(Miami) A former United States ambassador was indicted in Miami for having spied for “more than 40 years” on the United States for the benefit of Cuba, Washington’s historic enemy, the Justice Department announced Monday.
Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, was arrested Friday, accused of being a mole for Havana’s communist government as he rose through the ranks of U.S. diplomacy, having access to confidential documents and influence over policy American foreigner.
This case is “one of the longest infiltrations, and involving the most significant levels, of a foreign agent within the American state,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Monday.
“For more than 40 years, Mr. Rocha worked as an undercover agent of the Cuban state,” before an FBI investigation brought him down, Mr. Garland told reporters.
A court document made public Monday does not mention any possible financial remuneration he would have received or example of information he would have transmitted to Cuba.
The former diplomat broke down in tears Monday during a first appearance hearing in a Miami federal court, according to the New York Times. He did not say whether he intended to plead guilty or not guilty, according to the American daily.
To the White House
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.
PHOTO GONZALO ESPINOZA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Manuel Rocha while he was ambassador to Bolivia, in 2001
He was also stationed at numerous U.S. embassies in Latin America, including 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.
Mr. Rocha was notably an advisor to the US Southern Command, the body which coordinates the American armed forces in Latin America, including Cuba.
” Warmest regards ”
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.
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 ‘we’ to describe Cuba and himself,” the Justice Department noted.
Other espionage cases
Questioned Friday by the security service of the American diplomacy, before his arrest, he lied “repeatedly” and denied having met the FBI agent undercover, the court document further notes.
The State Department will “study” with intelligence agencies the “long-term consequences on national security” of this affair, its spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday.
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.