{"id":204,"date":"2026-05-08T16:01:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=204"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:01:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:01:44","slug":"u-s-moves-to-strip-citizenship-from-former-ambassador-who-spied-for-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=204","title":{"rendered":"U.S. moves to strip citizenship from former ambassador who spied for Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration is moving to strip the American citizenship of a former U.S. ambassador who is currently serving 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in a Miami federal courtroom of having been for decades an agent on the Cuban government.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=202\">Beloved Palm Beach restaurants finally announce opening dates for Coral Gables<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Friday to take away Victor Manuel Rocha\u2019s U.S. citizenship. Prosecutors say Rocha, who was born in Colombia, he lied on his 1978 naturalization application about never knowingly committing a crime, having no affiliation to the Communist Party, and believing in the U.S. Constitution and its governance. The lawsuit is based on his criminal convictions for violating the Foreign Agents Registration, which requires people working for foreign governments to disclose it.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor Manuel Rocha was not a low-level operative. He was a former United States Ambassador and senior government official who admitted he secretly served the Cuban regime for decades,\u201d U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Qui\u00f1ones for the Southern District of Florida said. \u201cThe complaint alleges that Rocha obtained American citizenship through lies, concealment, and betrayal. A person who secretly serves communist Cuba should not keep the privilege of United States citizenship, even while in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><u>READ MORE: Ex-U.S. ambassador Rocha sentenced to 15 years in prison for working as Cuba covert agent<\/u><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=200\">Federal jury convicts four South Florida men in assassination of Haiti\u2019s president<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Denaturalizations have historically been extremely rare. But as part of its mass deportation efforts, the Trump administration has ramped up denaturalization efforts, making it a priority of the Department of Justice\u2019s civil division. During Rocha\u2019s sentencing in August 2024, the federal judge overseeing the criminal case, Beth Bloom, also asked government prosecutors about why they were not pursuing denaturalization.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Rocha was not formally accused of being a spy, which would have required producing in court sensitive evidence. But Rocha admitted spying for Cuba as far back as 1973, before he became a U.S. citizen five years later. Rocha was a U.S. ambassador to Bolivia during the George W. Bush administration.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><i>This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Miami Herald staff writers N<u>ora Gamez Torres <\/u>and Jay Weaver contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=198\">See Paris Hilton work the DJ booth at a South Florida beach resort<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to strip American citizenship from former U.S. Ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha, who admitted to secretly serving the Cuban government for decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miami-dade-county"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>U.S. moves to strip citizenship from former ambassador who spied for Cuba - 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