SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- This Tuesday, August 27, the Cuban was appointed as Minister of Tourism in Venezuela Leticia Gomez Hernandezamid a series of changes implemented by dictator Nicolás Maduro in his cabinet.
Although the news could be overshadowed by the appointment of Diosdado Cabello as Minister of the Interior and by the new powers of Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who will assume duties at the head of the Ministry of Petroleum, the appointment of the Cuban is not irrelevant.
Leticia Gómez, a Cuban resident in Venezuela, held positions as Vice Minister of International Tourism, of the Ministry of Popular Power for Tourism of Venezuela, according to an investigation by Inventory Project and Armando.info.
For its part, the Venezuelan media The Watermelon He described her as one of the trusted people of Ali Padrón, the recently dismissed minister of the sector.
On their social networks, Leticia She describes herself as president of Venetur SA, the main tour operator of the Venezuelan State.
He is one of the people behind the business of selling trips to Margarita Island, where Cubans go to buy goods and equipment that are lacking in the country to sell them once they return home.
We congratulate Cuban Army General Raúl Castro, revolutionary leader of the peoples of America and the world, on his birthday. Venezuela is grateful for his dedication to the anti-imperialist struggle and to the unity of free peoples.@NicolasMaduro pic.twitter.com/NIzQADb5HY
— Leticia Gomez (@leticiagomezve) June 4, 2024
Cubans on Margarita Island, a profitable business
The investigation of Inventory Project and Armando.info. revealed that Gómez Hernández was the one who sold the visits of Cubans to Margarita as “a business opportunity for both countries.”
“Gómez has been in charge of tourist posts in Venezuela for several years, with a special presence in the state of Nueva Esparta, a jurisdiction in the Caribbean in northeastern Venezuela that includes the islands of Margarita, Coche and Cubagua,” they revealed.
In 2015, the Cuban was listed as manager of the Venetur Hotel in Margarita, facilities of the former Margarita Hilton & Suites complex expropriated by Hugo Chávez in 2009.
In that hotel there was a tiny office of the company that would initially begin selling organized trips for Margarita and from where the business would grow.
In Cuba, the beneficiary of the packages has been Cubatur, the Cuban operator of tourist destinations, which has been in charge, from the beginning, of selling trips to Margarita Island, endorsed by Gómez.
A seven-day stay in Margarita has been sold for between $940 and $1,042. While those renting a three-day trip have paid between $829 and $894.
This money goes into the funds of the Cuban regime, which not in vain made a pact with its ally to share the dollars.
Cubatur also manages visas at the Venezuelan consulate in Havana, for which clients must pay separately the current additional price of 50 dollars.
More power
Leticia’s career has only gone up. In 2018, she became the president of the Venezuelan State Tourism Company (Venetur) and, since 2021, Deputy Minister of International Tourism.
The official is known for being “the eyes” inside Diosdado Cabello’s office.
Tourism fairs in Cuba and Caracas, with a select group of businessmen, have served as a platform to strengthen tourist connections between the two regimes.
In various media The press also highlighted that each Cuban visitor spent up to 5,000 dollars on purchases in Margarita and that each tour had two planes available for tourists to take away the merchandise.
Their power is unquestionable; they claim that everything in the sector must pass through their scrutiny: “No one linked to the tourism sector on Margarita Island dares to make a statement, give an opinion or give a permit without the approval of ‘the boss’.”
