Former US ambassador to Bolivia busted as Cuban agent

A former US Ambassador to Bolivia, Manuel Rocha, 73, was the target of a long term investigation by the FBI and as such has been accused of being an agent of Cuba. [H/T Associated Press]

Rocha was arrested in Miami on Friday on a criminal complaint and is expected to make a court appearance today, Monday, as told to the AP by two people on conditions of anonymity, which sucks but can be verified if there happens to be a court appearance. 

One of the people said the Justice Department case accuses Rocha of working to promote the Cuban government’s interests.

Federal law requires people, such as Hunter Biden and Bob Menendez, for example. who does the political bidding of a foreign government or entity inside the US to register with the Justice Department, which in recent years has stepped up its criminal enforcement of illicit foreign lobbying.

The Justice Department declined to comment. It was not immediately clear if Rocha had a lawyer and a law firm where he previously worked said it was not representing him.

Rocha’s 25-year diplomatic career was spent under both Democratic and Republican administrations, much of it in Latin America during the Cold War when the Castros were in power.

Rocha was born in Colombia, Rocha, raised in a working-class home in New York City and went on to obtain a succession of liberal arts degrees from Yale, Harvard and Georgetown before joining the foreign service in 1981.

He was the top US diplomat in Argentina between 1997 and 2000 at a time when a decade-long currency stabilization program backed by Washington was unraveling under the weight of huge foreign debt and stagnant growth. This triggered a political crisis that would have Argentina cycle through five presidents in two weeks.

Anyway, both Hunter Biden and Bob Menendez likely believe Rocha should not be charged with being an agent for Cuba, for some reason.

Tweet