U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday announced the arrest of Adys Lastres Morera, sister of the recently sanctioned President of the Cuban communist regime’s GAESA conglomerate, Ania Guillermina Lastres.
Adys Lastres Morera was arrested in Florida and will remain in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) pending deportation proceedings after Sec. Rubio issued a determination of deportability under applicable U.S. law. She entered the United States as a “lawful permanent resident” on January 13, 2023, during the administration of former President Joe Biden. Sec. Rubio terminated her U.S. Green Card.
Sec. Rubio said in a statement:
For far too long, the family members of terrorist organizations, repressive anti-American regimes, and other bad actors who would threaten the national security of the United States have been given a free pass to enjoy the privileges of living in the United States. Past Administrations have permitted the families of Cuban military elites, Iranian terrorists and other reprehensible organizations to enjoy lavish lifestyles in our country funded by stolen blood-money, while the people they repress at home suffer in increasingly dire circumstances.
No longer. Under President Trump, we are removing from our country the family members of IRGC terrorists and Cuban regime elites.
Let me be very clear: if you threaten the national security of the United States, there will be nowhere on this earth — much less in our country — that you and your cronies can live lavishly. We will find you, and we will hold you accountable.
In a social media post, Sec. Rubio detailed that Lastres Morera was managing real estate assets and living in Florida while also aiding Havana’s communist regime.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) detailed that Lastres Morera’s presence in the U.S. poses a threat and undermines American foreign policy interests and is removable from the United States under section 237(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“Adys Lastres Morera’s presence in the United States has potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for our nation, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has determined that she is removable under the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” HSI acting Executive Associate Director John Condon said.
“Allowing Lastres Morera to remain in the country would send a signal that Cuban regime-affiliated networks could continue to access the U.S.’s financial, educational and social institutions — but that is not the case. HSI will continue to investigate those with ties to our nation’s adversaries and take appropriate actions to neutralize threats against our homeland,” Colton continued.
Adys Lastres Morera’s sister, Ania Guillermina Lastres, is the president of the Grupo de Administración Empresarial (GAESA), a conglomerate that the communist Castro regime uses to control 70 percent of Cuba’s entire economy. GAESA is believed to hold as much as $20 billion in illicit funds hidden away in overseas bank accounts. The Cuban regime, through GAESA and its many subsidiaries, manages Cuba’s tourism industry, remittances, and the Cuban slave doctor program — all three key sources of funding for the ruling communists and their brutally repressive apparatus.
“To the members of the GAESA and Cuban Communist mafia, we have a simple message: the appeasement of the past is over,” Sec. Rubio said on Thursday. “Return the funds you have stolen from the Cuban people, make reforms to improve the lives of ordinary Cubans, and let the Cuban people have the freedom, opportunity, and dignity that they yearn for and so richly deserve.”
GAESA subsidiaries also control Cuba’s banking sector, ports, and a significant amount of the nation’s foreign trade. Sec. Rubio sanctioned GAESA and Ania Guillermina Lastres earlier this month, describing the conglomerate as the “heart of Cuba’s kleptocratic communist system.”
“They [GAESA] profit from hotels, construction, banks, stores and even from the money your relatives send you from the U.S. everything, everything passes through their hands. From those remittances they retain a percentage, but from GAESA’s profits nothing reaches you,” Sec. Rubio, addressing Cubans, said on a Spanish-language video published this week on the occasion of the 124th anniversary of Cuba’s May 20 independence day.
Martí Noticias recounted on Thursday that it had published an extensive investigation in March revealing the presence of Adys Lastres Morera in Florida.
Verified unnamed sources cited by the outlet disclosed in March that Lastres Morera arrived in the United States in January 2023, revealed thanks to a request filed by her son, Ernesto Carvajal Lastres, who holds U.S. citizenship. Documentation from the Florida Division of Corporations indicated that Lastres Morera was listed as a manager or registered agent for real state companies operating in the state — identified as Remas Investments LLC and Santa Elena Investments LLC.
Martí Noticias further explained that, before moving to the United States, Adys Lastres Morera was dedicated to renting three luxury tourist properties in Cuba through Airbnb. Photos published on social media and verified by the Martí Noticias reportedly showed her visiting Canada, Spain, El Salvador, and Panama. Other images showed her wearing shirts bearing the logo of the Conrado Benítez Brigade, a Cuban regime group that holds pro-regime propaganda activities.
The arrest of Adys Lastres Morera and the start of deportation proceedings against her come days after the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that Cuba’s 94-year-old communist dictator Raúl Castro has been indicted over his role in the killing of four Cuban-American men in 1996.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.