AFPThe former top diplomat in 2001, when he was ambassador to Bolivia
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 03:49
A former US senior diplomat has confessed to passing classified information to Cuba since 1981. 73-year-old Victor Manuel Rocha worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for years in top positions in Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia, among others, where, according to prosecutors, he had access to sensitive information. With his confession, Rocha’s lawyers hope to reduce his sentence.
Rocha is said to have met with Cuban intelligence agents and provided false information to the US government, among other things. He is suspected of, among other things, conspiring against the US and working as a secret agent for another country.
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Rocha’s spy work came to light in 2022 when an FBI agent posed as an employee of the Cuban intelligence service on WhatsApp. The two met several times and, according to the American justice department, Rocha spoke freely and with pride about his secret work in those conversations.
When the undercover officer asked if Rocha was still loyal to Havana, he reportedly became angry because his loyalty was being doubted. He is also said to have repeatedly called the US “the enemy”. Rocha was charged in December and will be sentenced on April 12.
Cuba and the US have been on opposite sides since 1959, after the takeover of power on the island by communist Fidel Castro. The US has tried for decades to force Cuba to change by isolating the country internationally.
2024-03-01 02:49:42
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