Federal prosecutors are seeking to strip former U.S. diplomat Victor Manuel Rocha of his American citizenship, arguing he fraudulently obtained naturalization decades ago while secretly working as an agent for Cuba.
The complaint, filed in federal court in Miami, alleges Rocha lied repeatedly during his 1977 and 1978 naturalization process by denying any ties to the Communist Party, denying he had committed crimes, and swearing allegiance to the United States even as he was secretly spying for Cuba. Rocha was born in Colombia.
In December 2023, Rocha was charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and to defraud the United States.
“Victor Manuel Rocha was not a low-level operative. He was a former United States Ambassador and senior government official who admitted he secretly served the Cuban regime for decades,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in a news release Friday morning. “The Southern District of Florida helped take down one of the most prolific Cuban spies ever uncovered in the United States. This civil denaturalization case is about finishing the job. The complaint alleges that Rocha obtained American citizenship through lies, concealment, and betrayal. A person who secretly serves communist Cuba should not keep the privilege of United States citizenship, even while in prison.”
According to the filing, Rocha admitted in a 2024 plea agreement that he began serving as a covert agent for Cuba’s intelligence services in 1973 — five years before becoming a U.S. citizen. Prosecutors say he used his later positions inside the U.S. government, including at the State Department, to advance Cuba’s intelligence interests.
In 2024, Rocha pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an illegal agent of a foreign government and defrauding the United States. During his sentencing, a federal judge told Rocha he had “betrayed the United States” for more than 50 years.
The government now argues Rocha was never legally eligible for citizenship because of his affiliation with Cuba’s Communist government and because he allegedly committed perjury during the naturalization process.
Federal prosecutors are asking the court to revoke Rocha’s citizenship, cancel his certificate of naturalization, and require him to surrender all U.S. passports and other proof of citizenship. Rocha is currently serving a 15-year federal prison sentence at FCI Coleman in Central Florida.
“During the naturalization process, Rocha represented that he had never knowingly committed any crime for which he had not been arrested, had no affiliation with the Communist Party, and believed in the U.S. Constitution and the form of government of the United States,” the complaint said. “None of these were true.”
Rocha, 75, is a former U.S. Department of State employee who served on the National Security Council from 1994 to 1995 and as U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002.
The complaint reiterates an eye-opening timeline of Rocha’s work for the Cuban government.
“In 1973, five years before Rocha naturalized, he secretly began supporting the Republic of Cuba and its clandestine intelligence-gathering mission against the United States by serving as a covert agent of Cuba’s intelligence services,” the complaint details.
Rocha was attending a student program in Chile in 1973 when he was first approached by and started conspiring to spy for the Republic of Cuba, the complaint adds.
Rocha completed a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University in 1976 and a master’s degree in international relations from Georgetown University in 1978 to advance his service as a secret agent of Cuba, according to the complaint.
In November 1981, Rocha began his career with the U.S. Department of State as an International Relations Officer on the Honduras desk.
From in or around December 1982 to in or around January 1985, Rocha served as a Political Officer at the United States Embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
“I am mindful that Rocha’s decades-long criminal activity on behalf of the Cuban Government is especially painful for many in South Florida,” said former U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida the day Rocha was sentenced.
In an April 2024 press release, the U.S. Attorney’s office revealed how Rocha was caught:
In a series of meetings during 2022 and 2023, with an undercover FBI agent posing as a covert Cuban General Directorate of Intelligence representative, Rocha made repeated statements admitting his “decades” of work for Cuba, spanning “40 years.”
When the undercover agent told Rocha he was “a covert representative here in Miami” whose mission was “to contact you, introduce myself as your new contact, and establish a new communication plan,” Rocha answered “Yes,” and proceeded to engage in lengthy conversations during which he described and celebrated his activity as a Cuban intelligence agent.
Throughout the meetings, Rocha behaved as a Cuban agent, consistently referring to the United States as “the enemy,” and using the term “we” to describe himself and Cuba.
Rocha additionally praised Fidel Castro as the “Comandante,” and referred to his contacts in Cuban intelligence as his “Compañeros” (comrades) and to the Cuban intelligence services as the “Dirección.” Rocha described his work as a Cuban agent as “enormous … More than a grand slam,” and asserted that what he did “strengthened the Revolution … immensely.”
