French Investment and GAESA: Cuban Economist Unveils the Alliance Sustaining the Regime's Military Empire

Cuban economist Miguel Alejandro Hayes has exposed a significant partnership between the Cuban military conglomerate GAESA and a French company in the construction of all five-star hotels in Cuba.

Hayes' revelations shed light on the intricate European interests behind luxury tourism on the island, which, according to him, partly explain the Cuban regime's staunch defense in the European Parliament.

These statements were made on a broadcast by Actualidad Radio aired this Monday, in the midst of new sanctions announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio against the Cuban military conglomerate.

European Interests in Cuba's Luxury Tourism

“Every five-star hotel that GAESA has built has been in partnership with a French company called Bouygues Timón, one of France's five largest companies. It's undeniable," Hayes declared, emphasizing that the Bouygues group also controls France's leading telecommunications operator.

The economist pointed out that "there are significant European economic interests in Cuba, especially from Spain and France, with France being the most prominent." This makes these companies influential players in shaping the European Union's foreign policy toward Havana.

GAESA's Expansive Reach

Hayes' analysis comes just days after Rubio, speaking in Rome after a meeting with Pope Leo XIV, explained to European journalists what GAESA is and how it operates. Rubio was explicit: "The Cuban people have not benefited even a single grain of rice from GAESA's revenues at this time."

On May 7, the Trump administration imposed direct sanctions on GAESA under Executive Order 14404, issued on May 1, and appointed Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera as the conglomerate's executive president.

Moreover, foreign businesses were given until June 5 to cease operations with GAESA and its subsidiaries, under the threat of secondary sanctions.

GAESA's Monopoly and Economic Transition

Hayes described GAESA as "a monopoly of monopolies," employing thousands and operating hundreds of branches across the country. Its tourism arm, Gaviota S.A., managed 121 hotels and 20 marinas, accounting for 72% of the conglomerate's total revenue in the first quarter of 2024, with a net profit margin of 42%.

Despite these figures, hotel occupancy in Cuba dropped to 18.9% in 2025, the lowest in recent history, while the regime allocated 36% of all state investment—around $24.2 billion—to hotel construction between 2021 and 2023, fourteen times the amount invested in healthcare.

The economist also suggested that GAESA might be transitioning towards new forms of economic control by using front companies and private enterprises to manage currency flows.

"It's not believable that GAESA has lost total control over remittances. Therefore, something suspicious is happening," he noted, pointing out that the Cuban private sector imported over $2 billion in food between 2023 and 2024 in an unusually organized manner.

The Taboo of Discussing GAESA

Hayes also highlighted that "until about two and a half years ago, most economists in the Cuban intellectual elite didn't dare to mention GAESA in public analyses," illustrating the taboo surrounding the conglomerate even within academia.

The program further discussed the regime's refusal of $100 million in humanitarian aid from Washington intended to be distributed through the Catholic Church.

Rubio was straightforward: "We offered the regime $100 million in humanitarian aid, and they refused to accept it." Hayes interpreted this rejection as a sign that the dictatorship prefers to let the Cuban people suffer in poverty rather than relinquish control over resources.

Hayes estimated that Cuba needs "around $200 million monthly to malfunction at the level it did in 2020-2021," highlighting the crisis's magnitude and the inadequacy of any one-time aid to reverse it.