General head of GAESA dies in Cuba

He was also blamed for not ceding management in excess of the dealing with of remittances from the United States when the U.S. government sanctioned GAESA’s economic arm, Fincimex. U.S. officials then proposed the Cuban govt switch the remittance business enterprise to a public financial institution, but Cuban authorities refused.

The typical was also joined to a network of offshore companies that moved the government’s revenue about the earth to conduct companies and skirt the U.S. financial embargo. His brother, Guillermo Faustino Rodríguez López-Calleja, is the director or operator of quite a few of these enterprises, an investigation by McClatchy and the Miami Herald confirmed.

For lots of several years, the basic was a shadowy determine, quietly growing his manage about the island’s economy. He reportedly married and divorced one of Raúl Castro’s daughters, Deborah Castro Espín, with whom he experienced two little ones.

Irrespective of the divorce, he carried huge affect in the Cuban govt. In the latest decades he experienced been building a lot more public appearances and was named to large-profile political posts.

The general’s endeavor to consolidate ability turned more significant very last year as Raúl Castro approached his 90th birthday.

In April 2021, Rodríguez López-Calleja was specified a seat on the Communist Bash Politburo. In September, he was recognized in point out media as a “special adviser to the president,” Miguel Díaz-Canel. And with out significantly explanation, he was made a member of the Countrywide Assembly in late October, symbolizing Remedios, a city in the central province of Santa Clara.

His dying leaves even additional uncertainty about a electrical power transition when the younger of the Castro brothers dies, as the nation continues to deal with the aftermath of large protests all over the island on July 11, 2021.

“Cuba’s governance is mostly a spouse and children affair, and Rodríguez López-Calleja’s unexpected demise opens the doorway to persons jockeying inside of the regime to choose about his highly effective portfolio,” reported Eric Farnsworth, the vice president of the Americas Culture/Council of the Americas. “That, coupled with the approaching anniversary of the July 11 protests, indicates Cuba may perhaps be heading toward a time period of bigger uncertainty and increased repression.”

Various generals and large-rating officers have died in the previous 12 months, several because of to the COVID pandemic that ravaged the island. The fatalities have prompted speculation, Gutiérrez claimed, predominantly since of the “hermetic” high-quality of socialist techniques.

Rodríguez López-Calleja’s dying “weakens” the regime, he explained. “Whatever moves are declared in the subsequent times will inform considerably about the regime’s internal struggles.”

His demise also eliminates just one of the achievable challengers to Díaz-Canel, Cuba’s handpicked president.

A couple of hours just after Granma broke the news, Díaz-Canel sent condolences and lamented the general’s death on Twitter.

“A revolutionary has remaining us, a gentleman who served the homeland and the Revolution,” he explained.

This tale was initially released July 1, 2022 10:45 AM.