MIAMI.- A vigil was held Tuesday morning in front of the federal court building in Miami to demand the maximum possible sentence against Víctor Manuel Rocha, the arrested former United States ambassador whose legal defense announced that he would plead guilty to espionage in favor of Cuba for four decades.
With banners and photographs of the person involved in which the phrase “maximum condemnation” and terms such as “traitor” stood out, in addition to Cuban and American flags, a group of exiles Cubans carried out the peaceful demonstration waiting to attract the attention of Judge Beth Bloom, who must hand down a sentence in a hearing scheduled for Friday the 12th.
Why do they ask for a maximum sentence?
Former Cuban political prisoner Luis Zúñiga, member of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance (ARC), the organization that called the vigil, told DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS that “our intention is to let the judge know that this man, a traitor, spy communist of Cuba, is guilty of the death of four Cuban-Americans.”
The case referred to by someone who was in Castro prisons for 19 years is related to the downing of two small planes belonging to the humanitarian organization Brothers to the Rescue, which occurred in international waters in February 1996, by order of the Cuban regime. Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales died in that tragic episode.
Sylvia Iriondo, director of the ARC and president of MAR for Cuba, added that “on the day of that horrendous crime perpetrated by the regime, this man was in Havana and the United States did not take any action because Mr. Rocha could have appeased, in some way, a forceful response to this crime against humanity.”
Who is Rocha?
Rocha, whose career in the US diplomatic service included assignments in various embassies between 1981 and 2002, was arrested after revealing his double life to an undercover FBI agent.
This agent, who Rocha mistakenly believed to be a Cuban liaison, recorded conversations in which Rocha referred to the United States as “the enemy” and revealed his intention to “strengthen the Cuban revolution,” thus showing his true loyalty to the Castro dictatorship.
Additionally, Rocha praised the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, calling him “commander.” He also boasted of his more than 40-year service as a “Cuban mole” at the “heart of American foreign policy circles,” according to complaint documents against him.
Prosecutors in the case allege that Rocha engaged in “clandestine activities” on behalf of Cuba since at least 1981, the year he joined the U.S. Foreign Service, including meeting with Cuban intelligence agents and providing false information to U.S. government officials. about your contacts.
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“Victims”
Former Cuban political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez ‘Antúnez’, another of the participants in this Tuesday’s vigil, pointed out that “we are not talking about just anyone, we are talking about someone who attacked the security of this generous country.”
“There are many of us Cuban opponents who suffered the repression of the regime while this man worked as a supposed diplomat for the United States, really spying for Cuba,” added ‘Antúnez’, who was imprisoned for 17 years.
The Rocha case
Rocha faces 15 charges in court for six crimes, which could carry a maximum sentence of 60 years. Since his arrest last December in Miami, he has been deprived of liberty under the orders of the US federal justice system.
In February, Rocha, 73, told a judge he would admit to federal charges of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government. He said prosecutors agreed to a sentence, but the length of the sentence was not disclosed at the time.
The peaceful protest in front of the Wilke D. Ferguson building where the federal court in Miami is located reflects the deep “betrayal” perceived by the Cuban emigrated community, given the scope and duration of Rocha’s alleged espionage activities.
The exile community sees Rocha’s conviction as an essential act of justice and a strong message against espionage.
