A former U.S. ambassador was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday in Miami after being convicted of espionage on behalf of Cuba, America's arch-enemy. Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, was arrested in early December and charged with spying for the Cuban communist government while he was climbing the ranks of American diplomacy, having access to classified documents and influence over foreign policy. The former diplomat, who admitted to the charges against him, received "the maximum penalty stipulated by law," according to Judge Beth Bloom at the end of a three-and-a-half-hour session. The sentence was accompanied by a fine of half a million dollars.
Attorney General Merrick Garland stated when announcing the charges that this case "is one of the longest penetrations at the highest levels by a foreign agent within U.S. territory." He added, "For over 40 years, Rocha worked as a covert agent for the Cuban government" until his exposure during an investigation by the FBI.
Rocha held high-ranking positions in the U.S. State Department. Before ending his career as an ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2001, he notably served as a member of the National Security Council, a body under the White House, between 1994 and 1995 during Bill Clinton's presidency. He also held positions in various U.S. embassies in Latin America, including Havana, as indicated in a court document.
Born in Colombia, Rocha obtained U.S. citizenship and began working for Cuba's main intelligence agency starting in 1981, as revealed by the investigation. Even after leaving the State Department in 2002, where he had served for thirty years, he continued to spy for Cuba, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
His exposure came from an undercover FBI agent who presented himself as a Cuban intelligence officer in 2002 and 2023, as stated in court documents. Rocha carefully avoided detection and met with this undercover agent, who concealed a radio and a camera to record their conversation.
During his discussions with the undercover agent, he talked about the "comrades" in Cuba and asked him to convey "his warm regards" to Cuban intelligence leadership, mentioning the "great sacrifice" he made during his life as a covert agent. In a second meeting with the same fake agent in Miami, Rocha said what he had done "for about forty years" on behalf of the Cuban government was "huge."
The U.S. Department of Justice emphasized last December that the former ambassador residing in Miami "constantly referred to the United States as 'the enemy' and used the word 'we' to refer to himself and Cuba." Relations between the two enemy countries have seen many espionage cases since the communist revolution in Cuba in 1959 during the Cold War.
In 2001, Ana Montes, a military intelligence analyst, was arrested for espionage and admitted to collecting intelligence for Cuba for a decade. In 2010, American diplomat Kendall Meyers was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of spying for Havana for 30 years. The CIA attempted several times to assassinate Cuban officials after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. The United States has imposed a blockade on Cuba since 1962 and lists it as a state sponsor of terrorism.
