The Cuban spying case that has shocked the US government - BBC News

Ex-CIA agent says Cuba has 'surpassed the KGB' as a former top US diplomat is charged with spying.

1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption, Manuel Rocha, a former US ambassador to Bolivia, is accused of acting as a Cuban agent for more than 40 yearsBy Will GrantBBC News, HavanaWhen the former US ambassador to Bolivia, Manuel Rocha, was arrested in Miami recently and charged by his previous employer - the US government - with having spent more than 40 years as a Cuban agent, it amounted to one of the biggest spying scandals involving the communist-run island this century.

The US Attorney General, Merrick Garland, called Mr Rocha's alleged crimes "one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the US government by a foreign agent".

While Manuel Rocha is yet to enter a plea, many observers remain baffled as to how he could have risen so high in the US diplomatic service while evading detection for so long, apparently honing a reputation as a hard-nosed conservative while secretly harbouring a deep-seated allegiance to the Cuban Revolution.

Evidence recorded by an undercover FBI officer, posing as a Cuban government contact, appears to show him describing the United States as the "enemy", praising the late Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, and boasting about having successfully maintained his dual identity for decades.

One man who was not entirely surprised, though, was James Olson, the former head of counterintelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He has years of first-hand experience of Cuba's intelligence service, the General Directorate of Intelligence (DGI).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-67913465?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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