A former American diplomat who served as the United States (U.S) Ambassador to Bolivia, Manuel Rocha is expected to appear in court on charges of secretly serving as an agent of the Cuban government.
Rocha’s appearance in court follows his arrest on Friday, December 1, 2023, in a long-running FBI counterintelligence investigation on accusations of spying for the Cuban government.
Reports show that Rocha is also facing accusations of illegally lobbying on behalf of the Cuban government in the U.S.
According to anonymous sources who said that they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing federal investigation, Rocha, 73, was arrested in Miami on a criminal complaint and more details about the case are expected to be made public during a court appearance Monday, December 4, 2023.
Preliminary information indicates that, the Justice Department case is accusing Rocha of working to promote the Cuban government. However, the Federal law requires people doing the political bidding of a foreign government or entity inside the U.S to register with the Justice Department, which in recent years has stepped up its criminal enforcement of illicit foreign lobbying.
Rocha’s 25-year diplomatic career was spent under both Democratic and Republican administrations, with much of it in Latin America during the Cold War, a period of sometimes heavy-handed U.S. political and military policies. His diplomatic postings included a stint at the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba during a time when the U.S. lacked full diplomatic relations with Fidel Castro’s communist government.
Born in Colombia, he was raised in a working-class home in New York City and went on to obtain a succession of liberal arts degrees from Yale, Harvard and Georgetown before joining the Foreign Service in 1981.
He also served in Italy, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and worked as a Latin America’s expert for the National Security Council.
