Manuel Rocha: The former US ambassador to Bolivia is accused of being a secret agent for the Cuban government

CNN
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He was the former US ambassador to Bolivia He was charged in federal court By acting as a secret foreign agent for Cuba, according to court documents unsealed Monday.

Manuel Rocha, a 73-year-old former U.S. diplomat, “secretly supported the Republic of Cuba and its secret intelligence-gathering mission against the United States by serving as an undercover agent for Cuban intelligence services,” prosecutors wrote.

Rocha served as US Ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002 and as Deputy Principal Official for the US Interests Section in Cuba in the 1990s. Rocha also worked at the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic in the 1980s as well as the US Consulate in Italy, and served in various roles at the US Embassies in Mexico and Argentina.

In several meetings with an undercover FBI employee who posed as a member of Cuban intelligence, Rocha repeatedly referred to the United States as the “enemy” and praised Cuban revolutionary and politician Fidel Castro, according to court documents.

Rocha described himself as “responsible” for what he called “the shooting down of small planes” — which prosecutors believe happened during Rocha’s tenure at the State Department in Havana when Cuba shot down two unarmed planes operated by members of the Brotherhood. To the Rescue, a US-based group opposed to Castro’s government, killing four men.

Prosecutors say in the indictment that the Cuban government worked for years to recruit people inside the United States to help gather intelligence, including individuals within the US government.

As a State Department employee, Rocha had “unique” access to non-public government information, prosecutors said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday that the case against Rocha “reveals one of the largest and longest-running infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent.”

Rocha faces three federal charges, including serving as an unlawful agent of a foreign government. Rocha was arrested and made his first court appearance Monday in Miami, where federal prosecutors asked a judge to keep him detained until trial.

Rocha was represented by Miami attorney Jacqueline Arango at the Ackerman Law Firm, where she serves as co-head of white collar crime and government investigations.

Chief U.S. Judge Edwin Torres set a pretrial detention hearing for 1 p.m. Wednesday, and Rocha will remain in custody until then.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Stratton said the government plans to bring additional charges to a grand jury, saying those charges will be included in the indictment on Tuesday.

Torres also set a preliminary hearing and arraignment for December 18.

An undercover FBI employee posing as a Cuban intelligence agent sent a message to Rocha on WhatsApp in November 2022, shortly after investigators were notified of Rocha’s alleged undercover work, court documents say. Prosecutors say the undercover employee said in the message that they had “a message for you from your friends in Havana.” “It is a sensitive issue.”

Rocha allegedly responded: “I don’t understand but you can call me.” The former ambassador agreed to meet the secret employee in Miami to talk.

During the meeting, Rocha allegedly took several precautions to make sure he was not followed, including taking a longer route to their appointment, and asking the undercover employee to speak in the “dining hall” with only “low-level staff.” …So, there is no possibility – that anyone could see me.”

During their first meeting, Rocha allegedly told the undercover employee that Cuba’s intelligence agency, called the General Directorate of Intelligence, “asked me… to live a normal life,” and said he had “created the myth of the right-wing person.” “.

“I always told myself: The only thing that could jeopardize everything we did was… betraying someone, someone who might have met me, someone who might have known something at some point,” Rocha said. Recording of the meeting mentioned in court documents.

He allegedly added: “My first concern; My first priority was… any action by Washington that would endanger the lives of the leadership, or the revolution itself.

During another meeting several weeks later, Rocha allegedly described getting a job at the State Department to the undercover employee, saying: “I went little by little. … It was a very careful process … very disciplined.”

“I knew exactly how to do it and obviously the directorate accompanied me… They knew that I knew how to do it. It was a long process and it was not easy,” he said, according to prosecutors.

Rocha also allegedly bragged about “decades” of work on behalf of the Cuban government, saying it had “strengthened the revolution” over the “past 40 years,” and lamented the “blows dealt to the enemy,” allegedly referring to the U.S. government. “I have dealt with the current revolution.”

Rocha worked at consulting firm LLYC USA as a “senior international business consultant” at the time of his arrest, according to court documents. LLYC said in a statement to CNN on Monday that Rocha “is no longer associated with LLYC, effective immediately” and that it “will fully cooperate with authorities if necessary.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Denise Royal and Caitlin Polantz contributed to this report.