The United States has intensified both its economic and intelligence campaign against Cuba, expanding covert operations while tightening sanctions in what officials describe as an effort to accelerate political change on the island. According to reports citing U.S. media, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has significantly increased its operational resources in Cuba in recent months amid growing concerns over the capabilities of Cuban intelligence services.
The reported expansion comes as Washington classifies Cuba as a “priority one” intelligence target alongside China, Iran and Russia under a recently updated framework outlining the highest objectives for U.S. intelligence agencies. The move reflects growing concern within the administration over the influence and reach of Cuba’s intelligence apparatus at a time when the White House is pursuing a policy of maximum pressure against the Cuban government.
Speaking in a recent interview with Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Cuba as a formidable intelligence adversary despite its size. “When it comes to espionage and influence operations, Cuba is a true superpower in these areas,” Rubio said. He further argued that Cuba is the only country that has “systematically infiltrated and concealed spies within our system, without even paying them,” highlighting what he characterised as the effectiveness of Cuban intelligence operations in the United States.
The intelligence push accompanies an intensified sanctions campaign launched by the White House more than six months ago. Washington has imposed a strict oil embargo and introduced several rounds of sanctions targeting Cuban government agencies and senior officials. According to the source material, the measures have severely affected Cuba’s economy, with foreign-owned hotels, one of the island’s principal sources of revenue, suspending operations while the restrictions remain in force.
On Thursday, Rubio announced additional sanctions against Cuban authorities and public bodies involved in foreign military cooperation and the acquisition of military equipment. In a statement, he described Cuba’s military and intelligence institutions as “the main agents of internal repression and nodes of kleptocracy, especially through the military conglomerate GAESA.” The latest measures target five Cuban companies and eight officials, including Roberto Legrasotolongo, Chief of the General Staff of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and First Deputy Minister of the Cuban Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR).
Rubio has also repeatedly questioned the reliability of U.S. intelligence on Cuba, citing what he says are long-standing penetrations of American institutions by Cuban spies. Referring to past espionage cases during his Fox News interview, he stated that the United States had experienced infiltrations at the highest levels, including within the Defence Intelligence Agency, and described analyst Ana Belén Montes as one of the country’s most significant intelligence failures.
Concerns over Cuban intelligence capabilities have also been echoed in a recent State Department report titled “Cuba, the Capital of 21st-Century Communism.” In the document, former CIA counterintelligence chief James Olson described the Cuban Intelligence Directorate (DI) as “probably the most complicated intelligence service I have ever worked against,” adding that Cuban operatives remained infiltrated within the U.S. government and asserting that “they are far better than the KGB.” The 100-page report further accuses the Cuban government of supporting “an unprecedented wave of left-wing terrorism in the United States.”
Rubio, who is of Cuban origin, has emerged as the leading figure within the Trump administration’s strategy towards Havana. He has described Cuba as a “failed state” and “a threat to U.S. national security,” while overseeing efforts aimed at achieving political change on the island, located approximately 135 kilometres from Florida.
According to the source material, the CIA has maintained a dedicated task force focused on Cuba for nearly two years but has recently reinforced it with additional intelligence analysts, counter-surveillance specialists and other personnel. Their reported objective is to deepen intelligence collection, recruit new informants and establish contacts within influential sectors of Cuban society in support of a possible political transition.
The reports also state that Washington is strengthening its on-the-ground intelligence capabilities to better assess conditions on the island, where prolonged power outages, shortages of basic goods and the impact of the oil embargo have reportedly pushed Cuba towards a humanitarian crisis. U.S. media further report that the White House is seeking expanded intelligence capabilities should it consider future military options, drawing comparisons with the operation carried out in Venezuela earlier this year.
The escalation has accelerated since Donald Trump’s return to the White House. As part of the renewed approach, CIA Director John Ratcliffe travelled to Havana in May, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. government official to visit the island since the campaign intensified. During meetings with Cuban officials, including Raúl G. Rodríguez, known as “El Cangrejo” and identified as Raúl Castro’s grandson and bodyguard, Ratcliffe reportedly urged Cuba to end intelligence cooperation with China and Russia, expressed admiration for Cuban intelligence services, offered assistance in the event of political change and called for the implementation of political and economic reforms sought by Washington.
Although the CIA has maintained a presence in Cuba since the 1960s, including during the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, the agency’s reported expansion marks a significant escalation in U.S. efforts to increase intelligence gathering as pressure on the Cuban government continues to mount.
