Attorney General Merrick Garland said the arrest of Victor Manuel Rocha, a onetime U.S. envoy to Bolivia, “exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent.”
A former U.S. ambassador was arrested on charges of secretly working for Cuba and boasting that his decades of work for Havana had “strengthened the revolution immensely,” authorities said Monday.
Victor Manuel Rocha, the onetime U.S. envoy to Bolivia, appeared to choke back tears at the defense table as family members entered the courtroom of Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres in Miami.
The judge asked Rocha, 73, whether he understood the charges, and the defendant responded, “I understand.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the arrest “exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent.”
“Those who have the privilege of serving in the government of the United States are given an enormous amount of trust by the public we serve,” Garland told reporters Monday. “To betray that trust by falsely pledging loyalty to the United States while serving a foreign power is a crime that will be met with the full force of the Justice Department.”
Rocha is being accused of working to promote the Cuban government’s interests, which is not a crime unless it’s done on U.S. soil without registering with the Justice Department as a foreign lobbyist.
The government claims Rocha has been working on behalf of Havana from November 1981 to now.
He faces at least three criminal counts: conspiracy to act as foreign agent to defraud the U.S., acting as an illegal agent for a foreign government and use of passport obtained by false statement.
Additional charges are expected to come later this week, the government said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Stratton said Rocha should be held without bail, claiming he’s a flight risk with dual citizenship. The defense said Rocha will make all court appearances if he’s granted bail.
A heading on that matter was set for Wednesday.
An undercover FBI agent allegedly reached out to Rocha via WhatsApp in November last year.
“Good Afternoon ambassador, my name is Miguel and I have a message for you from your friends in Havana,” FBI special agent Michael Haley wrote in a criminal complaint, quoting the undercover agent. “It is in regard to a sensitive matter. Are you available for a telephone call?”
That led to meetings on Nov. 16, 2022, and Feb. 17 and June 23 of this year, when Rocha allegedly boasted about his longtime loyalty to Havana, according to the complaint.
