Ex-US Diplomat Pleads Guilty to Spying for Communist Cuba for Decades

Prosecutors allege that he secretly worked as a covert agent for the Cuban government for more than 40 years.

Bolivian President Hugo Banzer shakes hands with Victor Manuel Rocha (R), the U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, during a ceremony in the Goverment Palace in La Paz, Bolivia, on Aug. 3, 2000. Reuters

A former career U.S. diplomat has agreed to plead guilty to charges of working for decades as a secret agent for communist Cuba, seemingly putting an end to one of the most high-profile espionage cases in the history of the U.S. foreign service.

Victor Manuel Rocha, who also formerly served as the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, was charged in December 2023 with having secretly passed information to the communist-run Cuban government since 1981 while he was working for the U.S. State Department.