Vic Mellor wants to represent Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District. In late May, mid-campaign, he flew to Havana, delivered humanitarian supplies, and met twice over lengthy dinners with Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, grandson of former Cuban leader Raul Castro. Three weeks later, he registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for two arms of the Cuban government.

Rodriguez Castro, known as “El Cangrejo,” is a security official tied to Raul Castro’s Interior Ministry apparatus and an unusual back-channel between Havana and Washington. CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with him in Havana in May, and Axios reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio has too.