Washington DC - The CIA set up a secret new task force to direct financial, human, and technical resources towards Cuba in an attempt to create divides between the island's political class.

People briefed on the new Cuba task force told the New York Times (NYT) that its purpose is to use covert methods to bring pressure on the Cuban government to make the changes desired by President Donald Trump's administration.

It is hiring case officers to recruit and manage spies within Cuba, and will employ intelligence analysts, cyber operations specialists, and officers who specialize in covert influence operations.

Sources told the NYT that the task force's ultimate purpose is to create divides and fissures between Cuba's political class and ferment pressure to replace them with leaders more in-line with US interests.

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"The intentions here are no surprise, since Cuba has long been the target of the CIA's efforts at espionage, subversion, and destabilization, including terrorism," Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío said in a statement.

"Yet, the State Department has the audacity to call Cuba a threat for exercising its right to legitimate self-defense," he continued.

The CIA, Pentagon, and Department of Defense have refused to comment.

Trump's new task force is reminiscent of a similar group set up in 1960. It oversaw the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion, when around 1500 Cuban exiles tried to overthrow Fidel Castro's government.

As the US upscales its covert operations on the small island nation, it continues to blockade Havana from reliable sources of fuel. The embargo has lead to repeated and lengthy nationwide blackouts, the collapse of vital infrastructure including hospitals, and a shocking humanitarian crisis.

Fears are growing that the US may even mount an invasion of Cuba, a move likely to be aided by intelligence and operations undertaken by the new task force.