CIA Secretly Establishes New Cuba Task Force, Elevates Island to 'Priority 1' Target

The New York Times reported August 5-6, 2026 that the CIA has secretly established a new Cuba task force — the first such unit since the 1960 task force that ran the failed Bay of Pigs invasion — pulling in case officers, cyber-operations specialists, and covert-influence officers under unified command. Unlike its Bay of Pigs-era predecessor, the new task force is not authorized to train armed proxies or run lethal missions; its narrower mandate is to exploit fissures within Cuba's ruling elite and encourage hardline officials to be replaced with figures more open to Trump administration demands. The move follows the Trump administration's revision of the National Intelligence Priorities Framework to elevate Cuba to 'Priority 1' status alongside China, Iran, and Russia, with satellites and NSA assets re-tasked toward the island. The CIA declined to comment on the report.