CUBA REVIEW: Who Runs Cuba Today?

Recent leaks about GAESA’s finances have exposed a stark contradiction at the heart of Cuba’s crisis: while the island endures its worst social and economic collapse in decades, the Cuban military’s business conglomerate sits on billions of dollars in liquid reserves. The unprecedented leaked documents reveal that this powerful entity continues posting profits and funding strategic investments—including hotel construction—even as households and private businesses struggle with widespread shortages. Perhaps most troubling, they suggest that in Cuba today, a parallel state entity unaccountable to the public, government or political leadership wields outsized control over the national economy. This week’s edition examines the full scope of these revelations and their implications for Cuba’s relationships with creditors, allies, and adversaries. We also explore the collapse of sugar production on the island, how the national currency’s decline is affecting tobacco producers, the anniversary of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, and China’s efforts to channel its surplus solar panels to Cuba.