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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaUS diplomat turned Cuban spy jailed for 15 yearsPublished3 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Victor Rocha abruptly reversed his plea in February after initially pleading not guilty to the charges.By Bernd Debusmann JrBBC News, WashingtonAn ex-career diplomat who once served as US ambassador to Bolivia has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for working as an agent for Cuba. Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, secretly passed information to the Cuban government for more than 40 years, according to prosecutors. In February, Rocha changed his initial not guilty plea in a Miami court and ensured he would avoid a trial. The espionage case is among the highest profile ever between the US and Cuba.Dressed in a beige jail uniform on Friday, Rocha told a federal courtroom in Miami: “I plead guilty.” In addition to prison, Rocha must also pay a $500,000 fine and cooperate with authorities.US Attorney General Merrick Garland referred to Rocha’s crimes as “one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the US government by a foreign agent”.The Colombian-born, Yale and Harvard-educated Rocha served as US ambassador to Bolivia between 1999 and 2022, as well as in a variety of other diplomatic postings in Argentina, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. He also served in other government roles, including one with the National Security Council. After his diplomatic service ended, Rocha served as a consultant for the US military’s Southern Command, which oversees all of Latin America and the Caribbean – including communist Cuba. In November 2022, an undercover FBI agent contacted Rocha on WhatsApp and claimed to be working on behalf of Cuba’s intelligence service. The agent said he was delivering a message from “your friends in Havana”, according to court documents. Over the course of three subsequent meetings, Rocha revealed details of his previous espionage on Cuba’s behalf. At one point, Rocha used the term “we” to describe Cuba and himself, vowing to “protect” what “we” have done together. The Cuban spying case that has shocked the US governmentHow Cuban spy used incredible memory to betray USWhen asked whether he was “still with us”, Rocha told the undercover agent that he was “angry” that his loyalty to the Cuban regime was being questioned. “It’s like questioning my manhood,” he said.The US has had a tense relationship with Cuba ever since Fidel Castro overthrew the island’s US-backed government in 1959, a revolution that was swiftly followed by a US trade embargo. While then-president Barack Obama and former Cuban President Raul Castro took steps to normalise relations in 2015, many of those actions were reversed by the Trump administration. In an interview with the BBC, former CIA counter-intelligence chief James Olson said the case was emblematic of how Cuba’s intelligence service “beat” their US adversaries over the decades. “They owned us,” Mr Olson said. “That’s one of the reasons I have this personal grudge against the Cuban intelligence service because they have been so successful in operating against us.”Mr Olson referred to Rocha as a “traitor”. “He betrayed our country,” he said. “I think that’s contemptible, and I don’t think he’s going to see the light of day again.”Related TopicsCubaCIASpyingUnited StatesMore on this storyFormer US diplomat pleads guilty to spying for CubaPublished29 FebruaryThe Cuban spying case that has shocked the US governmentPublished9 JanuaryHow Cuban spy used incredible memory to betray USPublished10 January 2023Top StoriesAngela Rayner: I will step down if I committed criminal offencePublished8 hours ago’Don’t’ – Biden warns Iran against attacking IsraelPublished4 hours agoUkraine could face defeat in 2024. 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[ad_1] Victor Manuel Rocha is believed to have spied for communist nation for more than four decades.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaMichigan vote to test anger over Biden’s Israel policyPublished56 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsUS election 2024This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Media caption, Watch: Biden’s support for Israel has lost him votes among Arab AmericansBy Brandon DrenonBBC News, in MichiganVoters in Michigan have been organising for months to send Joe Biden a message during the state’s primary on Tuesday: “No ceasefire. No vote.”After President Joe Biden narrowly defeated Donald Trump in Michigan in the last election in 2020, a protest vote tied to events in Gaza is a real concern for the White House.Mr Biden and Mr Trump are on course for a rematch in November, and in a close presidential election – as is predicted by most polls – experts say Michigan is a must-win state.With the largest Arab-American population in the US, the state poses a crucial test as to the impact the Biden administration’s policy on the Israel-Gaza conflict could have on Democrats. The anger it has created among many in that community has been festering for months, and the Democratic primary on Tuesday offers the first chance for the party’s voters to register that discontent by withholding their vote from the president.He is largely unopposed in the Democratic Party’s search for their presidential nominee, but that has not stopped those opposed to his Middle East policy from taking action.In the final hours on the eve of Tuesday’s primary election, Khalid Turaani stood outside the Islamic Center of Detroit and distributed pamphlets encouraging people to vote “uncommitted” on their ballot papers.”We’re doing all that we can to ensure that Biden is a one-term president,” Mr Turaani, the co-organiser behind Abandon Biden, told the BBC.”In November, we will remember. When you stand against the will of the people, you’re going to lose.”Image source, Brandon Drenon/ The BBCImage caption, Khalid Turaani, a co-organiser of Abandon Biden, says his group has made over 30,000 calls petitioning people to vote uncommitted on TuesdayTwo grassroots organisations, including Mr Turaani’s group, Abandon Biden, and a second, Listen to Michigan, are urging Democrats to choose “uncommitted” in Tuesday’s primary. In the state, each party’s candidate list includes an “uncommitted” option, which allows a voter to exercise a party vote without selecting a candidate – in this case, Mr Biden. The movement has gained endorsements from at least 39 state and local elected officials. These include congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Michigan state legislator Abraham Aiyash and Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.”I was proud today to walk in and pull a Democratic ballot and vote uncommitted,” Ms Tlaib said in a video shared to social media. Lexis Zeidan, a co-organiser for Listen to Michigan, said they’re hoping to get at least 10,000 people to vote uncommitted. “We want to wake up the next day on Wednesday, and we want to be able to claim Michigan as a pro-Palestinian state,” she said. “And we want to inspire communities across the nation to know that, at the end of the day, America is beholden to its people.”Life inside Gaza – a day of BBC coverageWhy are Israel and Hamas fighting in Gaza?Biden losing Arab-American voters in swing stateMr Biden’s victory in this primary election is assured, but Democrats will be watching how many vote “uncommitted” to see what electoral harm has been done by the president’s support of Israel in its months-long war against Hamas in Gaza. Recent national opinion polls suggest a majority of Democrats disapprove of the president’s handling of the crisis. In places like Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit where a large concentration of the state’s Arab-American population lives, discontent with Democrats appears to be widespread. Image source, Brandon Drenon/ The BBCImage caption, Dozens gathered at the Islamic Center of Detroit were handed pamphlets on Monday encouraging them not to support Joe BidenThe president has attempted to walk a tightrope between sending aid to Israel, a longstanding US ally with historically strong support from Democrats, and appeasing those in his party who want the devastation in Gaza to end now. Senator Gary Peters, from Michigan, told the BBC and other reporters at a meeting arranged by the Biden campaign on Monday that the president understands voters’ concerns about the situation in Gaza.”[President Biden] hears loud and clear what folks are saying. He cares deeply about innocent civilians being caught in that crossfire,” Sen Peters said. “And he’s going to do everything in his power to bring that to an end as quickly as he can.”The Biden team has pointed to domestic achievements like job creation, investment in poorer communities and lowering healthcare costs as ways the president has helped voters in Michigan.In one attempt to pacify their frustrations, Mr Biden’s campaign staff attempted to organise an in-person meeting with Arab-American leaders in January, a request denied by Dearborn’s mayor. “This is not the time to talk about elections,” Mayor Hammoud said at the time.Instead, he and other community leaders met senior staff from the White House in February. Mr Aiyash, the state representative, told the New York Times after the meeting: “We emphasised that beyond communication, there needs to be a change in policies.” However, the White House has been reluctant to reel back its support, sending billions of dollars in military aid to Israel and three times blocking a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. Instead the US has called for a pause in fighting and defended Israel’s right to hunt down the Hamas gunmen who killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October. The death toll in Gaza is nearly 30,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-led health ministry.Gazans surviving off animal feed and rice as food dwindlesHope for Gaza ceasefire by next week, says Biden’Evacuating was a mistake’: Israelis push to return to border homes Samraa Luqman, another member of Abandon Biden who described herself as a far-left Democrat, said: “And yet today I stand before you telling you that I am considering voting for Trump in 2024.”Irrespective of the price I may pay as a Muslim woman in this country, I’m still willing to draw the red line and say that the commission of genocide is more of a priority to me,” she said. Israel vehemently rejects allegations that it is committing genocide in Gaza.Image source, Brandon Drenon/ The BBCImage caption, Khalid Turaani distributed flyers on Monday encouraging people not to vote for Joe BidenMichigan is one of six major swing states that experts say Mr Biden will need to win to defeat Mr Trump in a likely November rematch. The others include Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona.Michigan has flipped twice in the last two presidential elections, from a Trump-led Republican victory in 2016, back to Democrats under Mr Biden in 2020.The president’s 2020 victory was by nearly 155,000 votes – fewer than the total number of registered Muslim voters in Michigan. Nationwide, 64% of Muslim voters backed Mr Biden in 2020, according to Associated Press, but that figure rose to nearly 70% in Michigan counties with large Arab-American populations.President Biden and his campaign surrogates have made repeated visits to Michigan, looking to shore up support and remind voters of his commitment to blue-collar workers, a key Democratic voting bloc from whom Mr Trump has increasingly drawn support.In September, President Biden joined the picket lines in Detroit with members of the United Auto Workers union, a first for a sitting president in over a century.Four months later, the UAW officially endorsed the president’s re-election bid, which was welcomed by the Biden campaign amid waning voter enthusiasm. Polls suggest that Gaza is just one vulnerability – voters are also increasingly concerned about the president’s age and are pessimistic about the economy, despite strong growth and low unemployment.Image source, Brandon Drenon/ The BBCImage caption, Nate, who asked the BBC not to use his last name, estimated he had about $2,000 worth of metal to recycle on MondayThe sceptics include blue-collar workers from the metro Detroit area, like Nate. Standing in a metal scrapyard recycling facility in Dearborn, less than a mile from a Ford car plant where plumes of smoke billowed into the air, he told the BBC he feels “like the economy is getting worse”.He’s been the owner of a dumpster rental and heavy-trash collecting business for over 10 years, but he said lately “I’ve seen less business, less people”. “Things have slowed down since Biden took office,” Nate said. “I’m not sure who I’m voting for this year.”Farther down the road, Adam Abusalah, an organiser with Listen to Michigan who was a member of Mr Biden’s campaign staff in 2020, told the BBC: “People are voting uncommitted for several reasons.”He said his organisation was making calls to more than just Arab Americans but also other members of Michigan’s black and brown communities and “voters across the state who are not happy with Biden”. Mr Abusalah said people were upset with the president before 7 October, the start of the Israel-Gaza war.”People were seeing how Biden handled the Ukraine war and seeing him send so much money but not being able to invest that into our communities,” he said. “There’s a city here in Michigan – Flint – that hasn’t had clean water for over a decade.”Image source, Brandon Drenon/ The BBCImage caption, Adam Abusalah worked for Joe Biden’s campaign in 2020 but says he will never vote for Mr Biden againIt’s an increasingly common complaint heard from many US voters who often express frustration over federal spending on wars while their communities struggle. For Mr Abusalah, however, Mr Biden’s support of Israel amid a worsening humanitarian crisis and skyrocketing death toll was the ultimate catalyst that turned him from the president – even if it means a president who once enacted a Muslim travel ban takes his place.”If we have another Trump presidency, that’s not on me. That’s not on voters. That’s on Biden,” he said.”[President Biden] cannot win back my vote. Absolutely not. It’s 30,000 lives too late.” More on the US electionExplained: A simple guide to the US 2024 electionAnalysis: Where Biden v Trump will be won and lostPolicies: What a Trump second term would look likeEconomy: Voters feel better – will that help Biden?Recap: The Trump life story to dateRelated TopicsMichiganUS election 2024US politicsUnited StatesJoe BidenMore on this storyWhy these Arab Americans say Biden lost their votePublished1 FebruaryBiden losing Arab-American voters in swing statePublished6 November 2023Biden wins South Carolina Democratic primaryPublished4 FebruaryWhere Biden v Trump will be won and lostPublished31 JanuaryA simple guide to the US 2024 electionPublished24 JanuaryHow does US electoral college choose presidents?Published30 JanuaryTop StoriesPost Office confirms boss is under investigationPublished21 minutes agoSixth person charged with spying for Russia in UKPublished1 hour agoNetanyahu and Biden spar over Israel-Gaza war supportPublished1 hour agoFeaturesGazans in survival mode with cold nights and food rationsWhy firms are racing to produce green ammoniaSecondary school places: What parents need to knowWalkers spot ‘breathtaking’ cloud inversionsThe young refusing to become Myanmar’s ‘human shields’Hear the fish louder than a jackhammer. 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