Manuel Rocha: Former US ambassador arrested over accusations of secretly serving as agent for Cuba
MIAMI, FLORIDA: Manuel Rocha, a former American diplomat who served as US ambassador to Bolivia, has been arrested over accusations of secretly serving as an agent of Cuba’s government.
The 73-year-old diplomat was arrested in Miami, Florida, on Friday, December 1, 2023, after being caught up in a long-running federal espionage investigation, reported two people who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
More details of the allegations against him will be outlined when he appears in court on Monday. One of the people mentioned that the Justice Department case accuses Rocha of working to promote the Cuban government’s interests.
Federal law mandates that anybody operating within the United States on behalf of a foreign government or entity must register with the Justice Department, which has increased the criminal prosecution of illegal foreign lobbying in recent years.
The Justice Department is yet to comment on Rocha’s arrest. It was not immediately clear if the diplomat had a lawyer as a law firm where he previously worked said it was not representing him.
When the AP contacted Rocha's wife, Karla Wittkop Rocha, she declined to comment. She said, "I don't need to talk to you," and hung up.
Manuel Rocha’s 25 years long career
Before his shocking arrest, Rocha served under both Democratic and Republican administrations during his 25-year diplomatic career.
He spent most of his career in Latin America during the Cold War, where he worked at the US Interests Section in Cuba, as per the Daily Mail.
From 1997 until 2000, he served as the chief US diplomat in Argentina, at which time Washington-backed currency stabilization efforts were coming undone by massive foreign debt and slow economic development.
As Bolivia's ambassador, he meddled personally in the 2002 presidential contest, announcing weeks in advance that the US would cut off assistance to the poor South American country if it were to elect former coca grower Evo Morales.
“I want to remind the Bolivian electorate that if they vote for those who want Bolivia to return to exporting cocaine, that will seriously jeopardize any future aid to Bolivia from the United States,″ Rocha said in a speech that was widely interpreted as an attempt to sustain US dominance in the region.
Additionally, he worked as a Latin America expert for the National Security Council and was stationed in Italy, Honduras, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.
Rocha, who was born in Colombia and grew up in a working-class family in New York City, attended Yale, Harvard, and Georgetown to earn a string of liberal arts degrees before enlisting in the foreign service in 1981.
Rocha started a second career in business after leaving the State Department. He has held top positions at the following companies -- Spanish public relations firms Llorente & Cuenca, law firm Foley & Lardner, Clover Leaf Capital, a corporation designed to enable cannabis sector mergers, and XCoal, a coal exporter based in Pennsylvania.