By Francisco Acevedo
HAVANA TIMES – The 15-year prison sentence for charges related to spying for Cuba over 40 years by former US diplomat Victor Manuel Rocha made headlines around the world in recent days, but on this island, it seems like nobody has heard about it.
Neither the ineffable Con Filo program, nor the National Television News, nor the Granma newspaper, nor Humberto in his abominable Hagamos Cuba, nobody seems to know about the news, so let’s remind them.
A federal court in Miami sentenced Rocha after the 73-year-old former ambassador pleaded guilty during a hearing held by Judge Beth Bloom.
According to the summary, he was accused of “acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government (Cuba)” and also of “conspiracy” in the same crime and “defrauding the United States.”
Of Colombian origin, Rocha was arrested in Miami last December on minor charges, but what followed was a real bomb when everything started rolling downhill like a snowball that kept getting bigger. In fact, in February, he agreed to change his plea to guilty in exchange for prosecutors dropping 13 charges against him, including electronic fraud and making false statements.
Before the court, the former official acknowledged betraying his oath of allegiance to the United States and apologized for the pain caused to his family, colleagues, and close friends.
During his 25 years in the diplomatic service, he served in Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Bolivia, Cuba, Argentina, and Mexico, and after retiring from the State Department, he continued in private business.
According to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, this case
