Former US ambassador, Cuban spy blames decision to betray country on Yale's radical politics in 60s, 70s

A former National Security Council member and U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, who admitted to secretly acting as an agent for the government of the Republic of Cuba, blames the radical politics pushed on him during his formative college years for turning on his country.

A federal judge sentenced 73-year-old Victor Manuel Rocha of Miami to 15 years in prison last week for working against the U.S. government for decades for communist Cuba in "clandestine intelligence-gathering missions."

Before the judge handed down the sentence, Rocha issued a statement on his guilty plea, which was shared by Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., on X.

"I am a 73-year-old man. During my formative years in college, I was heavily influenced by the radical politics of the day," Rocha said. "My deep commitment at that time to radical social change in the region led me to the eventual betrayal of my oath of loyalty to the United States during my two decades in the State Department."

FORMER US AMBASSADOR, NSC OFFICIAL ADMITS TO ACTING AS SECRET AGENT FOR CUBA, LEARNS FATE: DOJ

Rocha graduated from Yale University in 1973 before going on to earn his master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University in 1976, then a master’s degree in international relations from Georgetown University in 1978, according to the State Department’s website archives.

Fox News Digital reached out to Yale for a comment regarding Rocha’s statement. The university declined to comment.

Rocha was a former U.S. Department of State employee who served on the National Security Council from 1994 to 1995, and as U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002.

FORMER US AMBASSADOR, NSC MEMBER CHARGED WITH ACTING AS SECRET AGENT FOR COMMUNIST CUBA FOR DECADES: DOJ

According to a criminal