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The 57-year-old American businessman Vic Mellor, a Republican candidate for the House of Representatives from Rhode Island, stated to AFP that he met in Havana with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former president Raúl Castro, to explore business opportunities amid strong tensions between Washington and the Cuban regime.
Mellor, a veteran of the Marine Corps, confirmed the meeting to the AFP agency after concluding a several-day visit to the island last Friday. According to his account, the meeting lasted several hours on Thursday night and focused exclusively on business.
"Well, the only thing I talked about was business. I'm here for business, okay? I'm not a diplomat. How Cuba wants to handle its international policy is their business. But I do tell you that based on our conversation, Raúl's vision for the future is very promising, and I believe the people will be receptive, especially the Cuban people," Mellor stated.
The entrepreneur, who claims to manage around 10 businesses in the medical and media sectors in the United States, also praised the island's potential: "Raúl understands that business is the way forward. He understands that cooperation in business with the United States is key to Cuba's prosperity."
Mellor also stated that "Cuba is on the brink of a new revolution" and emphasized its potential in tourism, mining, and human resources.
The AFP clarified that it could not immediately confirm the meeting with the entourage of Rodríguez Castro, known as "El Cangrejo," a key figure in the discreet contacts between Cuba and the United States in 2026.
Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro is a colonel in the Cuban Ministry of the Interior and the head of Personal Security for his grandfather, who is 94 years old.
Although he does not hold formal positions in the government, international media have identified him as a spokesperson in the negotiations between the two countries, including a meeting on April 10 in Havana with State Department officials, where the release of political prisoners was discussed.
Mellor's trip takes place in a context of maximum pressure from Washington on the regime.
Since January, the Trump administration imposed secondary sanctions on those supplying oil to Cuba, which caused a severe energy crisis with blackouts lasting up to 30 hours a day in more than 55% of the island's territory.
The interlocutor of Mellor, Raúl Castro, was charged by U.S. justice for his alleged involvement in the downing of aircraft belonging to the organization Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, in which four people died.
The visit of the Republican candidate, unusual given the hardening of his party's policy towards the Cuban regime, has triggered a wave of rumors about possible movements towards an economic opening between the two countries, at a time when analysts warn that time is running out for the Havana regime.
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