THE GREATEST SPY
Former US ambassador pleads not guilty to spying for Cuba
Victor Manuel Rocha also waived his right to attend an arraignment scheduled for Friday in a federal court in Miami, Florida, the documents showed.
Rocha, a naturalized US citizen originally from Colombia, allegedly began aiding Havana as a covert agent of Cuba’s General Directorate of Intelligence (DGI) in 1981, and his espionage activities continued until his arrest, authorities said when the charges were announced in December.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland at the time called it “one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent.”
He said Rocha had “repeatedly referred to the United States as ‘the enemy'” and “repeatedly bragged about the significance of his efforts.”
Rocha joined the State Department in 1981 and rose through the ranks as a career officer, also serving in posts in Havana, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, the Dominican Republic and Washington.
The charges against him include: conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government; acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior government consent; and using a US passport obtained by making false statements.
Other Americans have also been arrested for leaking secrets to Havana, including Walter and Gwendolyn Myers, who were indicted in 2009 on charges of spying for Cuba for nearly 30 years.
The New York Times reported that Rocha had broken down in tears in an initial court hearing in December.
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