ICE Arrests Sister of Top Cuban Regime Official After Rubio Action
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last week that federal authorities arrested Adys Lastres Morera, the sister of sanctioned Cuban official Ania Guillermina Lastres, in Florida.
Rubio said Lastres Morera will remain in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending deportation proceedings after he determined she was removable under U.S. immigration law.
According to Rubio and ICE officials, Lastres Morera entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident on Jan. 13, 2023, during the administration of Joe Biden.
Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, said he personally revoked her green card after concluding that her presence in the United States posed a threat to American foreign policy interests due to alleged ties to the Cuban regime and its military-controlled business conglomerate, GAESA, according to reports.
“For far too long, the family members of terrorist organizations, repressive anti-American regimes, and other bad actors who would threaten the national security of the United States have been given a free pass to enjoy the privileges of living in the United States,” he said in a statement.
“Past Administrations have permitted the families of Cuban military elites, Iranian terrorists, and other reprehensible organizations to enjoy lavish lifestyles in our country funded by stolen blood-money, while the people they repress at home suffer in increasingly dire circumstances,” Rubio continued.
“No longer. Under President Trump, we are removing from our country the family members of IRGC terrorists and Cuban regime elites,” he went on.
“Let me be very clear: if you threaten the national security of the United States, there will be nowhere on this earth — much less in our country — that you and your cronies can live lavishly,” Rubio said.
“We will find you, and we will hold you accountable.”
On X, the secretary of state said that Lastres Morera was managing real estate assets in the U.S. while also aiding Cuba’s communist regime:
Adys Lastres Morera is the sister of the Executive President of GAESA, the Cuban military-controlled financial conglomerate that steals millions in aid for the Cuban people at the behest of the regime.
Morera was managing real estate assets and living in Florida, while also aiding Havana’s communist regime, until I terminated her permanent resident status.
I am pleased to announce that today, she was arrested and is now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
There will be nowhere on this Earth – much less in our country – where foreign nationals who threaten our national security can live lavishly.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) indicated that Lastres Morera’s presence in the U.S. poses a threat and undermines American foreign policy interests, making him removable from the United States under section 237(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“Adys Lastres Morera’s presence in the United States has potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for our nation, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has determined that she is removable under the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” HSI acting Executive Associate Director John Condon said.
“Allowing Lastres Morera to remain in the country would send a signal that Cuban regime-affiliated networks could continue to access the U.S.’s financial, educational and social institutions — but that is not the case,” Condon added.
“HSI will continue to investigate those with ties to our nation’s adversaries and take appropriate actions to neutralize threats against our homeland,” Colton continued.
Guillermina Lastres serves as the president of the Grupo de Administración Empresarial (GAESA), a conglomerate used by the communist Castro regime to control 70 percent of Cuba’s economy.
It is believed that GAESA holds as much as $20 billion in illicit funds concealed in overseas bank accounts.
The Cuban regime manages Cuba’s tourism industry, remittances, and the Cuban doctor program through GAESA and its various subsidiaries.
These three sectors are crucial sources of funding for the ruling communists and their oppressive regime, ICE noted in a press release.
Trump ‘Briefed With Options’ Amid Stalled Iran Talks
The Trump administration on Wednesday continued to express optimism about negotiations with Iran, even as Iranian officials insist that no direct talks have taken place, according to reports.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister said no face-to-face meeting had occurred in Doha and that no direct negotiations with the United States were currently planned.
Despite Tehran’s position, President Donald Trump described the discussions as “very good,” apparently referring to indirect contacts involving U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicating through third-party intermediaries.
Vice President JD Vance struck a firmer tone the same day, warning that the United States could escalate its response if Iran refuses to cooperate or takes actions that further destabilize the Middle East.
His remarks underscored the administration’s message that while it remains open to a diplomatic resolution, additional measures remain on the table if negotiations fail.
“If Iran attempts to rebuild its nuclear program, threaten its neighbors and support terrorism, President Trump has options to deal with it,” Vance noted, without elaborating.
Earlier, a Wall Street Journal report claimed that Trump had been briefed on several military options, including “all-out war,” but Trump said he wanted to give diplomacy more time.
Vance additionally stated that the US “dropped bombs on Iran because it fired on ships, and we used leverage to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
He went on to suggest that the U.S. could take that course of action again.
Vance also said the current talks are “to discuss the details and flow of maritime traffic.”
The vice president, addressing U.S. military personnel at a naval base in Virginia on Wednesday, also said that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back decades.
“If you look at what our own intelligence says about their nuclear program, they are further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been since basically the last 20 or 30 years,” Vance said, though he stopped short of Trump’s claim that the program had been “totally obliterated.”
“What the president asks you to accomplish is to destroy the defense industrial base of that country, so that if they ever decided to rebuild their military, or if they ever decided to rebuild that nuclear program, they would be harmless to do it. You did that exactly as well,” Vance added, per the Times of Israel.
The VP went on to say that Trump is now “negotiating from a position of strength because of you.”
“If the Iranians try to rebuild the nuclear program, the President’s got options. If the Iranians try to threaten their neighbors or fund terrorism, we’ve got options,” Vance continued.
“But what we must never do is drop bombs just for the sake of dropping bombs. And that is what the president will never ask you to do,” Vance added.
“He’ll ask you to go to war, yes. But when he asks you to go to war, he’ll tell you exactly what you’re going for,” the veep noted further.
“And I think that is what you should expect out of your political leadership.”
“What I noticed about the people who are attacking the administration for negotiating is that they are the very same people who, for example, encouraged us to just go a little bit further and just drop a few more bombs in places like Afghanistan,” he said.
“If you go back to the mistakes that were made, those very same people refused to say what we were dropping bombs for,” he added.
“We dropped some bombs a couple of days ago… Because the Iranians were shooting at commercial ships… We applied some leverage, and we’ve had free commercial transit for the last three days,” Vance told the naval personnel.
