Havana/The Supreme People’s Court notified the sentence against Alejandro Gil Fernández, former Minister of Economy and Planning and one of the officials most promoted by official propaganda until his abrupt dismissal in 2024. With language full of references to “betrayal of the Homeland” and an alleged “ethical, moral and political degradation”, the ruling condemns him to perpetual deprivation of liberty for espionage and 20 years in prison in a second trial for economic and administrative crimes.
The oral hearings, held in two blocks between November 11 and 29, 2025, took place – according to the Court – “with full respect for procedural guarantees.” However, as is typically the case in high-profile political trials, there were no independent observers, no public access to the sessions, and no verifiable details about the evidence presented. The daughter of the former deputy prime minister, Laura María Gil González, could not be present at the espionage trial. The Government has limited itself to disseminating a summary of the facts that, more than a legal exposition, seems written to support the political story of an internal enemy infiltrated into the structure of the State.
In the first criminal case, Gil was found guilty of espionage, bribery, theft and damage to documents in official custody, violation of seals and continued violation of regulations for the protection of classified information. In statements by his sister, María Victoria Gil, he announced that he was linked to the United States Central Intelligence Agency. The official description states that the former minister would have stolen and made confidential financial documents “available to enemy services.” With that argument, the Court imposed a life sentence on him.
In the second case, the sentence included continued crimes of bribery, falsification of public documents, influence peddling and tax evasion. For them, he received an additional sanction of 20 years of deprivation of liberty, although the Court itself clarifies that, once the appeals have been resolved, a single joint sentence will be formed, as established by the current Penal Code.
Gil, according to the Court, acted in a “corrupt and malingering” manner, deceived “the leadership of the country and the people,” received money from foreign firms, bribed officials and generated “damage to the economy.”
Accessory sanctions include confiscation of assets, permanent prohibition from managing public resources and deprivation of various citizen rights. The text emphasizes that the assessments comply with articles 147 of the Constitution and 29 and 71.1 of the Penal Code, related to the “social harmfulness” of the events.
The official narrative does not waste adjectives. Gil, according to the Court, acted in a “corrupt and malingering” manner, deceived “the leadership of the country and the people,” received money from foreign firms, bribed officials and generated “damage to the economy.” The document cites Article 4 of the Constitution, recalling that treason is the most serious crime and is punishable with the most severe penalties.
But the political emphasis fails to hide the obvious contradiction: the same Government that for years presented Gil as the architect of the monetary order, defender of “economic resistance” and face of renewal within the cabinet, now displays him as an infiltrated enemy. It is a script already known in recent Cuban history, with high-ranking officials who go from heroes to villains in a matter of months, without the system admitting failures in the selection mechanisms or in the internal control of the Party.
As in other high-profile cases – since the trials against party leaders for corruption – the authorities have not offered any details about the alleged espionage: neither what information was stolen, nor when, nor how it came into the hands of “the enemy services.”
The speed of the entire process is also striking. In less than a year since his departure from office, Gil went from being a central figure in economic policy to receiving one of the harshest sentences applied to a civilian in recent decades. The rush could be due – according to analysts consulted by this medium in previous publications – to the urgency of the Government to close any question about the failure of the “regulation” and the economic collapse of recent years.
This time, the chosen one is the man who for years defended from all official spaces the policies that today keep the country in its worst economic situation in decades.
Alejandro Gil was one of the faces most promoted by ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel. Presented as a modern technocrat, he promoted the Ordering Task – a project that in practice triggered inflation and severely deteriorated purchasing power – and publicly defended each of the measures that aggravated the economic crisis. The president himself dedicated messages to him on platform
His fall, announced in February 2024, was accompanied by an unusual official silence. Only later, in dribs and drabs, did allusions to “serious indiscipline” and “incompatible conduct” begin to appear. The ruling now confirms the type of narrative that the regime usually constructs to convert structural problems into individual responsibilities.
The Court remembers that both the accused and the Prosecutor’s Office have ten days to file the pertinent appeals. In the case of life imprisonment, even if it is not challenged, an appeal will be processed ex officio as a “guarantee” for the accused. A formalism that, within the framework of the Cuban judicial system, hardly alters the political course of the process.
The statement ends by pointing out that both Gil and his lawyers recognized compliance with procedural guarantees. A common statement in this type of cases and that cannot be independently verified.
This time, the chosen one is the man who for years defended from all official spaces the policies that today keep the country in its worst economic situation in decades. The sentence against Gil says a lot about him, but it says even more about the model that exalted him, used him and now buries him behind the label of “traitor.”
