{"id":297409,"date":"2024-03-01T09:54:07","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T14:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=297409"},"modified":"2024-03-01T09:54:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T14:54:07","slug":"former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/","title":{"rendered":"Former U.S. ambassador to plead guilty to charges of espionage for Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former U.S. ambassador V\u00edctor Manuel Rocha, arrested last December and accused of several criminal charges related to fraud and espionage for Cuba for 40 years, announced this Thursday in a <\/span>Miami<\/b><\/a>\u00a0court that he will plead guilty, the <\/span>Miami Herald<\/span><\/i> reported<\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rocha, 73, said he will admit guilt to the federal charges against him of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government.<\/span><\/p>\n

The former diplomat of Colombian origin was the U.S. ambassador to several Latin American countries and is accused of \u201ccommitting multiple federal crimes by secretly acting for decades as an agent of the government of the Republic of Cuba,\u201d according to the U.S. government\u2019s indictment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rocha had pleaded not guilty on February 14 to the charges of which he was accused.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked by District Judge Beth Bloom if he wanted to change his previous plea of not guilty, Rocha said, \u201cI agree.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His next court appearance is set for April 12.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rocha faces a total of 15 charges for 6 crimes, which together would carry a maximum prison sentence of 60 years if he is convicted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the charges is one for \u201cacting as an illegal agent of a foreign government (Cuba)\u201d and another for conspiracy to commit the same crime and \u201cdefrauding the United States.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He also has five counts of wire fraud, three for \u201cmaking a false statement in a passport application,\u201d four for \u201cuse of a passport obtained by a false statement\u201d and one for \u201cfalse statements and representations,\u201d according to the court document.<\/span><\/p>\n

The former ambassador is accused of committing multiple federal crimes by acting secretly for about forty years as an \u201cagent of the government of the Republic of Cuba,\u201d according to the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rocha was arrested in Miami on December 1 after confessing his activities to an FBI agent posing as another Cuban spy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Between 1981 and 2002, Rocha was an employee of the U.S. Department of State and held various positions in the U.S. embassies in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the indictment, between 2022 and 2023 there were three meetings between Rocha and an FBI special agent who pretended to be \u201cMiguel,\u201d a representative of the Cuban General Department of Intelligence.<\/span><\/p>\n

In those meetings, which were recorded and held in Spanish, the former diplomat constantly referred to the United States as \u201cthe enemy\u201d and confessed that his greatest concern when he worked for the State Department was \u201cstrengthening the Cuban Revolution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rocha faces a total of 15 charges for 6 crimes, which together would carry a maximum prison sentence of 60 years if he is convicted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3134,"featured_media":297412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13944],"tags":[14891,34878],"ppma_author":[17270],"class_list":["post-297409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cuba-usa","tag-cuba-usa-relations","tag-victor-rocha"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFormer U.S. ambassador to plead guilty to charges of espionage for Cuba | OnCubaNews English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rocha faces a total of 15 charges for 6 crimes, which together would carry a maximum prison sentence of 60 years if he is convicted.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former U.S. ambassador to plead guilty to charges of espionage for Cuba | OnCubaNews English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rocha faces a total of 15 charges for 6 crimes, which together would carry a maximum prison sentence of 60 years if he is convicted.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OnCubaNews English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-01T14:54:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Rocha-Herald.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1141\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"815\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"EFE\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"OnCuba Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"OnCuba Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d7171bf311032ab1f557dd8332e714af\"},\"headline\":\"Former U.S. ambassador to plead guilty to charges of espionage for Cuba\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-01T14:54:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":418,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/Rocha-Herald.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Cuba-USA Relations\",\"V\u00edctor Rocha\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cuba-USA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2024\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/\",\"name\":\"Former U.S. ambassador to plead guilty to charges of espionage for Cuba | OnCubaNews English\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/Rocha-Herald.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-01T14:54:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d7171bf311032ab1f557dd8332e714af\"},\"description\":\"Rocha faces a total of 15 charges for 6 crimes, which together would carry a maximum prison sentence of 60 years if he is convicted.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/Rocha-Herald.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/Rocha-Herald.jpg\",\"width\":1141,\"height\":815,\"caption\":\"Former U.S. ambassador Manuel Rocha, accused of espionage for the Cuban government. Photo: El Nuevo Herald\\\/Archive.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/cuba-usa\\\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Portada\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Former U.S. ambassador to plead guilty to charges of espionage for Cuba\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"OnCubaNews English\",\"description\":\"Revista sobre Cuba\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d7171bf311032ab1f557dd8332e714af\",\"name\":\"OnCuba Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4b4c4d6109baadde898bb1af22ea4a4af5f4417b86a5d1800bf17531bfb128fc?s=96&r=g17310096d4dde63ebae0e54fbb19218a\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4b4c4d6109baadde898bb1af22ea4a4af5f4417b86a5d1800bf17531bfb128fc?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4b4c4d6109baadde898bb1af22ea4a4af5f4417b86a5d1800bf17531bfb128fc?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"OnCuba Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/oncubanews.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/oncuba-editorial-staff\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former U.S. ambassador to plead guilty to charges of espionage for Cuba | OnCubaNews English","description":"Rocha faces a total of 15 charges for 6 crimes, which together would carry a maximum prison sentence of 60 years if he is convicted.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former U.S. ambassador to plead guilty to charges of espionage for Cuba | OnCubaNews English","og_description":"Rocha faces a total of 15 charges for 6 crimes, which together would carry a maximum prison sentence of 60 years if he is convicted.","og_url":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/","og_site_name":"OnCubaNews English","article_published_time":"2024-03-01T14:54:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1141,"height":815,"url":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Rocha-Herald.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"EFE","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"OnCuba Staff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/"},"author":{"name":"OnCuba Staff","@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d7171bf311032ab1f557dd8332e714af"},"headline":"Former U.S. ambassador to plead guilty to charges of espionage for Cuba","datePublished":"2024-03-01T14:54:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/"},"wordCount":418,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Rocha-Herald.jpg","keywords":["Cuba-USA Relations","V\u00edctor Rocha"],"articleSection":["Cuba-USA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2024","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/","url":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/","name":"Former U.S. ambassador to plead guilty to charges of espionage for Cuba | OnCubaNews English","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Rocha-Herald.jpg","datePublished":"2024-03-01T14:54:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d7171bf311032ab1f557dd8332e714af"},"description":"Rocha faces a total of 15 charges for 6 crimes, which together would carry a maximum prison sentence of 60 years if he is convicted.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Rocha-Herald.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Rocha-Herald.jpg","width":1141,"height":815,"caption":"Former U.S. ambassador Manuel Rocha, accused of espionage for the Cuban government. Photo: El Nuevo Herald\/Archive."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba-usa\/former-u-s-ambassador-to-plead-guilty-to-charges-of-espionage-for-cuba\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Portada","item":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Former U.S. ambassador to plead guilty to charges of espionage for Cuba"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/","name":"OnCubaNews English","description":"Revista sobre Cuba","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d7171bf311032ab1f557dd8332e714af","name":"OnCuba Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b4c4d6109baadde898bb1af22ea4a4af5f4417b86a5d1800bf17531bfb128fc?s=96&r=g17310096d4dde63ebae0e54fbb19218a","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b4c4d6109baadde898bb1af22ea4a4af5f4417b86a5d1800bf17531bfb128fc?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4b4c4d6109baadde898bb1af22ea4a4af5f4417b86a5d1800bf17531bfb128fc?s=96&r=g","caption":"OnCuba Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/author\/oncuba-editorial-staff\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":17270,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"cap-efe","display_name":"EFE","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297409"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":297413,"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297409\/revisions\/297413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297409"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=297409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}