U.S. Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland proclaims that Victor Manuel Rocha, the previous U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, has been charged with appearing illegally as a overseas agent for the federal government of Cuba, Dec. 4, 2023.
Drew Angerer | Getty Photographs
A retired American diplomat made his first courtroom look Monday in Miami in a doubtlessly explosive espionage case.
Prosecutors say Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, spent greater than 40 years spying for Cuba whereas he rose by the State Division, the place he was U.S. ambassador to Bolivia in the course of the Clinton administration.
Rocha’s case is “one of many highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the US authorities by a overseas agent,” Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland mentioned Monday at a press convention.
Rocha has been charged in U.S. District Courtroom for the Southern District of Florida with one rely of Performing as an Unlawful Agent of a International Authorities, one rely of conspiracy to take action and a 3rd rely, Use of a Passport Obtained by a False Assertion. The Dec. 1 criticism was unsealed Monday.
However the sworn accounts by FBI brokers paint a a lot greater image of Rocha’s alleged actions than the person prices convey.
“Starting no later than roughly 1981, and persevering with to the current, Rocha secretly supported the Republic of Cuba and its clandestine intelligence-gathering mission towards the US by serving as a covert agent of Cuba’s intelligence companies,” the indictment alleges.
“To additional that function, Rocha obtained and maintained employment in the US authorities in positions that supplied him: (1) entry to nonpublic data, together with categorized data; and (2) the power to have an effect on United States overseas coverage,” wrote prosecutors.
Rocha was apprehended as the results of a yearlong undercover FBI operation, in accordance with the DOJ.
Undercover FBI brokers posing as Cuban operatives met with Rocha a number of occasions prior to now 12 months, in accordance with the criticism.
The life Rocha allegedly described to them sounded just like the plot of HBO’s spy thriller “The People.”
“Because the Direcciön requested me … to steer a standard life … I’ve – have created the legend of a right-wing individual,” Rocha allegedly mentioned, referring to the Cuban intelligence companies. Legend is a spycraft time period for the fictional biography a covert agent cultivates to hide their id.
Bolivian President Hugo Banzer, left, shakes palms with Victor Manuel Rocha, the brand new U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, throughout a ceremony within the Authorities Palace in La Paz, Aug. 3, 2000.
Reuters
After leaving his State Division roles, Rocha labored in a number of private-sector jobs, in accordance with the submitting, together with most not too long ago as a senior worldwide enterprise advisor at LLYC USA in Miami. In August, he left his job at regulation agency Foley & Lardner, a spokesperson for the corporate mentioned.
LLYC advised CNBC on Monday that it made “the choice to sever ties with Mr. Rocha” efficient instantly. The agency added that it’ll cooperate with the DOJ and different authorities as crucial.
Rocha portrayed the result of his work as an enormous success and “greater than a grand slam.”
“My primary concern; my primary precedence was … any motion on the a part of Washington that may — would endanger the lifetime of — of the management, or the revolution itself,” Rocha mentioned to undercover FBI brokers, in accordance with the criticism.
The criticism cited a number of events when Rocha lied underneath oath about his loyalty to the U.S. and denied working for any overseas entities.
As not too long ago as Friday, in a voluntary interview with State Division officers, Rocha denied ever having met with these Cuban intelligence brokers, who had been truly undercover FBI.
Rocha appeared earlier than a federal choose, and a bond listening to is scheduled for Wednesday. The DOJ mentioned extra prices towards Rocha are nonetheless to come back.
“Those that have the privilege of serving within the authorities of the US are given an infinite quantity of belief by the general public we serve,” Garland mentioned. “To betray that belief by falsely pledging loyalty to the US whereas serving a overseas energy is a criminal offense that might be met with the complete drive of the Justice Division.”
