CIA Establishes Secret Task Force to Pressure Cuba

The Central Intelligence Agency has secretly established a task force designed to intensify pressure on the Cuban government to implement economic, political, and leadership changes demanded by President Donald Trump. The initiative seeks to create fissures among the Cuban political elite, aiming to replace anti-American hard-liners with leaders more amenable to U.S. demands.

To support these efforts, the Trump administration designated Cuba as a Priority 1 target in the National Intelligence Priorities Framework. This designation led the National Security Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to increase satellite and intelligence-collection assets monitoring the island. While the task force is currently prohibited from enabling lethal operations and lacks organized partners within Cuba, the surge in intelligence is intended to provide the U.S. military with updated options for potential military action.

This escalation follows a May visit to Havana by CIA Director John Ratcliffe. During that visit, Ratcliffe warned Cuban officials they were running out of time to make fundamental changes.