Ex-US Diplomat Accused of Chronic Cuban Spying
Meet Victor Manuel Rocha, a career US diplomat who clocked four decades in various US agencies before allegedly embracing Cuba and Fidel Castro. According to an FBI investigator, he spilled the beans about his espionage activities too. The US Department of Justice is ready to throw the book at him!
The 73-year-old Rocha, a former US ambassador to Bolivia, is accused of one of the most extensive and longest-running cases of infiltrating US authorities by a foreign agent. Justice Secretary Merrick Garland hinted at this grave situation in Washington, D.C. Rocha has reportedly served as a Cuban spy since 1981.
As per the Justice Department, Rocha confessed his spy activities to an undercover FBI investigator disguised as a Cuban agent. His meetings with this individual saw him acting like a Cuban representative, referred to the US as an 'enemy', and hailed Cuba as 'us'. He even praised the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and called his work for Cuba a "direct hit".
Born in Colombia and later naturalized as a US citizen, Rocha started his US State Department career in 1981 and served in various US diplomatic positions, including Havana. During Bill Clinton's presidency, Rocha was part of the National Security Council between 1994-95, and later, served as Ambassador to Bolivia under Clinton and George W. Bush between 2000-2002.
Betraying Trust
Rocha had access to confidential and classified information, and his position allowed him to impact US foreign policy, the Justice Department stated. He was due in court in Miami on Monday to answer charges including conspiring to benefit a foreign government, acting as an unauthorized agent for a foreign government, and obtaining US citizenship through false pretenses.
Addressing the alleged betrayal of trust by Rocha, Garland vowed that his authority would handle such cases "with full force".
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Beyond Bolivia, Rocha's espionage activities are believed to have extended to his time as US ambassador in Cuba. Moreover, Bolivia's government was reportedly informed about Rocha's alleged espionage on Cuban behalf by the US.
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Enrichment Information (Incorporated into Base Article):
The former US ambassador, Victor Manuel Rocha, faced charges for serving as a long-term secret agent for Cuba, which has significant implications for US foreign policy and national security. Rocha held several sensitive positions, including US ambassador to Bolivia (2000-2002), charge d'affaires to Buenos Aires, and deputy head of the US interest section in Havana, the de facto embassy in Cuba.
The details of his activities remained undetected for years, as Rocha secretly met with Cuban operatives and provided false information to US officials. A CIA operative had received a warning nearly two decades ago suggesting Rocha's double-agent status, but it was disregarded.
Rocha pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $500,000. The espionage activities revealed the sophistication of Cuba's intelligence services and the need for enhanced security measures.
The US government is conducting a confidential damage assessment to identify the extent of the secrets that might have been passed during Rocha's tenure as a spy. His case is part of a broader pattern of Cuban espionage, including Ana Belén Montes, a US Defence Intelligence Agency analyst who passed secret information to Cuba for several years, and Walter Kendall Myers, a former State Department employee who spied for Cuba nearly twice as long.
