(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) A former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia who was recently sentenced to 15 years in federal prison admitted that he became a spy for communist Cuba because he was politically radicalized when he was getting his education in American colleges and universities.
Victor Manuel Rocha, who has been arrested and convicted as a spy for the Cuban government, recently said that his education at American universities made him a far-left radical.
In a statement to a federal judge on Apr. 12, 2024, 73-year-old Rocha wrote that during his “formative years in college,” he was “heavily influenced by the radical politics of the day.”
“My deep commitment at that time to radical social change in the region led me to the eventual betrayal of my oath of loyalty to the United States during my two decades in the State Department,” Rocha wrote.
Rocha received his B.A. from Yale University in 1973. He also received two master’s degrees: from Harvard University in 1976 and Georgetown University in 1978.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Apr. 12, 2024, for his acts of espionage against the United States on behalf of communist Cuba.
According to Campus Reform, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom, who sentenced Rocha, referred to him as an “enemy” of the United States and fined him $500,000.
“This action exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent. We allege that for over 40 years, Victor Manuel Rocha served as an agent of the Cuban government and sought out and obtained positions within the United States government that would provide him with access to non-public information and the ability to affect U.S. foreign policy,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said.
Rocha “consistently [referred] to the United States as ‘the enemy,’ and [used] the term ‘we’ to describe himself and Cuba,” the Justice Department said.
From 2000 to 2002, Rocha served as ambassador to Bolivia under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Additionally, from 1991 to 1994, he served as the Director for Inter-American Affairs for the National Security Council.
