and financial operations. The announcement of the arrest of the sister of the executive president of the Cuban dictatorship's military corporation GAESA U.S. officials have repeatedly accused the conglomerate of concentrating resources under military control and benefiting from economic mechanisms linked to the Cuban state. The Department of Homeland Security expanded on the details of the operation through a statement by John Condon, acting associate executive director of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). According to the official statement, federal agents arrested Lastres Morera after the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, issued a formal determination of deportability under U.S. immigration law. The agency maintained that the Cuban citizen's stay in the United States "would have generated potentially serious consequences for foreign policy” of the country due to her “close ties to a high-ranking Cuban official who corruptly controls a significant part of the regime's financial structure”. The federal agency also maintained that the case represents a political signal from the US administration towards individuals linked to governments considered hostile by Washington. GAESA controls a large part of the strategic sectors of the Cuban economy, including hotels, ports, shops, real estate companies and financial operations (Illustrative Image Infobae) "The arrest of Lastres Morera sends a strong message that this administration can act quickly to defend our national security, protect our foreign policy interests, and enforce the laws of the country," the statement indicates.Humanitarian Aid for Cuba
Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that Washington is keeping a $100 million humanitarian aid package for Cuba on the table, although he clarified that the resources will not be delivered to structures controlled by the island's military apparatus. Rubio explained that the Cuban regime communicated that it would accept the assistance proposed by the United States, but maintained that it is still not clear if Havana will respect the conditions imposed by Washington to execute the program."They say she has been accepted. We'll see if that means it's really going to happen," he declared.
The official pointed out that the Donald Trump administration seeks to prevent the aid from being administered by state-owned companies or conglomerates linked to the Cuban Armed Forces.“We are not going to deliver humanitarian aid that ends up in the hands of their military company, which then keeps the materials and sells them to keep the money”, he affirmed.
Rubio also pointed out that Washington is already working with humanitarian organizations and sectors of the Catholic Church to distribute assistance directly to the Cuban population without the intervention of the state apparatus.
