CubitaNOW Editorial ~ Thursday 23 May 2024

The investigation carried out by Cuban engineer Norges Rodríguez, founder of YucaByte media and in exile since 2016, together with journalist Cynthia de la Cantera, exposed the international business network of the Castro family and Cuba’s power elite. Two of Fidel Castro’s own grandchildren were involved in the plot.

The activities of these companies vary widely from phone refills to beer, tequila and even charcoal. Additionally, it has branches in the United States, Mexico, Panama, Spain, United Kingdom, and Switzerland.

In dialogue with Infobae, Rodríguez explains what this network is and what its scope is. “We started this investigation, in cooperation with the Venezuelan portal ArmandoInfo, because we had carried out previous investigations into what the Cuban regime receives from phone top-ups,” he began.

“They (the regime), in 2013, started offering services for exiles to pay for cell phones for people who were in Cuba. So you’re in Miami, for example, and you want your family members to communicate and, through a company authorized by Cuba’s telecommunications monopoly, ETECSA, they force you to put 20 dollars, 100 dollars or whatever you want into your relative’s phone in Cuba so we can communicate,” he explained.

“Then we started investigating which companies allow outside money collection and this is what is important: we realized that the number they received for this concept was millionaires. We’re talking about that, at one point, there was 1.6 billion dollars a year in recharging and telecommunications-related services. “This is where we take on the task of investigating who the people are behind these companies,” Rodríguez told this media.

Asked about this, he explained that, after a while, they found a member of the Castro family. “There the alarm went off and we said: ‘This is more than just a refill business.’ “This is a more interesting story,” he stressed.

“When we discovered this member of the Castro family, his name was Héctor Castro Santana, who was one of the main people in this investigation, we realized that this business was much broader, it didn’t just include refills, that “There was a business importing drinks to Cuba: beer, tequila, various types of drinks… But there are also businesses that export Cuban charcoal to Europe and there are also those that export Cuban tropical fruits to the Old Continent,” he explained.

He later indicated that he discovered two of Fidel Castro’s grandchildren in the multimillion-dollar activity. “One of them is Sandro Castro Arteaga who owns several super exclusive bars in Havana. Beer is sold and promoted at its bar. Someone very close to him, named Marcos Amorós, recently registered in Cuba with something that they now allow, that private companies can be registered, in quotes, but most of these companies, at least the most successful ones, They are from leadership members. This person has also registered a company under the name Dibermex in Cuba, which is the same name as other companies based in Mexico and Panama that are also called that. So, this is the connection to Castro.”

Asked by another of Fidel’s grandchildren, Rodríguez explained to Infobae: “His name is Antonio Castro Ulloa. This is a model and is connected to the network through her stepfather. “This means that her husband, her mother’s partner, also appears to be connected to this network,” he said.

“This is how we realized that this story was more than just a refill,” he emphasized; adding: “This is the story of how the descendants of the Castro family are connected to a network of companies that cross Mexico, Panama, the United States… And many of those companies are in South Florida, in Miami, where most of the exile community lives. In addition, there is a company in Spain where the law firm of Héctor Castro Santana, who is the grandson of the older brothers Raúl and Fidel Castro, is headquartered in the country. Mr. Héctor also owns a company in England that is connected to this network. “And in Switzerland there is also a company,” he said.

“As you can see, this is a network that moves through several countries. We come to all this without realizing it. “That is, we did not investigate the family directly, we investigated other things related to Cuba, telecommunications, and we found that the family was involved,” he concluded.

Norges Rodríguez directs YucaByte, a media founded in 2018 and dedicated to issues related to technology and what is happening on the island with the Internet. He is a telecommunications and electronics engineer, and has lived in the United States since 2016. He settled in Miami in 2020.

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