US diplomat turned Cuban spy, 73, reveals he was radicalized at YALE after ... trends now
A former US ambassador who pleaded guilty to spying for Cuba says he was radicalized while studying at Yale university.
Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, was arrested in December in Miami and accused of gathering intelligence for the rogue communist state since 1981.
His activities came to light after an undercover sting operation where he detailed his clandestine activities for Havana and praised Fidel Castro.
While being sentenced on Friday to 15 years behind bars, Rocha told the court that it was his time at Yale University that radicalized him into becoming a spy.
In a statement, Rocha said: 'During my formative years in college, I was heavily influenced by the radical politics of the day.'
Victor Manuel Rocha, seen here, was arrested in December in Miami and accused of gathering intelligence for the rogue communist state since 1981
Rocha, seen here with his wife Karla, was arrested in December in Miami and accused of gathering intelligence for the rogue communist state since 1981
Karla Wittkop, wife of Rocha (left) and lawyer Jacqueline Arango (right), leaves the James L. King Federal Court in Miami, Florida, on December 4, 2023
'My deep commitment at that time to radical social change in the region led me to the eventual betrayal of my oath of loyalty to the United States during my two decades in the State Department.
'Today I no longer see the world through the radical eyes of my youth. My long and successful transition to the private sector culminated in my becoming a top international executive in the mining sector for well over a decade.
'The latter, however, cannot erase the damage done during my earlier career working for the Government.
'I take fully responsibility for that and accept the penalty I must pay. I am making significant amends through my unconditional collaboration to those I have betrayed.'
Rocha was born in Colombia and moved to New York City at the age of 10, living in Harlem with his widowed mother and two siblings.
According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, his mother worked in a sweatshop and the family got by on food stamps.
In 1965 he won a scholarship to attend The Taft School, an elite boarding school in Connecticut.
He went on to study at Yale where he graduated with honors with a degree in Latin American studies and then on to graduate work at Harvard and Georgetown.
He initially pleaded not guilty in February to charges of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, but later accepted a plea deal with federal prosecutors in March
Rocha bragged to an FBI agent posing as a Cuban intelligence officer that the U.S. was 'the enemy' and described his decades-long assignment as a 'grand slam'
Rocha served on the National Security Council from 1994 to 1995 in the administration of president Bill Clinton
Rocha joined the State Department in 1981 and rose through the ranks as a career diplomat, also serving in posts in Havana, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, the Dominican Republic and Washington.
He began aiding Havana as a covert agent of Cuba's General Directorate of Intelligence (DGI) in 1981, and his secret activities continued until his arrest.
Rocha served on
