The former US ambassador was convicted of espionage for Cuba

according to the report of the International Group Tasnim News Agency, Victor Manuel Rocha former American diplomat accused of spying for Cuba for For decades, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

According to this report, Rocha, who was the US ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002, is guilty of illegal agency for Cuba. Known. He was previously accused in December last year in the primary court.

At the same time two knowledgeable sources who asked not to be named In a conversation with the Associated Press, Mr. Rocha, 73, was arrested in Miami during a criminal complaint and after a long FBI counter-espionage investigation.

One ​​of these sources added: The Ministry of Justice has accused Mr. Rocha of taking measures to improve the interests of the Cuban government. Meanwhile, according to federal laws, people who want to act as an agent of a foreign country in the United States must register their name with the Ministry of Justice.

The 73-year-old diplomat secretly supported the ruling Communist Party of Cuba and participated in the gathering of information by Cuba against Washington for more than 4 decades, including during his 20 years of service in the State Department.

Rocha in court for spying for Cuba admitted to using his ability to remain anonymous in a series of meetings in 2022 and 2023 with an undercover FBI agent posing as an agent of Cuba’s foreign intelligence service.

Meanwhile, US officials have stated that they may never know the full nature of Rocha’s cooperation with the Havana government. Don’t find out.

US prosecutors believe that Rocha sought a position to access sensitive information and influence US foreign policy. has been.

The documents released by the court show that Mr. Rocha was in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1981 and 2002 He worked in America and was a member of the White House National Security Council from 1994 to 1995.

Also, this veteran American diplomat has 25 years of political experience in the American Republican and Democratic governments. The most His career in Latin American countries was during the Cold War. One of his diplomatic careers was working in the U.S. government’s interests in Cuba at a time when the United States had full diplomatic relations with the then communist Cuban government led by Fidel Castro. He was also the senior US diplomat in Argentina from 1997 to 2000.

In addition, Mr. Rocha, as the American ambassador to Bolivia, in 2002, directly participated in the elections. The presidency of this country intervened and warned that if Evo Morales is elected as president, the United States will cut off its aid to this poor South American country.

He also served in Italy, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic and was a Latin American expert for The US National Security Council has worked.

This is not the first time that the current and former US officials have been arrested or charged with the involvement of foreign countries. Earlier A court in New York found a former police officer of this city guilty because he was an illegal Chinese agent on American soil.

Brooklyn federal prosecutors announced that Michael McMahon He was illegally hired by the Chinese government to monitor and pressure a Chinese citizen living in New Jersey named “Shu Jin” by his country’s government in line with the global repatriation campaign, in the form of “Operation Foxhunt”. He has been accused of corruption and Beijing is seeking to return him to China.

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