Cuba’s Attorney General has charged former economy minister Alejandro Gil and other unnamed individuals with espionage and a lengthy list of financial crimes, marking one of the most significant political scandals to shake the island nation in decades.
The charges, announced Friday evening following a nearly two-year investigation, include espionage, acts detrimental to economic activity, embezzlement, bribery, forgery of public documents, tax evasion, influence peddling, money laundering, and violations of classified document protection rules. Prosecutors have requested prison sentences for all accused parties, though they haven’t specified which countries or foreign entities allegedly benefited from the espionage activities.
Gil, who’s now 61, ran Cuba’s economy ministry from 2019 until President Miguel Díaz-Canel abruptly dismissed him in February 2024. At the time, officials only mentioned he’d committed “grave errors” without elaborating further. Since his removal, he hasn’t been seen or heard from publicly, and his current whereabouts remain unclear.
Once considered a close confidant of Díaz-Canel, Gil spearheaded a major monetary reform in 2021 that’s widely regarded as disastrous for Cuba’s economy. The reform was supposed to stabilize the Cuban peso and stimulate investment, but it instead triggered soaring inflation, currency collapse, and deepened the country’s already severe financial crisis.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Gil’s policies coincided with widespread shortages of essential goods like food, fuel, and medicine that have plagued ordinary Cubans for years. In December 2023, Gil had to admit to Parliament that planned production levels for several food sectors wouldn’t be met, with some actually declining compared to the previous year. He’d also pushed an unpopular proposal to raise prices on government-subsidized services, from electricity to gasoline, which only increased public frustration during desperate economic times.
During a Communist Party Central Committee meeting, Gil acknowledged the failure of the so-called “Ordering Task” reform, stating it was ineffective and didn’t achieve its intended goals. What started as an ambitious attempt to modernize Cuba’s dual-currency system ended up accelerating the country’s economic descent.
The Attorney General’s statement emphasized that due process will be followed under Cuban law, though it provided no timeline for when trials might begin. Neither Gil nor his legal representatives have been reachable for comment since the investigation began.
This case represents the highest-profile corruption scandal to rock Cuban politics since 1989, when General Arnaldo Ochoa, a celebrated hero of Fidel Castro’s 1959 Revolution, was tried and executed by firing squad for drug smuggling. The breadth of charges against Gil and the inclusion of espionage allegations suggest authorities view this as far more than ordinary corruption.
The scandal has sent shockwaves through Cuba’s normally secretive ruling Communist Party, raising questions about internal governance and accountability at the highest levels. For a government that tightly controls information and rarely acknowledges failings publicly, the detailed announcement of charges signals just how serious officials consider Gil’s alleged offenses.
What remains unclear is whether this represents genuine anti-corruption efforts or serves other political purposes within Cuba’s opaque power structure. The lack of specifics about the espionage allegations particularly who or what country benefited has fueled speculation both inside Cuba and internationally.
As Cubans continue struggling through their worst economic crisis in decades, many are watching closely to see if this prosecution marks the beginning of broader accountability or simply becomes another chapter in the island’s complicated political history.
