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Austin, TX — House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Chairman Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on charges against former U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, Manuel Rocha, which allege that Rocha acted as an agent of the Cuban regime for decades. In the letter, the Members underscore the seriousness of the Cuban regime’s infiltration of the highest levels of the United States government.

“It is essential to determine the full extent of the damage caused by Rocha’s activities, identify any potential collaborators or enablers, remove from diplomatic, intelligence, and policy-making databases his contributions in regard to Cuba and its allies, and assess the impact on American interests—particularly in the realms of foreign affairs, national security, and intelligence,” wrote the members. “His arrest, charges, and potential conviction must serve as a reminder that the Cuban regime remains an active threat to our interests at home and abroad.”

The full text of the letter can be found here and below. 

Secretary Blinken,

As you know, on December 4 of this year, the Department of Justice charged former U.S. Ambassador Manuel Rocha with secretly acting as an agent of the Cuban regime. Rocha’s alleged actions, if proven, would represent a serious breach of national security and raise grave questions about the effectiveness of counterintelligence measures to prevent the Cuban regime’s infiltration of the highest levels of the United States government.

The gravity of this situation cannot be understated. As described in the indictment, for over forty years, Rocha allegedly colluded with the Cuban dictatorship to the detriment of our interests throughout the world. Specifically, he is accused of acting on Cuba’s behalf while holding several critical positions in the United States government, including his time serving in the National Security Council, the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, as the Ambassador to Bolivia, and as an advisor to the Commander of U.S. Southern Command after leaving the Department of State. Rocha’s colleague Phillip Linderman, who was posted with him at USINT/Havana, noted his alarming realization in “Manuel Rocha: Fanatic, Spy – And My Colleague,” which appeared in The American Conservative on December 11, 2023, that, “During his posting in Havana and in other assignments abroad, Rocha likely double-crossed numerous anti-Castro Cubans, particularly democratic and human-rights activists who put their trust in American hands. That was the very real human cost of Rocha’s treachery.” Attorney General Merrick Garland described Rocha’s breach as “one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent.”

It is essential to determine the full extent of the damage caused by Rocha’s activities, identify any potential collaborators or enablers, remove from diplomatic, intelligence, and policy-making databases his contributions in regard to Cuba and its allies, and assess the impact on American interests—particularly in the realms of foreign affairs, national security, and intelligence. His arrest, charges, and potential conviction must serve as a reminder that the Cuban regime remains an active threat to our interests at home and abroad. We hope that you will take into account this historic betrayal and end current efforts for closer ties with the tyrants in Havana. Rocha is just the latest in a long line of damaging Cuban spies, including Ana Belen Montes (DIA, convicted), Walter and Gwendolyn Myers (State Department, convicted), Marta Rita Velazquez (USAID, indicted and fled the U.S.), the 5 convicted members of the WASP Network (convicted), and Carlos and Elsa Alvarez (Florida International University professors, convicted).

More immediately, as you conduct assessments of Rocha’s impact, we urge the administration to ensure transparency throughout the process. Congress and the public deserve to know that measures are being taken to address this breach and prevent similar incidents in the future. Within all applicable rules and regulations, we expect your Department to address this matter decisively and take the necessary steps to safeguard our nation from similar threats.

As always, we remain ready to support the Department in prioritizing the resources needed to conduct these important investigations and undertake the necessary counterintelligence measures to prevent future infiltrations by Cuban agents in the U.S. government.

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