(Miami) A former United States ambassador was sentenced Friday in Miami to 15 years in prison for spying on the United States for several decades for the benefit of Cuba, Washington’s historic enemy.
Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, was arrested in early December, accused of being a mole for the communist government in Havana as he climbed the ranks of American diplomacy, having access to confidential documents and influence over the American foreign policy.
The ex-diplomat, who had pleaded guilty, was sentenced “to the maximum sentence authorized by law”, according to Judge Beth Bloom, after a three and a half hour hearing. The sentence was also accompanied by a fine of US$500,000.
This case is “one of the longest infiltrations, and affecting the most significant levels, of a foreign agent within the American state,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland at the time of his indictment. .
“For more than 40 years, Mr. Rocha worked as an undercover agent of the Cuban state,” before an FBI investigation brought him down, the attorney general told reporters.
Undercover agent
Victor Manuel Rocha held very high positions within American diplomacy: before ending his career at the State Department as ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002, he was notably a member of the National Security Council, an organ of the House -White, from 1994 to 1995, during the presidency of Bill Clinton.
He was also stationed in numerous American embassies in Latin America, including that of Havana, according to a court document.
Born in Colombia and a naturalized American, Mr. Rocha began working for the main intelligence agency of Cuba’s communist government as early as 1981, according to the investigation.
Even after leaving the State Department in 2002 after about 30 years of service, he continued his spying work for Cuba, according to the Justice Department.
He was confused by a member of the American federal police (FBI) who posed, in 2022 and 2023, as an agent of the Cuban intelligence services, according to a court document.
Mr. Rocha, carefully avoiding being followed, went to a meeting with this fake Cuban agent, who hid a microphone and camera to record him.
“More than a Grand Slam”
He spoke of his “comrades” in Cuba, asked the false liaison agent to send his “warm greetings” to the intelligence directorate in Havana or spoke of the “great sacrifice” that his life as a secret agent was for him. .
What he did for “nearly 40 years” for the communist government in Havana is “enormous”, “more than a Grand Slam”, he congratulated himself during a second meeting in Miami with the same agent.
The former ambassador, living in Miami, “always referred to the United States as ‘the enemy’ and used the word ‘us’ to describe Cuba and himself,” the Justice Department pointed out in December.
Numerous espionage cases have marred relations between the two countries, enemies since the communist revolution in Cuba in 1959, in the midst of the Cold War.
In 2001, Ana Montes, a military intelligence analyst, was arrested for espionage, admitting to having collected intelligence for nearly a decade for Cuba. And in 2010, American diplomat Kendall Myers was sentenced to life in prison, convicted of having spied for 30 years for Havana.
The CIA, for its part, made numerous attempts to assassinate Cuban leaders after the failure of the Bay of Pigs landing in 1961.
Cuba has been under a US embargo since 1962 and remains on its list of countries supporting terrorism.