The Justice Department is seeking to revoke the citizenship of a former U.S. ambassador accused of secretly working as a Cuban spy for decades.
Federal prosecutors filed a civil complaint on Thursday in Miami against Victor Rocha, a Colombian-born former diplomat who pleaded guilty in 2023 to acting as an illegal agent for Cuba. Rocha served as the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia from 1997 to 2000.
In December 2023, Rocha was charged with conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, defrauding the United States, and passport fraud. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government and is serving a 15-year prison sentence.
According to the complaint, Rocha lied throughout the naturalization process in the late 1970s by concealing his ties to Cuba’s Communist Party and falsely affirming allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.
The Justice Department argued Rocha was never eligible for citizenship because he allegedly engaged in unlawful acts, provided false testimony during his naturalization interviews, maintained affiliations with Cuba’s Communist Party, and promoted communist ideology.
“Under no circumstances should an agent of a foreign adversary be permitted to hold the title of American citizen,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said in a statement, adding that the department is committed to removing citizenship from people who obtained it through fraud or deception.
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Federal prosecutors also emphasized Rocha’s high-ranking status within the U.S. government, noting he served as both an ambassador and senior national security official while allegedly operating on behalf of the Cuban government.
U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quinones described Rocha as “one of the most prolific Cuban spies ever uncovered in the United States” and said the denaturalization effort is intended to complete the government’s case against him. Prosecutors allege Rocha secured American citizenship through “lies, concealment, and betrayal” and argued that someone who secretly served communist Cuba should not retain the privileges of U.S. citizenship, even while incarcerated.