2024-04-15 22:42:45
His espionage operation for Cuba is said to have been “wide-ranging and ongoing.” An ex-US ambassador now has to go to prison for a long time for this.
A former US ambassador to the United States has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for decades of espionage for Cuba. 73-year-old Victor Manuel Rocha received the maximum possible sentence in a federal court in Miami, Florida, on Friday (local time). He was also fined $500,000 (470,000 euros).
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Rocha was arrested in December. The former US ambassador to Bolivia was accused of “one of the most far-reaching and longest-running” cases of infiltration of the US government by a foreign agent. Rocha is said to have been spying for Cuba as an agent since 1981 and to have repeatedly described the United States as an “enemy.”
Rocha had access to confidential information
The native Colombian, who was naturalized in the USA, began his career in the US State Department in 1981 and worked in the US diplomatic service, including in the Cuban capital Havana and Mexico City. Rocha was a member of the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 1995 and then ambassador to Bolivia under Clinton and his successor George W. Bush from 2000 to 2002.
During his work, Rocha had access to confidential information and classified information, said the US Department of Justice. He was also able to influence US foreign policy.