(Scypre.com) – A former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, Victor Manuel Rocha, has been apprehended on charges of clandestinely acting as an agent for Cuba against the United States for more than four decades.
Rocha, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002, is facing multiple federal charges, including conspiracy, acting as an illegal foreign agent, and the illicit use of a fraudulently obtained passport.
Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “We allege that for over 40 years, Victor Manuel Rocha served as an agent of the Cuban government, strategically positioning himself within the United States government to access non-public information and influence U.S. foreign policy.” The 73-year-old Rocha was arrested and presented before a federal judge in Miami on Monday.
According to court documents filed in the southern district of Florida, the U.S. asserts that Rocha had covertly supported Cuba’s intelligence-gathering activities against Washington since 1981.
In a series of meetings between 2022 and 2023, Rocha reportedly confessed to his decades-long collaboration with Cuba during discussions with an undercover FBI agent posing as a representative from the covert Cuban General Directorate of Intelligence. Transcripts of secret recordings from these meetings were presented in court.
Rocha, in one recorded conversation, detailed his meticulous and disciplined approach to gradually advancing his collaboration with Cuba. He expressed pride in his actions, stating, “For me, what has been done, has strengthened the Revolution. They underestimated what we could do to them. We did more than they thought,” with the term “them” referring to the United States.
To evade detection, Rocha referred to Cuba as “the island” and adopted a facade of leading a “normal life” disguised as a “right-wing person,” as revealed in the recordings. Throughout his career, Rocha held various government positions, including working for the State Department from 1981 to 2002 and serving on the White House’s National Security Council from 1994 to 1995. Additionally, he worked as an adviser to the U.S. military’s Southern Commander from approximately 2006 to 2012.