The wedding of Víctor Moro Morros-Sarda and Alexandra Lacorne last weekend in Havana is news in what is called in Spain the press of the heart because it has summoned several of the protagonists who usually entertain their pages. Among the 400 guests were, for example, Tamara Falcó – Marchioness of Griñón, daughter of Isabel Preysler and sister of Enrique Iglesias – and her cousin Álvaro Falcó – Marquis of Cubas – accompanied by their respective spouses Íñigo Onieva and Isabelle Junot – daughter of Philippe Junot, the first husband of Carolina of Monaco.
Only for readers of Hola! Magazine. and the like, such an event would be of interest if it were not for two peculiarities: the luxurious wedding, which lasted several days, took place at a time when Cuba is experiencing the worst crisis of its last quarter century and that the groom is the son of Víctor Moro Suárez is the founder of Vima Foods, a brand of imported products that has been ubiquitous in Cuban currency stores for decades.
Defined in the Spanish media as “an international food company” (Vanitatis) or “a multinational food retailer with headquarters in Havana, New York or A Coruña, among others” (El Debate) for the residents of Isla Vima, food is nothing more than a synonym for poor quality and high prices.
“I imagine that these from Vima will be the worst in Spain, because these ham croquettes contain nothing but flavored flour.”
“They seem like a scam to me,” says Mariam, a Havana native who has not bought a product from that brand since she developed a stomach illness two years ago after eating a can of Vima tuna purchased in freely convertible currency was (MLC). “These are third or fourth category products that are sold at a gold price.”
Mayonnaise, mustard, concentrated tomato puree and other sauces, canned goods of all kinds, various sausages, frozen vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, especially hake, bonito and salmon, seafood such as squid and squid and even bread, pre-cooked foods, cheeses of various sizes, Jams, syrups, sweets in syrup, milk powder, yogurt, olives, oils, legumes and grains are just some of the many Vima products for sale on the island, all of which are imported.
These are products that are also placed with great importance on all digital sales portals abroad for deliveries in Cuba.
For example, croquettes are among the most popular. But Mariam has never liked them either: “I imagine that these from Vima will be the worst in Spain, because these ham croquettes contain nothing but flavored flour.”
Asked about the perception of the brand in this country, Carlos, a Cuban who emigrated two years ago, explains: “In Spain I don't know anyone who buys it and I myself have never found it in supermarkets,” because I remember that it was the worst.
Vima World presents itself on its website as a “traditional family business founded in 1994” and a group “originally linked to the fishing sector of Galicia, Spain”. At the same time, it claims to have a presence not only in this country, but also to distribute to 40 other countries, in addition to having offices in Panama, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, the United States, China and Cuba.
Its founder, Víctor Moro Suárez (son of Víctor Moro Rodríguez, a Spanish transition politician who died in 2021 and who was also in charge of a frozen packaging conglomerate), has never hidden his connection to the island. The businessman has lived in this country for more than 25 years, where he was president of the Association of Spanish Businessmen in Cuba.
The origins and rise of his multimillion-dollar company are even more unclear. The so-called Panama Papers, the publication by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) of the law firm Mossack Fonseca's database, revealed in 2016 that Vima World was on the list of companies based in tax havens.
“From Cuba, I found a niche in the Caribbean and this circumstance led me to found this group of companies.”
In the ICIJ search engine it appears founded in the British Virgin Islands in January 1994. However, Moro Suárez himself admitted in an interview with the local Galician press almost two decades ago that his empire began on the island. When asked by the journalist how he “learned” to have “one hundred and sixty employees who make it work.” 20 million meals around the world,” the businessman replies: “I have in the Caribbean, starting from Cuba, found a niche for work, and this circumstance led me to found this group of companies.”
A note that appeared four years earlier in La Voz de Galicia confirmed this: “Vima was founded in Havana in 1994 to take advantage of the opening of the Cuban market for tourism investments and to become the main distributor of hotels and restaurants.” In 2002 Vima World, “a distributor based in Vigo and 100% owned by the Galician Moro family”, was the first in its sector in Cuba, with control of 15% of food distribution and 25% of food supply to hotels. In 2001 it was said to have earned 25 million euros.
How could a company run by a foreigner be founded in Cuba in the mid-1990s and reach these numbers in just seven years? It is one of the unknowns that Vima raises and that appeared in the island's establishments at precisely that time, namely the dollarization and desperation in the middle of the special period.
Another reason is that Vima World SL, a company with almost 30 years of history, was barely registered in the island's national register of foreign commercial missions last October.
That in Havana it has its address in the Berroa area – like the mysterious diploma market – traditionally controlled by the all-powerful business consortium of the Cuban Armed Forces, Gaesa, and that it is promoted in official media such as Cubadebate does not make, but reinforces the idea, with to be associated with the highest spheres of power. It was not for nothing that the reporter wrote in this 2006 interview that, as he had been told, Moro Suárez sat with personalities such as Castro (Fidel) and Milanés (Pablo).
None of this was reported by the media that broke the news of the Moro-Lacorne connection. In return, they reported other details, including the latest picture of Moro Suárez with his wife Mariquita Morros-Sarda, dressed in the traditional Spanish bridesmaid mantilla.
The usual syrupy and superfluous prose also stopped at clothes and waste. Guests stayed at the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski, one of the city's most expensive, and enjoyed a “pre-wedding” party at the Tropicana Cabaret – closed just for them for the occasion – parading around in glittering almendrons and attending one The ceremony takes place in Havana Cathedral. Many of the guests, such as influencer Belén Barnechea, shared relaxed images through the streets of the capital, day and night, with images that in no way showed the true and dire state of the city. A lush Havana made of coated paper under the Vima Foods umbrella.
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