US moves to strip citizenship from former ambassador who spied for Cuba

Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald on May 8, 2026

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MIAMI — 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.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Friday to take away Victor Manuel Rocha’s 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.

“Victor 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,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said. “The 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.”

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’s civil division. During Rocha’s sentencing in August 2024, the federal judge overseeing the criminal case, Beth Bloom, also asked government prosecutors about why they were not pursuing denaturalization.

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.

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Miami Herald staff writers Nora Gamez Torres and Jay Weaver contributed to this report.