The plea deal of former CIA agent Manuel Rocha for U.S. Cuban claims holders has sparked new inquiries.

• On Friday, Cuban spy Manuel Rocha was given 15 years in prison as part of a plea bargain that mandates his cooperation with the U.S. government.
• Carolyn Lamb hopes that the process might shed light on what Rocha was doing 20 years ago when he visited her in Omaha, Nebraska to offer her pennies on the dollar for her family claim in Cuba.
• Over 6,000 American property and land claims in Cuba were seized by the government of Fidel Castro following the 1959 coup d'etat.

Recognizing Victor Manuel Rocha immediately when she saw news of his arrest last December, Carolyn Lamb was reminded of the man who had visited her Omaha living room 17 years ago, attempting to make a deal.

Rocha, 73, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for acting as a foreign agent on behalf of the Cuban government and pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy. In addition to his prison sentence, Rocha will face three years of supervised release, a $500,000 fine, and other conditions.

The diplomatic community was taken aback by Rocha's arrest last year due to his extensive career as an agent, which spanned over 40 years and included positions at the US State Department and the National Security Council.

In order to obtain a reduced sentence, Rocha must cooperate with prosecutors and disclose any secret activities he carried out on behalf of Cuba.

Carolyn Lamb hopes that the process will uncover what Rocha was doing in her living room 20 years ago.

The claims

In 2007, Rocha journeyed across the country and proposed purchasing Lamb's father's paper claims, including an 80-acre farm, a 1959 Buick, and thousands of shares in the Cuban Telephone Company, which had been seized by the Castro regime.

Castro nationalized not only American property but also all private property, making the government the owner of every home and business without compensating the owners. This policy remains largely unchanged today, with only a few exceptions.

In 1970, the US government valued Lamb's claim at $489,208 and set an annual interest rate of 6% from the date of loss to the date of settlement. As a result, the Cubans owe $1.9 million on the claim today, and this amount continues to grow with each passing day without a settlement.

Lamb recounts that Rocha and his business partner offered her $114,000 for her claim, which she found insulting and suspicious due to what she perceived as a low-ball offer.

Over 6,000 American property and land claims in Cuba, worth more than $7 billion, were seized by Fidel Castro's government following the 1959 coup d'etat, with many of the claims held by major U.S. brands such as Pepsi, General Electric, and Twentieth Century Fox.

The embargo on Cuba was primarily due to the large-scale confiscation of American property.

The claims for those properties must be settled before the embargo can be lifted.

Jason Poblete, Lamb's attorney, states that it remains a significant obstacle to the normalization of relations with Cuba.

Poblete wondered aloud, "Was Rocha part of a scheme to help depress the value of these claims, to give an escape clause to the Cuban government?"

The lower the value of the claims, the less the Cuban government would have to pay in any future negotiated settlement.

"Did he make it more difficult to resolve the claims issue?" Poblete asked in an interview with CNBC.

John Kavulich, head of the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, stated that it would be beneficial for the Cubans to have information from Rocha during a negotiation on the claims, as any intelligence gathered would be valuable.

If Rocha's involvement in the claims buying business was part of his undercover work, his business partner would be surprised.

Rocha's arrest left Timothy Ashby "astonished" because he was "almost too right-wing to be believed," and Ashby couldn't fathom Rocha working for a communist government.

Ashby now admits that there were indications. "He always felt resentful towards the wealthy."

Ashby stated in a CNBC interview that he had the offices swept for bugs every week due to his concern about the FBI listening to them.

Rocha's paranoia about eavesdropping was due to the opposition of the George W. Bush administration to the Cuba claims buying business.

According to the Justice Department, Rocha had been a Cuban agent for over 30 years by that point.

Rocha was brought in by Ashby because of his connections in the US government, as Ashby claims that the idea to buy up the claims was his own.

The company they formed eventually raised $10.5 million and purchased nine claims, including significant land and hotels. However, they were forced to shut down their operation due to a determination by the Bush administration that their actions violated the embargo, according to Ashby.

Timothy Ashby, who now writes spy novels, found himself as a character in a real-life case.

Covert career

Rocha, born in Columbia in 1950, became a naturalized US Citizen in 1978 and a State Department employee in 1981. Throughout his long diplomatic career, he served in US embassies in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Argentina, and finally Bolivia, where he was appointed ambassador.

He had a 1-year stint on the National Security Council in the mid-90s, where he was responsible for Cuba. He later served in the US Interest Section in Havana. The DOJ claims he had exclusive access to confidential US government information throughout his career.

In 2022 and 2023, Rocha was recorded on camera during three meetings in Miami by an undercover FBI agent posing as a Cuban spy.

The Justice Department's complaint alleges that during the meetings, Rocha acted as a Cuban agent, frequently referred to the United States as "the enemy," and identified himself and Cuba as "we."

He boasted that what they had accomplished was immense, surpassing even a grand slam.

It is possible that Rocha was secretly employed by the Cubans in Chile in the 70s and later worked for the State Department as a covert agent.

In the FBI recordings, he admits that his well-known right-wing persona was part of his undercover work.

Following his retirement from the State Department in 2006, Rocha took on the role of advisor to US Southern Command, a joint military command responsible for Cuba.

It was at this time he went into the claims business.

Rocha's debriefing with US officials may provide more insight into the information he shared with the Cubans regarding the claims process and whether he manipulated the settlement process to hinder it.

Lamb says she and the smaller claims holders feel forgotten.

"We do not belong to a big voting group and do not have substantial funds to hire lobbyists to advocate for us."

Rocha may be sued by his client, according to Poblete. "We will utilize all available tools to assist Americans whose property has been seized."