RismadarVoice Reporters
May 9, 2026
The United States government has filed legal action seeking to revoke the citizenship of former American diplomat Victor Manuel Rocha, accusing him of fraudulently obtaining naturalisation while secretly serving as a covert agent for Cuba.
According to a complaint filed in federal court in Miami, prosecutors allege that Rocha repeatedly lied during his naturalisation process in 1977 and 1978 by denying links to the Communist Party, concealing criminal conduct, and falsely pledging allegiance to the United States.
Rocha, who was born in Colombia, was charged in December 2023 with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to defraud the United States. He later pleaded guilty in 2024.
US MOVES TO REVOKE CITIZENSHIP OF EX-DIPLOMAT CONVICTED OF SPYING FOR CUBA
Federal prosecutors say Rocha admitted in a plea agreement that he began working covertly for Cuban intelligence services in 1973, several years before he became a US citizen.
US Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones described Rocha as one of the most significant Cuban intelligence operatives uncovered in 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,” the prosecutor said in a statement.
The government argues that Rocha was never legally eligible for US citizenship because of his longstanding affiliation with Cuba’s communist government and his alleged false statements during the naturalisation process.
Prosecutors are asking the court to revoke his citizenship, cancel his naturalisation certificate, and compel him to surrender all US passports and related citizenship documents.
Rocha is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence at a federal correctional institution in Central Florida after pleading guilty to acting as an illegal foreign agent and defrauding the United States.
Court filings detail an extensive timeline of Rocha’s alleged espionage activities. Prosecutors say he was recruited while participating in a student programme in Chile in 1973 and subsequently pursued advanced academic training, including degrees from Harvard University and Georgetown University, to further his intelligence work on behalf of Cuba.
Rocha later held several high-level US government positions, including service on the National Security Council and a posting as US Ambassador to Bolivia between 2000 and 2002.
Authorities said the case against him intensified after a series of undercover meetings in 2022 and 2023 with an FBI agent posing as a Cuban intelligence representative. During the conversations, Rocha allegedly acknowledged decades of espionage activity and referred to the United States as “the enemy” while praising former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Prosecutors said Rocha described his work for Cuba as highly successful and claimed it had significantly strengthened the Cuban Revolution.
The denaturalisation case is expected to proceed separately from Rocha’s criminal conviction and prison sentence.
