The former American ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha73 years old, pleaded “not guilty” a few hours before the formal reading of charges against him for allegedly spy for the Cuban regime for four decades.
Rocha, who was US ambassador to several Latin American countries, is being accused by the US government of committing “multiple federal crimes by secretly acting for decades as an agent of the government of the Republic of Cuba“.
The formal reading of the charges will take place on Friday and the former diplomat, of Colombian origin and a US citizen since 1978, requested not to appear at the hearing, expressing his understanding of the nature of the crime and his right to appear in that instance.
“I fully understand the nature of the crime with which I am charged and the right to appear at the arraignment. As evidenced by my signature below, I hereby waive formal prosecution and I plead NOT GUILTY to the accusation“Rocha said in a document presented on Wednesday to which the news agency had access. EFE.
The former ambassador faces a total of 15 criminal charges for six crimeswhich could result in a maximum prison sentence of 60 years if convicted.
The charges include act as an illegal agent of a foreign government (Cuba), conspiracy to commit the same crime, electronic fraud, false statements in a passport application, use of a passport obtained through a false declarationy statements y false representations.
Rocha was arrested in Miami on December 1, 2023after confessing his activities to an FBI agent who posed as a Cuban spy.
According to the indictment, between 2022 and 2023, the former diplomat had three recorded meetings with an FBI special agent who posed as a representative of Cuba’s General Directorate of Intelligence, during which he constantly referred to the United States as “the enemy.” ” and admitted that his goal during his time in the State Department was to “strengthen the Cuban Revolution.”
This Friday’s hearing will formally present the charges to Rocha, who between 1981 and 2002 was an employee of the US State Department and held various positions in the embassies in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia.
This Thursday the AP agency reported that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) received the first information in 2006 that Rocha was spying for Havana, but was skeptical and finally ignored the accusations.
He points out that in 2006 a lieutenant colonel who had deserted the Cuban Army showed up at the Miami home of former CIA agent Félix Rodríguez and told him that Rocha I was spying for Fidel Castro.
However, Rodríguez, who participated in the Bay of Pigs invasion (1961) and the execution of Ernesto “Che” Guevara (1967), believed at the time that the information about Rocha was an attempt to discredit a fellow crusader. anti-communist who was also already recognized and respected in Miami.
However, he relayed the defector’s message to the CIA, which was also skeptical. “No one believed him. We all thought it was defamation,” Rodríguez lamented in statements to the AP.
On Tuesday, it emerged that Rocha transferred four luxury properties to his wife Karla Wittkop Rocha on February 8 worth more than $4 million dollars, while he is awaiting the start of his trial in a federal prison in Miami-Dade County.
