Florida businessman defends being at U.S. Capitol on January 6th
Vic Mellor defends the Proud Boys and Michael Flynn’s involvement in Sarasota Republican Party and school board politics.
Yasmeen Qureshi and Lamar A. Salter, USA TODAY
- Vic Mellor, a Republican candidate for the Rhode Island House of Representatives, is the self-appointed special envoy to Cuba.
- Mellor met with Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, the grandson of former Cuban leader Raul Castro.
- The State Department acknowledged that Mellor was not authorized to represent the U.S. government.
Vic Mellor has positioned himself first as a leading Republican congressional candidate in Rhode Island, but now he’s added a new title: self-appointed special envoy to Cuba.
On the morning of June 6, Mr. Mellor was returning to Boston Logan Airport for a return visit to Havana, at a time when the United States was tightening the economic strings to prevent change in Cuba’s government and the country faced a deepening humanitarian disaster.
Mellor made a surprise visit to Havana in late May to deliver humanitarian aid and had two long dinners with newly indicted Raúl Castro’s grandson and top political adviser, Raúl “Laurito” Guillermo Rodríguez Castro. Mellor, an entrepreneur, is seeking to unseat incumbent Congressman Seth Magaziner, a Rhode Island Democrat.
A State Department spokeswoman said Mellor “has no authority to speak on behalf of the U.S. government and has no involvement in administration activities.”
Mellor, who served as chief of staff to Gen. Mike Flynn under President Donald Trump, stressed that he was traveling at the urging of businessmen and investors who recently founded the National Cuban-American Chamber of Commerce in Miami. The organization’s goal, made up mostly of business leaders and investors, is political change and civilian reconstruction in Cuba. Mellor said he had not spoken to the State Department, White House or other foreign policy officials regarding the trip.
Mellor, 57, told USA TODAY on June 6, “I’m not going to talk behind his back or get around Marco Rubio.” “(Rubio) has done a great job. The conversation is not a betrayal. We have an open dialogue. I don’t see how you could hurt someone.”
Mellor knows that his visit with the Castro government touched sensitive nerves among those who want the country to transition away from family rule.
Mellor said they had two hours-long meetings in late May. Rodriguez Castro, the influential 41-year-old known as “El Cangrejo” the crab, shared his vision for the future. The latest round of designations, announced by the Treasury Department on June 4, sanctioned various members of the Castro family.
“He is confident. He wants the Cuban people to prosper,” Mellor said. “He kept saying this is an update, Cuba needs to update its policies.”
Mellor said Rodríguez Castro acknowledged that he had spoken to Rubio twice in recent months and met once with CIA Director John Ratcliffe. One of the face-to-face meetings with Mr. Rubio took place on St. Kitts Island in early March.
Throughout the campaign, Mellor has defended his background as a Marine Corps veteran, his ties to Flynn, and his participation in the violent pro-Trump protests on January 6, 2021. He said he believes both the United States and Cuba want to prosper. He admitted that he has no experience in diplomacy and has not negotiated. He said he felt like he was watching history unfold on this island.
Contributor: Francesca Chambers
