2023-12-06 01:20:12
Washington: A former American diplomat who worked secretly as an agent of the Cuban government was arrested. The Associated Press reported that 73-year-old Manuel Rocha, who served as ambassador to Bolivia, was taken into custody by FBI intelligence. However, no further details regarding the arrest have been disclosed. 73-year-old Manuel Rocha was arrested in Miami the other day.
Intelligence agencies had discovered that Rocha was working to promote the interests of the Cuban government. The arrest was made after a long investigation. Rocha appeared before a federal judge in Miami on Monday.
Manuel Rocha was charged with multiple federal crimes, including acting as an illegal foreign agent and using a fraudulent passport, the Justice Department said in a statement.
For more than 40 years Manuel Rocha worked as an agent of the Cuban government and held positions within the US government. Those positions granted him access to many important U.S. government documents and information. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that he had access to information that affected US foreign policy.
Rocha’s 25-year diplomatic career spanned both Democratic and Republican administrations. Served in Latin America during the Cold War. He also served as the US representative to Cuba when the US did not have full diplomatic relations with Fidel Castro’s communist government. Rocha also served in Italy, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
He served on the White House’s National Security Council from 1994 to 1995 and from 2006 to 2012 served as an advisor to the commander of the US military’s Southern Command.
As ambassador to Bolivia, Rocha was directly involved in the 2002 presidential election. Court documents allege that since 1981, Rocha made several trips to Cuba to protect the interests of Cuban officials.
Born in Colombia and raised in New York City, Rocha earned degrees from Yale, Harvard, and Georgetown before joining the Foreign Service in 1981. After retiring from the State Department, Rocha worked in business.
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