Former US diplomat Víctor Manuel Rocha, who was detained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accused of spying for the Cuban regime, pleaded not guilty to these charges.
The official, who served as US ambassador to Bolivia, is accused of having provided classified information to Cuba for more than 40 years, but he still pleaded not guilty through a document that his lawyers presented before a Miami court.
Rocha, 73 years old and originally from Colombia, is being held in a detention center, and requested not to appear in court next Friday, February 16, when the arraignment was to take place. This request has not yet been approved by the judge.
The case has been in the public eye since it began, especially because of the implications it could have on relations between the United States and Cuba.
The formal hearing for the reading of the charges was continually delayed, with some analysts attributing this to a possible negotiation between Rocha and the prosecution or a possible collaboration in the investigation to reduce his sentence.
However, for this collaboration he would have to acknowledge his guilt, and the declaration of innocence eliminates this possibility.
Rocha, who was arrested in early December 2023, is accused of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government and making false statements to obtain or use a US passport.
It is important to remember that US law requires people working under the control of foreign governments to notify the Attorney General’s office, a requirement that Rocha ignored.
Likewise, it is striking that, despite pleading innocent, Rocha has decided to transfer all his real estate properties in Florida to his wife’s name. These properties are worth four million dollars, and are at risk of being confiscated if found guilty.
In that sense, the decision to put everything in the name of his wife, Karla Wittkop Rocha, makes it clear that the former diplomat considers that being found guilty in this process is a very probable risk.
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