the black hole of the Cuban economy in Berroa

But how much is true and how much is omitted in the information released by the MINCIN? Do the Berroa warehouses only belong to that “business association” between the Gran Ferretero group, from Spain, and the Sociedad Mercantil Albus, from Cuba? What really is Albus SA and who makes it up, who directs it?

None of these questions have been answered by the MINCIN. On the contrary, the official note has arrived to create more doubts about what could really be happening in Berroa. Especially when these days, in the midst of the rumors unleashed by CNN correspondent in Havana, Patrick Oppmann, other media outlets have revealed names of people closely linked to the regime and with participation both in the market in question and in others. businesses in appearances of smaller magnitude that in some way emulate it.

It was during these days that the Gaia Mercado, by Lisa Titolo Castro, granddaughter of Rául Castro, came to light, where a kilo of pork sells for more than 1,600 Cuban pesos (about 7 dollars), as well as the “ entrepreneurship” by Julio Martínez Ramírez who, between 2004 and 2009, was secretary of the UJC and member of the Council of State but who now reveals himself as “founding partner” of a MSME dedicated precisely to the marketing (not the production) of food .

Such revelations also came along with the unusual complaint from Alexi Castro Soto del Valle, who attacked the Ministry of Agriculture for its inability to generate effective strategies in food production. It is a protest that draws attention not only because of the person carrying it out, considered until now as the “most discreet” of Fidel Castro’s children, but because he seems to ignore not only the existence of the Titolo-Castro family business, closely linked to several companies that pay taxes to the Ministry of Agriculture and that serve as suppliers, but also throws dirt on the efforts of at least a couple of cousins ​​and nephews who officially work within this body of the Central State Administration.

These would be the cases of Alexandra Rodríguez Castro, advisor to several experimental agriculture programs, and Rolando Soto del Valle, advisor to the Livestock Program at the institution, as well as being in charge of directly caring for the Alcona SA farms—directed by Commander Guillermo García Frías. —, which as a supplier of meat products, is one of the more than 20 Cuban companies that make up Albus SA, some belonging to the business sector of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), the true owners of the physical space occupied by the warehouses. Berroa where the so-called “Cuban Costco” operates.

When Almacenes Universales SA (AUSA) was created on January 28, 1994, conceived on an experimental basis as the main storage center for supplies for international tourism, the entity was subordinated directly to the Council of State and was attended personally by the Fidel Castro’s support team.

The company had several locations in Havana, both in Berroa, in Habana del Este, and in Wajay, in Santiago de las Vegas, as well as central offices in Old Havana, precisely on Fábrica Street where the consortium has its official headquarters today. Gran Ferretero SA and Albus SA

For the warehouses as such, several FAR ships were arranged that, during the period of Soviet rule on the Island, served primarily for the protection and conservation of techniques and weapons, according to information offered to CubaNet by two founders of the company Almacenes Universales SA, one of them still linked as a worker to what is currently called “Berroa warehouses”.

“Berroa, before 1991, there were about six weapons warehouses and two food warehouses, with a refrigerator that supplied the Western Army,” says one of the workers on condition of anonymity. “One of the warehouses is the one currently occupied by Mercedes Benz (MCV Comercial SA) and the others were shared by several Cuban-American companies (…), Cubamax, Apacargo, all the parcels that came from the United States, they were there until the “In 2019, the Universal Warehouses moved to Mariel and one warehouse was left for the Diplomarket and the others to rent to state companies and MSMEs or donations if necessary.”

However, another source assures that the current Diplomarket was operating long before the agreement with Gran Ferretero SA, although not as a market open to the general public, but only as a service to accredited diplomatic personnel, including the United States Embassy. and some foreign companies such as the Spanish Meliá, Iberostar or the French construction company Bouygues.

“In ’91 the order was given to evacuate to save things from the Pan American Games. Fidel himself went personally to see what was being done there (…). There he left a colonel, Nicolás Regueiro, who was the nephew of Julio Casas Regueiro (minister of the FAR between 2008-2011, and creator of the GAESA Business Administration Group), who remained until 2018. He was the one who made the diplomercado (sic) in 2016 when the Obama thing happened and those from the American embassy went there to buy, that was done with some Cuban-Americans who created the company in Miami to be able to bring products through the parcel companies (…). After 2018, they appointed Colonel Fernández Viciedo and Vilma Guilarte, the niece of Ulises Guilarte (Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, current general secretary of the Central Workers of Cuba) as economics.”

Other sources consulted by CubaNet Regarding the Berroa warehouses, linked to GAESA, they confirm that they continue to be property of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, as well as that the operation of the “diplomercado”, currently renamed “Diplomarket”, is long before December 2022. Similarly, one of the Facebook pages associated with the business, named “Diplo Hoster” had its first publications in January 2016, precisely the year that some point out as the beginning of operations of the “Cuban Costco”, which raises doubts. the MINCIN note that attributes it to the agreements with Gran Ferretero SA

Many more than a hardware store

Although both the MINCIN and several officials of the entity have mentioned it as the Cuban part in Berroa’s business, none of them offers more details about who makes up the Sociedad Mercantil Albus SA, a company that is not at all transparent in its purposes, and that, as mentioned Its name (Albus, “white”) seems designed to whitewash or hide those truly responsible.

According to statements by Raúl Delgado Rodríguez, publicly presented as technical director of Albus SA, this is part of the Industrial Products and Services Marketing Group of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce; however, CubaNet has been able to verify through several sources linked to both the Ministries of Internal Trade, Foreign Trade and Finance and Prices, that Albus SA is made up of a board of directors that includes the representation of around twenty Cuban and foreign companies and includes names like those of Loreta García, senior commercial analyst at the National Company for the Protection of Flora and Fauna, deputy director of Alcona SA and daughter of Commander Guillermo García Frías. Also appearing are Jorge Alejandro de Cárdenas García, son of Loreta García; David Fernández Colomé, grandson of Army Corps General and Minister of the Interior (1989-2015) Abelardo Colomé Ibarra; Gianni María Missoni, Italian, personal friend of Raúl Castro and his grandson Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, representative of the company Finauto International LTD, official distributor of KIA Motors in Cuba; Carmen Yadira Moreno Barrios, from Caribbean Diving Centers, wife of Massimo Bonnano, associated with Finauto; and Paolo Titolo, representative of the Amorim Group in Cuba and husband of Mariela Castro Espín, daughter of Raúl Castro.

None of the names mentioned by the sources consulted are directly associated with the Gran Ferretero SA group which, according to information offered by one of its directors in Cuba, interviewed on condition of confidentiality, “is not exclusively responsible for the operation of Diplomarket”, much less the marketing of Goya and Kirkland brand foods.

“Diplomarket is not from Gran Ferretero, we only participate with our products like many more companies do, cars, parts, food, etc., but we are not the host,” explains the source. “If you look at the website, there is an invitation from the group (Diplo Hoster) for companies to use that channel to market, and that is what we do, just like with Supermarket 23, with Katapulk and even with several MSMEs in Havana, in addition to our main headquarters in Old Havana (…). Berroa is not just a Gran Ferretero store, although it is true that we are in it.”

As in the case of Supermerket 23, Katapulk and other stores onlinea good part of the merchandise sold by Diplomarket comes from abroad but, in the case of fresh products, almost all of it is provided by Cuban companies such as Alcona SA, as well as a good part of the wood, lubricants, car parts and pieces are supplied by the Amorim Group.

“We import hardware, cleaning and cleaning products,” says the same source, “and we have contracted on an exceptional basis and as part of the agreement with Albus, the supply of some products, very few, such as meat for example, to Alcona, some agricultural products. , wood from here, because we acquire the imported ones with Amorim, perhaps by agreement, but it is not what characterizes us (…), there are other companies associated with Diplomarket that do it, they even import food containers but that is another question within from Berroa, and it has to do with the rental of storage spaces, that is another issue independent of Diplomarket, which is just a shopping mall. (The lease) that is something from there,” he concludes.

For its part, CubaNetpretending to be part of an MSME, was able to verify via the Internet how relatively easy it is to rent a space in the Berroa warehouses, although an initial payment is mandatory through the APK En Zona, developed by the Armed Forces, as well as the firm of a contract, in our case with Mrs. Enelix Cruz, commercial specialist at GDM Electrónica, the person who responded to our request.

Diplomarket’s Cuban and Cuban-American partners

A report published this October 11 by the independent newspaper 14 intervene warns that, in addition to not appearing on the list of MSMEs approved by the Ministry of Economy and Planning, Diplomarket could be part of the American company Las Américas TCC Corporation, founded in 2011 in Florida and whose vice president is Cuban Frank Cuspinera Medina. currently resident in Cuba and owner of Cuspinera SURL, dedicated to providing electronic commerce platform services; and part of another company named Iderod, focused on construction services.

Also in Florida there was a company with a similar name, currently inactive, created on November 19, 2015 and with address 150 E Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, Fl. 33432. The company, according to business records, was dedicated to “ package shipments to Havana, purchase and shipping in containers by sea of ​​household appliances, furniture, cars, motorcycles, parts and food, sending gifts to family members, services as purchasing and transit agents for the diplomatic corps and for foreign non-governmental organizations ”, objects very similar to those of Diplomarket or the so-called Berroa diplomercado in its beginnings.

CubaNetfor its part, investigated this matter, also finding that Frank Cuspinera Medina is identified as an associate of Pogranda, a digital platform developed by the regime, with a mobile application available in Apklis, in charge of finding suppliers in Cuba for companies, and that It is promoted as the place where “you can find detailed offers from companies in Cuba” and where “the production chain is made easier.”

Other businesses associated with Cuspinera Medina are Bona Merca, dedicated to the rental of refrigerated spaces with capacity for several containers in the Berroa area; Pago Express Cuba, to make payments from Cuba abroad for a 10 percent commission, in addition to agreements of different types with companies based in Miami such as Sunshine Best Deals, which offers car parts and pieces, having its headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, as well as a representation in Berroa.

The owners of Sunshine Best Deals, Iván de León and Indira González, identify themselves on their social networks as opposed to the Cuban regime; however, their products are present both in the Berroa warehouses and in various state stores associated with GAESA.

Other companies and names that are part of Albus SA are Caribbean Supply, Research and Development, dedicated to the offer of feed containers for pigs; Dommus SURL., construction materials and services, as well as the sale of Spanish detergent by container; Maira Pérez and Alexei Jiménez, both supply 20-foot rice containers with 520 bags of 50 kg each; Sergio Valdés Denis, representative, seller of Emfiza Trading SL dedicated to importing refined oil from the United States, among others.