Federal prosecutors in Miami are taking their case against Victor Manuel Rocha one step further, asking a judge to erase his status as an American altogether. On Friday, the Justice Department said it had filed a civil complaint to strip Rocha of the U.S. citizenship he obtained in 1978, arguing the former ambassador lied his way into the country and hid years of covert work for Cuba. Rocha is already serving a 15-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2024 to acting as a Cuban agent.
DOJ Files Denaturalization Push in South Florida
According to a filing in the Southern District of Florida described by the U.S. Department of Justice, the government has brought seven counts aimed at voiding Rocha’s naturalization. Prosecutors say he “obtained American citizenship through lies, concealment, and betrayal,” accusing him of hiding his service to Cuban intelligence when he became a citizen.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate put it bluntly, saying, “Under no circumstances should an agent of a foreign adversary be permitted to hold the title of American citizen.” The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida went even further, calling Rocha’s conduct one of the most significant Cuban espionage infiltrations ever uncovered in the United States.
From Elite Diplomat to Convicted Spy
CBS News reports that Rocha, a native of Colombia who became a U.S. citizen in 1978, climbed to the top rungs of American diplomacy. He earned degrees from Harvard and Georgetown, joined the State Department in 1981, served on the National Security Council, and was appointed U.S. ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002.
Prosecutors say that impressive resume masked a secret, that Rocha had been working for Cuba for more than four decades. He pleaded guilty in 2024 to related charges and is now serving a 15-year sentence. Court records reviewed by CBS show the FBI’s investigation ramped up after a tip in 2022. An undercover agent then reached out to Rocha over WhatsApp with a message “from your friends in Havana,” leading to a series of meetings in Miami.
At those meetings, according to prosecutors, Rocha referred to the United States as “the enemy” and bragged about his efforts on behalf of Cuba, a far cry from the oath he took as a naturalized citizen and senior U.S. diplomat.
What The New Lawsuit Claims
The civil complaint lays out why the Justice Department says Rocha should never have been granted citizenship in the first place. In its filing, described by the U.S. Department of Justice, the government alleges that Rocha was ineligible for naturalization because he concealed material facts and gave false testimony during his naturalization exam, and that he advocated for communism, among other claims.
Prosecutors are asking a judge to revoke his citizenship on seven independent grounds. For now, though, the complaint itself notes that these remain allegations only, that they have not yet been proven in court and that there has been no determination of liability.
