Former U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Spied for Cuba for Over 40 Years: DOJ
A longtime State Department employee, who rose to become U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, is accused of spying for Cuba for decades in what U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland calls “one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent.”
Victor Manuel Rocha is accused of secretly acting as an agent of the government of the Republic of Cuba for over 40 years, with the Department of Justice (DOJ) saying the espionage started no later than 1981 and continued to the present day.
The 73-year-old Rocha was arrested December 1 at his home in Miami.
“We allege that for over 40 years, Victor Manuel Rocha served as an agent of the Cuban government and sought out and obtained positions within the United States government that would provide him with access to non-public information and the ability to affect U.S. foreign policy,” said Attorney General Garland.
Prosecutors say Rocha, a Colombia-born, naturalized U.S. citizen, got a job in the State Department to further his efforts to spy for Cuba.
Rocha steadily rose through the ranks of the State Department and held positions in Mexico, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Argentina, before becoming ambassador to Bolivia from 2000-2002. Rocha served on the National Security Council from 1994 to 1995. He was stationed in the U.S. Interest Section in Havana, Cuba from 1995-1997.
The alleged espionage continued even after Rocha’s employment with the State Department ended.
Prosecutors say Rocha provided false and misleading information to the United States to maintain his secret mission, made false and misleading statements to obtain travel documents, and traveled outside the U.S. to meet with Cuban intelligence operatives.
"Like all federal officials, U.S. diplomats swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Acting as an agent for Cuba – a hostile foreign power – is a blatant violation of that oath and betrays the trust of the American people," said Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray.
Undercover Meetings Lead to Arrest
In 2022, the FBI was alerted of the alleged espionage. Court documents say that in a series of meetings between Rocha and an undercover FBI agent posing as a Cuban operative, Rocha admitted to being a spy for Cuba, praised Fidel Castro, and described his work for Cuba as a “grand slam” saying it “strengthened the revolution.”
Rocha is charged with conspiracy to act as foreign agent to defraud the U.S., acting as an illegal agent for a foreign government, and using a passport obtained by a false statement.
The FBI Miami Field Office is investigating the case, with assistance from the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and the FBI’s Washington Field Office.