Ex-US ambassador alleged to have spied for Cuba
Victor Manuel Rocha had an impressive career in several US agencies for four decades. He then allegedly praised Cuba and Fidel Castro to an FBI investigator and told him about his espionage activities. The US Department of Justice announces "full force".
A former US ambassador to Bolivia is alleged to have spied for Cuba for a total of 40 years. The now 73-year-old career diplomat Victor Manuel Rocha is accused of "one of the most far-reaching and longest-running" cases of infiltration of the US authorities by a foreign agent, said Justice Minister Merrick Garland in Washington. Rocha is alleged to have supported Cuba as an agent since 1981.
According to the Justice Department, Rocha admitted his espionage activities to an undercover FBI investigator posing as a Cuban agent. During the meetings with him, Rocha consistently behaved like a representative of Cuba, referred to the USA as an "enemy", spoke of Cuba as "us" and praised the late Cuban head of state Fidel Castro. He went on to describe his own work for Cuba as a "direct hit".
The native Colombian, who later became a naturalized citizen, began his career in the US State Department in 1981 and worked in the US diplomatic service in the Cuban capital Havana, among other places. Under President Bill Clinton, Rocha was a member of the National Security Council from 1994 to 1995 and then Ambassador to Bolivia under Clinton and his successor George W. Bush from 2000 to 2002.
"Abused the trust of US citizens"
During his work, Rocha had access to confidential and classified information, the US Department of Justice stated. He was also in a position to influence US foreign policy, the Department of Justice said.
Rocha was to be brought before a judge in the US port city of Miami this Monday. He faces charges including conspiracy to benefit a foreign government, acting as an unauthorized agent for a foreign government and obtaining a US passport under false pretenses.
Justice Minister Garland declared that anyone who, as a US government official, abuses the trust of US citizens in the way that Rocha did is committing a crime that his authority will deal with "with full force".
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In addition to his work in Bolivia, Rocha's alleged espionage activities extend to his time as an ambassador in Cuba, also for the USA. Furthermore, it's reported that Bolivia's government was informed about Rocha's espionage activities on behalf of Cuba by the USA.
Source: www.ntv.de
