Garland: Accused spy part of ‘longest-lasting’ infiltration of US
- Victor Manuel Rocha served as ambassador to Bolivia
- He is charged with being an agent of the Cuban government for decades
- Rocha also served on the National Security Council
The Cuban national flag is raised at half-mast in tribute to the victims of a plane that crashed shortly after taking off from Jose Marti airport and killed 107 people, in Havana, on May 19, 2018. – Cuba begins two days of national mourning Saturday for victims of the crash of a state airways plane that killed all but three of its 110 passengers and crew. President Miguel Diaz-Canel said an investigation was under way into Friday’s crash of the nearly 40-year-old Boeing 737, leased to the national carrier Cubana de Aviacion by a Mexican company. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP) (Photo by YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images)
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(NewsNation) — Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed a former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia who has been charged with acting as an agent for Cuba will be met with the full force of the law.
“This exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the U.S. government by a foreign agent,” Garland said.
Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, served on the National Security Council and was later appointed as ambassador to Bolivia, where he served in the role for two years.
He is being charged with multiple federal crimes and secretly acting as an agent for the government of Cuba for decades.
According to court documents, Rocha began to work for Cuba no later than 1981 and continued to do so until now. He allegedly provided false and misleading information to the U.S. and traveled abroad to meet with Cuban intelligence operatives.
Prosecutors say Rocha met with an undercover FBI agent posing as an intelligence representative for Cuba and admitted to his decades of work for Cuba, referring to the U.S. as “the enemy” and praising former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
