The US government has once again acted with premeditation in its eagerness to fabricate pretexts to discredit the Cuban Revolution, its historic leadership and its leaders, thereby seeking to mislead both our people and international public opinion.
All of this is part of a roadmap designed by ideologues of the Cuban-American far right, who boast of being creative and unpredictable. Their strategy centres on the use of tools that intensify the policy of maximum pressure in an extreme and unprecedented manner.
The most recent sanctions against Cuba, announced on 1 May, are part of this plan. Executive Order 14404 targets the Grupo de Administración Empresarial (GAE), this time in conjunction with so-called secondary sanctions aimed at any foreign entity conducting transactions of any kind with this group, with particular emphasis on pressure against financial institutions.
This represents the most intense, disproportionate and dangerous escalation in the recent history of relations between Cuba and the United States.
The deliberate aim is to isolate the country diplomatically, commercially, financially and in terms of energy; to undermine the nation’s sustainability; to make dialogue conditional; and to assess options for military aggression. They need to construct and consolidate a narrative designed to discredit the reputation of all the institutions that underpin our social project.
The GAE was founded in the midst of the Special Period to confront the economic war, with a creative, unique, indigenous and genuinely Cuban vision. Its objective has always been to bring together companies with the capacity to generate the foreign exchange and resources the State requires to maintain and develop social achievements and contribute to the promotion of sectors and branches of national life.
The services rendered to the homeland by the Business Administration Group are countless. The material and financial contributions of this organisation can be seen in a variety of examples: in the construction of more than 10,000 homes in various provinces of the country, in the creation of a Pioneers’ Camp and holiday schemes for children, and in the way the Cuban economy was sustained during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fruits of this business activity have also been channelled into investments in the Lidio Ramón Pérez (Felton) thermoelectric power station in Holguín, and into the design and consolidation of major hydraulic works, including the East-West and North-South water transfers, for the benefit of millions of Cubans. There are also the investments and repairs made to polyclinics, family doctor’s centres and schools. All these activities have been systematically reported to the leadership of the Party, the State and the Government and, in all cases, have been subject to the strictest control and oversight by the competent authorities and mechanisms.
The GAE is not an opaque structure, nor is it parallel to the Cuban State; on the contrary, it has been a coordinated response of proven efficiency in the face of the economic blockade that has historically sought to suffocate the Cuban Revolution.
As stated by the First Secretary of the Party’s Central Committee and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, at the 8th Party Congress, the business development first undertaken within the Revolutionary Armed Forces is of great historical significance; an experience that subsequently served the country and whose notable results contribute to the national economy.
Over the last 30 years, thousands of men and women have been the discreet guardians of the country’s resources and deserve recognition. Although their work has not been sufficiently acknowledged, it speaks for itself and does so above the state-sponsored slander orchestrated from Washington.
Today, as the will of the Cuban people is expressed through a process of change, as set out in the Government’s Economic and Social Programme, this organisation is an active part of the transformations taking place in the country’s business system.
The GAE is not the product of secrecy, nor of elites, and certainly not a means of enrichment for a select few. On the contrary, it is one of the many examples that, throughout our journey, has enabled us to resist the constant aggression of the United States government. Its history was built, in the words of the Leader of the Cuban Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz: ‘without the slightest desire for the limelight, as serious matters are done’.
Havana, 2 June 2026
‘Year of the Centenary of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz’