A former US ambassador to Bolivia and member of the National Security Council has been charged with spying for Cuba for 40 years, the Justice Department announced Monday.

The charges against Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, “exposes one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement explaining the charges.

Rocha, a naturalized US citizen originally from Colombia, allegedly began aiding Havana as a “covert agent of Cuba’s General Directorate of Intelligence” in 1981, and his espionage activities continued to the present, the statement said.

[If true, then Rocha was a rather deep mole with amazing longevity. It’s not clear just how bad the damage might be. If they’re willing to charge and try him publicly, it’s either well contained or so bad that they cannot afford to just let it go. The DoJ has to set an example for others tempted to pursue the same path. It’s a reminder, too, that Havana remains a real threat to the US. — Ed]