Manuel Rocha

Victor Manuel Rocha (born October 23, 1950) is a former American diplomat and the former United States Ambassador to Bolivia.

In December 2023, Rocha was charged with acting as an illegal agent of Cuba.

Rocha was born on October 23, 1950, in Bogotá, Colombia, and grew up in the Morningside Heights housing projects in Harlem, New York City.

He graduated from the Taft School in 1969, where he was captain of the soccer team, and graduated from Yale University cum laude in 1973.

He received a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University in 1976 and a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1978.

He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1978.

In November 1981, Rocha began working for the US Department of State, serving as a Political Officer in the US Embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from December 1982 to January 1985.

According to the criminal complaint filed against Rocha in the District Court for Southern Florida, he has admitted to gathering intelligence for Cuba since 1981, despite the federal government's classification of the Cuban government as a sponsor of international terrorism.

From February 1987 to February 1989, he worked as a Political-Military Affairs Officer in the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Rocha next served as First Secretary of the US Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico from February 1989 to November 1991.

From November 1991 to July 1994, Rocha served as Deputy Chief of the US Embassy in Santo Domingo.

From July 1994 to July 1995, he worked as the Director of Inter-American Affairs on the US National Security Council, influencing diplomacy with the Cuban government.

Between 1995 and July 1997, Rocha operated as the Deputy Principal Officer of the US Interests Section of the Embassy of Switzerland in Havana, Cuba, which was the de facto US embassy until the 2015 Cuban thaw normalizing diplomatic relations.

Between July 1997 and November 1999, Rocha served as Deputy Chief of the US Embassy in Buenos Aires.

He also served in Italy.

President Bill Clinton appointed Rocha as US Ambassador to Bolivia on June 14, 2000, and he was sworn in July 14, 2000.

He presented his credentials to the President of Bolivia on August 4, 2000, and served as ambassador until August 7, 2002.

At the time of his appointment as ambassador, the State Department said he and his wife, Karla Wittkop Rocha, had two children.

Rocha's off the cuff remark weeks before the 2002 Bolivian general election threatening to cut American aid to Bolivia over Evo Morales' support for the coca growers movement has been credited with boosting Morales' Movement for Socialism party in the 2002 Bolivian general election — after that Morales called Rocha his best "campaign manager".

Rocha is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

He serves on the University of Miami's International Advisory Board.

He has also been a member of Henry Kissinger's International Council on Terrorism and has served on the advisory board of the Cuba Transition Project of the University of Miami.

He is a special advisor to the U.S. military commander of SOUTHCOM.

He was Director of Government Relations for Arcos Dorados Holdings, the company that owns and manages most of the McDonald's restaurants in Latin America.

He is formerly a Senior Advisor on International Business for American law firm Foley & Lardner LLP, with his office in Miami, and president of Barrick Gold Corp. Pueblo Viejo, in the Dominican Republic.

The communications and marketing firm LLYC hired Rocha as a Senior International Business Advisor in September 2023.

Upon learning of the United States government's criminal charges against Rocha for acting as an illegal foreign agent for Cuba, his employment was terminated.

On December 1, 2023, Rocha was arrested in Miami, Florida, where he was living, and charged with acting as an illegal agent of the Cuban government, therefore acquiring his United States passport through false statements.

Agents of foreign governments are required to disclose their work to the US Attorney General and Secretary of State.

Rocha reportedly became a citizen of the Dominican Republic through marriage in 2014.

Rocha's $750 campaign donation to Republican Maria Elvira Salazar was returned after his arrest.

Rocha allegedly described traveling in 2017 to meet his handlers in Havana by first flying to the Dominican Republic under his United States passport, then using his Dominican Republic passport to travel to Panama City where he boarded his final flight to Cuba.

On other occasions, Rocha flew directly to Cuba using his United States passport.