Related videos:
Vic Mellor, the Republican congressional candidate from Rhode Island who participated in the January 6, 2021 march to the Capitol, which led to riots, with the U.S. Department of Justice as a foreign agent linked to the Cuban government in mid-June, as revealed by The Bulwark on July 1 and further detailed this Thursday by The Providence Journal.
The documents submitted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), dated June 16, indicate that Mellor maintains contacts with various agencies and officials of the Cuban regime, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an official related to visas, an agency or official from American Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Personal Security Directorate.
The main interlocutor identified by Mellor in those documents is Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known as "El Cangrejo," the grandson of former leader Raúl Castro, who was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in May for the downing of aircraft from Hermanos al Rescate in 1996, an attack that resulted in the deaths of four people.
According to Mellor's own records, his work involves digital communication consulting: "strategy and content suggestions for social media, ideas for good websites," and the production of an unpublished short video about cultural misunderstandings between Cubans and Americans.
Mellor also described his work as "the potential preparation of informational materials and their dissemination," in addition to providing sample ideas for social media content and strategies to bridge communication between Cubans and Americans.
The candidate stated in his documents that, at the time of registration, there was "no formal agreement or understanding" in place, and he has not responded to inquiries about whether he receives any payment for these activities.
Mellor's trips to Cuba had been reported previously.
At the end of May, he made a surprise visit to Havana to deliver humanitarian supplies and held two dinners with Rodríguez Castro and a senior political advisor, lasting a total of about four and a half hours.
On June 6, I was already back at Boston's Logan Airport for a new flight to the Cuban capital.
In previous public statements, Mellor openly praised Raúl Castro's grandson: “Raúl's vision for the future is very promising,” he told AFP. He also asserted that Rodríguez Castro “is fully open” to conversations with President Donald Trump and to “letting Trump lead the way.”
The State Department was emphatic on the matter: Mellor “is not authorized to speak on behalf of the United States government and is not involved in anything the administration is doing.”
The registration as a foreign agent comes at a politically explosive moment. The Department of Justice filed historic criminal charges against Raúl Castro on May 20 for the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes, while the Trump administration maintains a maximum pressure policy against the Cuban regime, amidst new sanctions and a deep energy crisis on the island.
Mellor is running for the seat in Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District, currently held by Democrat Seth Magaziner, who reacted sharply on Thursday: “A registered agent of a foreign dictatorship should not represent Rhode Island in Congress, period. Unlike Vic Mellor, my loyalty is only to the United States and Rhode Island.”
Filed under: