Washington [US], December 4: AP reported that a former US ambassador was arrested in an FBI counterintelligence investigation accused of acting as a representative of a foreign government.
According to AP on December 4, former US ambassador to Bolivia, Mr. Manuel Rocha (73 years old) was arrested in Miami city (Florida state, USA) on December 1 in a criminal case and detailed information is expected to be announced. in court on December 4.
Sources revealed that the US Department of Justice accused Mr. Rocha of taking actions to promote the interests of the Cuban government. US federal law requires political campaigners for foreign governments or entities in the US to register with the Department of Justice as foreign representatives . This agency in recent years has strengthened the enforcement of criminal sanctions against illegal campaigning for foreign countries.
The US Department of Justice declined to comment. Mr. Rocha's wife hung up when contacted by AP. The reaction of the Cuban side is unclear.
Mr. Manuel Rocha was born in Colombia and grew up in New York (USA). He studied for a bachelor's degree at Yale University, a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University and a master's degree in international relations from Georgetown University. He has been involved in diplomatic work since 1981.
Most of Mr. Rocha's diplomatic career was in Latin America. He was the head of the US diplomatic mission in Argentina from 1997-2000, then served as ambassador to Bolivia until 2002. Mr. Rocha worked in the administrations of both Democratic and Republican presidents.
At one time, he served at the American Interests in Cuba Section of the Swiss embassy in Havana. At that time, the United States had not yet established full diplomatic relations with Cuba.
After retiring, Mr. Rocha did business and was president of a gold mine in the Dominican Republic. Recently, the former US ambassador held senior positions at XCoal - a Pennsylvania coal exporter, a cannabis industry merger support company, a law firm and a public relations firm.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper
