Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez slammed the Cuban government following a report revealing that GAESA, a military-controlled conglomerate, has stashed away as much as $18 billion in offshore and dollar-denominated assets.
Speaking to the Miami Herald, Gimenez said he would work with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to "hold the regime and its accomplices accountable."
"The dictatorship is quick to blame U.S. policy for its woes, but it has billions of dollars tucked away in banks while the Cuban people suffer. These funds were stolen from the Cuban people, and we will use all the diplomatic and legal tools available to freeze the regime's assets and shame complicit foreign governments who profit off the continued oppression of the Cuban nation."
The outlet added that U.S. agencies are expected to issue regulations allowing the imposition of secondary sanctions on foreign companies that do business with Cuban military-owned entities.
Other Cuban-American Republicans also reacted to the story, saying "Cuba's real blockade is the Cuban dictatorship."
Cuba’s real blockade is the Cuban dictatorship.
— María Elvira Salazar 🇺🇸 (@MaElviraSalazar) August 6, 2025
While the regime blames the U.S. for blackouts, hunger, and medicine shortages, it’s sitting on billions through its military empire, GAESA. That money isn’t used to feed the people or fix the grid, it’s used to suppress them.
The… https://t.co/fIEk22y5Sg
"While the regime blames the U.S. for blackouts, hunger, and medicine shortages, it's sitting on billions through its military empire, GAESA. That money isn't used to feed the people or fix the grid, it's used to suppress them. The Castro mafia doesn't need help, they need to be eradicated from power and held accountable. Cubans' suffering is not caused by the embargo. It's caused by the criminals in power," she added.
Records obtained by the Herald show that assets held by key subsidiaries of GAESA—including Gaviota and Almest, which manage and invest in tourism infrastructure— were far higher than the government's spending on public services.
One balance sheet from July 2023 shows Almest and Gaviota with a combined net worth of 22.6 billion Cuban pesos, nearly 13 times the amount invested in Cuba's health system and social programs that year, the outlet pointed out.
Gaviota alone, which manages 115 hotels as well as rental car and travel businesses, held $4.3 billion in readily available cash. These available funds stood in sharp contrast to the deteriorating conditions faced by Cuban society, which includes frequent country-wide blackouts, extreme fuel shortages and a collapse of basic public services.
While the Cuban government continues to blame U.S. sanctions for the country's inability to sustain basic infrastructure and afford basic supplies—claiming, for example, that it needs $250 million annually to maintain the electrical grid and $129 million for hospitals—The Miami Herald's investigation shows that military-run firms have maintained access to foreign currency and continue investing heavily in luxury tourism development.
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