Miami/Former US ambassador Víctor Manuel Rocha was sentenced this Friday in a federal court in Miami to 15 years in prison on charges related to espionage for Cuba for 40 years after pleading guilty during a hearing held by Judge Beth Bloom.
Rocha, 73, who was the US ambassador to several Latin American countries, was accused of one count of “acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government (Cuba)” and another of conspiracy to commit the same crime and “defraud the United States.”
In a hearing of about four hours, during which a dozen exile protesters crowded into the court to ask for a maximum sentence, Judge Bloom determined the sentence of 15 years and half a million dollars in fines.
“While he held several high positions in the United States Government, (Rocha) secretly acted as an agent of the Cuban Government. This is an astonishing betrayal of the American people,” prosecutor David Newman said at the end of the hearing at a press conference. .
“While he held several high positions in the United States Government, Rocha secretly acted as an agent of the Cuban Government”
During today’s session, the judge received petitions from exile, among them that of the widow and daughter of the deceased Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Payá.
Both expressed this Friday in a letter to the judge their concern about the terms of the plea agreement between Rocha and the US Government, which was amended during the hearing.
Ofelia Acevedo Maura and Rosa María Payá Acevedo, widow and daughter, respectively, said they were “deeply concerned” by a guilty plea that “sets a dangerous precedent in cases of this magnitude” because it “eliminates the discretion” of the court to “address the full extent of the harm caused” by the defendant.
“As victims of harsh injustices of the Cuban dictatorship,” we feel “deeply concerned” by the possibility that the US Government “is trying to eliminate the discretion” of the judge when handing down the sentence against Rocha, they added. in the letter.
The former diplomat, of Colombian origin and who was arrested in Miami last December, was also accused of a dozen more charges related to fraud and falsification of documents.
During today’s session, the judge received petitions from exile, among them that of the widow and daughter of the deceased Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Payá
After his arrest, Attorney General Merrick Garland explained that the accused, who was former ambassador to Bolivia between 2000 and 2002, obtained positions of responsibility within the federal government that provided him “access to unpublished information,” which is why he had the ability to “affect” American foreign policy, without giving more details about it.
Rocha held a series of positions between 1981 and 2022 at the State Department. Among them, he was director of Inter-American Affairs within the National Security Council and principal deputy director of the United States diplomatic representation in Havana.
The federal complaint alleged that Rocha admitted to working for Cuba in a series of meetings between 2022 and 2023 with an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent who posed as a representative of the Cuban General Directorate of Intelligence.
In these meetings, the former diplomat acted as a Cuban agent, referring to the United States as “the enemy” and using the term “we” to refer to both himself and Cuba, even going so far as to praise Fidel Castro, whom he calls “Commander”.
