Former US ambassador accused of spying for Cuba

In the United States (US), the Department of Justice has announced that former ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha is accused of "spying for over 40 years" for the Cuban intelligence service.

In a statement from the Attorney General's Office, it was stated, "Rocha served as a covert agent for the Cuban state for over 40 years."

FIRST HEARING OF THE AMBASSADOR HELD

Attorney General Merrick Garland noted that the former diplomat "sought and obtained positions within the US government that would provide him access to non-public information and the ability to affect US foreign policy." Following an FBI investigation that included an undercover agent, Rocha, who was detained in Miami on Friday, had his first hearing at a federal court in Florida on Monday.

The former ambassador is charged with "acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government."

Documents released by the department included allegations that Rocha had engaged in "clandestine activities" on behalf of Cuba since at least 1981, such as meeting with Cuban intelligence officers and providing false information to US government officials about his travels and contacts.

ALLEGED TO HAVE CONTINUED ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES

The 73-year-old Rocha, who was detained at his home in Miami on Friday, served in Bolivia, Argentina, and Cuba during his twenty-year career at the State Department. It was not detailed what information Rocha, who also held senior positions at the US Interests Section in Havana, may have leaked during this process.

According to the Department of Justice, Rocha continued his espionage activities for Cuba even after leaving the State Department in 2002 following nearly thirty years of service.

Rocha, who retired from the State Department after his ambassadorship in Bolivia ended in 2002, was also a member of the National Security Council, an organ of the White House, during the Bill Clinton administration between 1994 and 1995.

Born in Colombia and naturalized as an American citizen, Rocha began working for the main intelligence agency of the Communist Cuban government in 1981.

"HE ALWAYS REFERRED TO THE US AS THE ENEMY"

According to a court document, Rocha was deceived in 2022 and 2023 by an undercover FBI agent posing as a Cuban intelligence operative.

After receiving a "WhatsApp message" from the undercover agent (carefully avoiding being followed), Rocha went to a meeting with the fake Cuban agent, who was hiding a microphone and camera to collect his secrets.

In this meeting, Rocha, who spoke about his fake life as a "right-wing person," sent his "warmest regards" to the intelligence directorate in Havana and spoke of the "great sacrifice" his life as a covert agent represented for him. The former ambassador, who also said that what he had done for the communist government in Havana for "nearly 40 years" was "enormous," was arrested at his second meeting with the undercover FBI agent in Miami.

The Department of Justice stated that the former ambassador, who lives in Miami, "always referred to the US as the 'enemy' and used the word 'we' to describe Cuba and himself."

According to the court document, the former diplomat lied "repeatedly" during his interrogation and denied having met with the undercover FBI agent.

CUBA IS ON THE LIST OF COUNTRIES SUPPORTING TERRORISM

In 2001, military intelligence analyst Ana Belen Montes was arrested on espionage charges and confessed to having collected intelligence for Cuba for nearly a decade.

The US intelligence agency, the CIA, made numerous attempts to assassinate Cuban leaders following the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961.

Relations between Washington and the island, which has been under a US embargo since 1962, remain tense. Before leaving office at the beginning of 2021, Donald Trump placed Cuba back on the list of countries supporting terrorism—a list that remains in effect despite the prisoner swaps facilitated by the Joe Biden administration.