Who’s Victor Manuel Rocha, former US diplomat who will lose US citizenship over spying for Cuba?
Because the Donald Trump administration cracks the whip on people who fraudulently obtained US citizenship and printed a listing of 12 such individuals beneath fireplace, one identify stands out conspicuously. He’s Victor Manuel Rocha, who was a former US ambassador to Bolivia. He was arrested in 2023 and admitted to having acted as a undercover agent of Cuba for 40 years.A local of Colombia, Rocha grew up in New York Metropolis, graduated from Yale, studied masters in Harvard and have become a US citizen in 1978. Three years later, Rocha started working for the US State Division in 1981. His first posting was as a political officer within the US embassy in Dominican Republic, then Honduras, then he served as First Secretary of the US Embassy in Mexico Metropolis.In 2000, President Invoice Clinton appointed Rocha because the US ambassador to Bolivia.The Division of Justice, in its denaturalization criticism, stated Rocha lied in his citizenship course of as he was already working as an agent since 1973.“By no means ought to an agent of a international adversary be permitted to carry the title of American citizen,” stated Assistant Legal professional Common Brett Shumate. “Our mission is evident: to root out these fraudsters and protect the sanctity of the naturalization course of for individuals who adhere to our legal guidelines. Any particular person who lied through the naturalization course of to realize a foothold on this nation might be met with the total weight of the Division of Justice.”“Victor Manuel Rocha was not a low-level operative. He was a former United States Ambassador and senior authorities official who admitted he secretly served the Cuban regime for many years,” stated US Legal professional Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The Southern District of Florida helped take down one of the prolific Cuban spies ever uncovered in the USA. This civil denaturalization case is about ending the job. The criticism alleges that Rocha obtained American citizenship by way of lies, concealment, and betrayal. An individual who secretly serves communist Cuba shouldn’t hold the privilege of United States citizenship, even whereas in jail.”
Unregistered agent of Cuba
Rocha was serving as an unregistered agent for the Republic of Cuba. When he utilized for naturalization, Rocha represented beneath penalty of perjury that he had not dedicated crimes for which he had not been arrested; he was not affiliated with the Communist Celebration of Cuba; he had not advocated, believed in, or knowingly supported and furthered the pursuits of Communism; and he believed within the US Structure and the type of authorities of the US None of those had been true.The DoJ stated Rocha was not certified for naturalization for a number of causes, together with that he dedicated illegal acts, gave false testimony throughout his naturalization examination, was not connected to the rules of the US Structure and never well-disposed to the great order and happiness of the US, was affiliated with the Communist Celebration of Cuba, and advocated for communism. The US can even search the revocation of his naturalization as a result of he procured his citizenship by concealing materials information or willful misrepresenting a number of information in naturalization proceedings associated to spying for Cuba, it stated.
