Exposing the True Power Structure in Cuba: Who Really Holds the Reins

Political analyst and journalist Miguel Cossío, based in Miami, has shed light on the true nature of power within Cuba by identifying Ramón Romero Curbelo as the head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT). This revelation followed the CIA's release of photographs showing his meetings with senior Cuban officials in Havana on May 14 and 15.

Cossío argues that real power in Cuba is not vested in civilians but rather in a military-family-repressive structure orchestrated by four key groups under the influence of Raúl Castro, whom he likens to a "North Korean-style monarch."

The Family Core

The first of these groups is the family core: Alejandro Castro Espín, Mariela Castro, and Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, Raúl’s favorite grandson and head of his security detail, known as "El Cangrejo."

Cossío emphasizes that Rodríguez Castro is not a negotiator: "He has emerged as a sort of negotiator, which he is not. He is simply an envoy, trusted by Raúl Castro and viewed with suspicion by Raúl towards other actors."

Military and Financial Ties

This familial nucleus is intertwined with the military elite through figures like Brigadier General Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, president of GAESA, who was sanctioned by the United States on May 8. Cossío describes her as the person "controlling the suitcase, the Castro family's money," and notes that her sister resides in Florida as the general manager of two real estate companies, having moved to the United States in 2023.

The Repressive Mechanism

The third group is composed of those who uphold power through repression: generals of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, including Roberto Legrazo Dolongo, elevated to First Deputy Minister in December 2025, a General of the Army Corps, and a member of the Political Bureau, also sanctioned by Washington.

Security Apparatus

The fourth segment, according to Cossío, comprises the security forces that emerged after the Ochoa Affair when the Armed Forces took control of the MININT: "Generals and officers from the Armed Forces began occupying high-ranking positions within the Ministry of the Interior."

Within this framework, Cossío identifies Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas as "the third most powerful man in Cuba": an Army Corps General, a member of the Political Bureau, a deputy in the National Assembly, and the Minister of the Interior, with origins in the Armed Forces and connections to the Casas Regueiro family.

Brigadier General Ramón Romero Curbelo is situated within this fourth segment as the head of the Intelligence Directorate of the MININT, the regime's espionage apparatus. "This man had never appeared, either his name or his face, in the official Cuban press or anywhere else. We were the first to unveil who he is, his name, his rank, and his role," Cossío stated.

Romero Curbelo succeeded Alcibiades Muñoz Gutiérrez, who led Cuban espionage from 2013 until around 2017-2018. In 2015, Romero Curbelo was still a colonel, indicating his rise to the head of the Intelligence Directorate occurred in the subsequent years.

Cossío emphasizes that the mission of Cuba's intelligence apparatus has nothing to do with defending the citizens: "The Cuban intelligence system, through espionage, has been about stealing information, gathering information, but not with the purpose of defending the national interests of Cuba's citizens, rather to maintain the regime."

He cites a lengthy list of Cuban spies in the United States as examples of this work: Ana Belén Montes, Víctor Manuel Rocha, the Wasp Network, and Kendall Myers, who worked for Cuba for over 30 years within the State Department and died in March 2026, having been apprehended by the FBI in 2009 along with his wife as they attempted to flee to Cuba on a sailboat.

Romero Curbelo features as the "10 of Spades" in the 2026 edition of the Castrist Deck, a tool devised by Cossío in 2021 to identify figures of the regime, inspired by the deck of cards used by the United States in 2003 to identify leaders of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.