The United States Detains Sister of Senior Cuban Official

SadaNews - The United States announced late Thursday that it had detained the sister of a senior Cuban official as part of an unprecedented escalation of American pressure on the communist island.

In a statement issued by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, it was stated, "Today, we detained Addis Lastres Moira, a Cuban national connected to the communist regime in Havana, after the State Department revoked her legal status as a permanent resident, based on my instructions."

Moira is now in the custody of U.S. immigration authorities.

The U.S. State Department reported that she is the older sister of Anya Guiermina Lastres Moira, "who was sanctioned earlier this month in her capacity as the CEO of Gaesa, a conglomerate controlled by the military."

It added, "While the Cuban people suffer from the collapse of the failed communist economy in Cuba, Gaesa allows a small circle of regime elites to plunder the remaining resources on the island, amassing up to $20 billion in illicit funds in secret bank accounts abroad."

Anya Guiermina Lastres Moira is a Cuban military official who holds the highest position within Gaesa and is responsible for managing these illicit international assets, according to the same source.