Former career US diplomat charged with secretly spying for Cuba for decades

Manuel Rocha when he was US ambassador to Bolivia (State Department via AP)

A former career American diplomat has been charged with serving as a secret agent for communist Cuba going back decades in what prosecutors portrayed as one of the most brazen and long-running betrayals in the history of the US foreign service.

Court papers alleged that Manuel Rocha engaged in “clandestine activity” on Cuba’s behalf since at least 1981, including by meeting with Cuban intelligence operatives and providing false information to US government officials about his travels and contacts.