The US media continues to follow the saga of 73-year old Victor Manuel Rocha, the former attache d’affaires of the US Embassy in Santo Domingo and former president of Barrick Gold now accused of spying for the Cuban government. After leaving the Dominican Republic, Rocha would serve as ambassador for the United States in Bolivia.
National Public Radio (NPR) reports on speculations Rocha could be seeking a deal with the judicial authorities.
A trial date has been set for March 2024. So far, Rocha has not requested a bail hearing and last week pleaded not guilty and requested the jury trial.
Reports are that in January 2024 he transferred four apartments he owns in Miami, Florida to his Dominican wife.
Born a Colombian, Rocha is a naturalized US and Dominican citizen. The December 2023 indictment says after Rocha was recruited by the Cuban intelligence agency and afterwards became a US citizen and then applied for work at the State Department. For the US State Department, he worked in the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Cuba and finally ended his career as ambassador to Bolivia.
He is charged with acting as an illegal foreign agent for Cuba. He needs to answer to a conspiracy charge and numerous counts of fraud.
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20 February 2024