 |
| Manuel Rocha |
LLYC has cut ties with Manuel Rocha, the 73-year-old former American diplomat who has been charged with spying for Cuba.
He had been working as a senior international business advisor at LLYC at the time of his Dec. 4 arrest but is no longer associated with the firm according to a statement from LLYC.
Rocha joined LLYC in September of this year. LLYC noted that he served as a senior advisor, not at the executive level, focusing on business development matters.
"The decision to sever ties with Mr. Rocha underscores our organization’s steadfast commitment to the highest standards of ethical and legal conduct," it said.
Though the allegations against Rocha are unrelated to his involvement with the firm, LLYC "will collaborate fully with the authorities if required, providing any information deemed necessary."
Rocha served as US ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002 and worked in the US interests section in Cuba during the 1990s. He also held posts in the Dominican Republic, Italy, Argentina, Mexico and Argentina.
The case against Rocha exposes “one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent,” said attorney general Merrick Garland.
The US is LLYC’s No. 3 market, trailing Spain and Mexico.
There’s a fine line between newsjacking and taking advantage, aka ambulance chasing. Our job as PR professionals is to tread it carefully.
PR firms need to be mindful of ways their work product may be protected by the attorney-client privilege whenever working with a client’s internal legal team or its external legal counsel.
Manuel Rocha, former US ambassador and intenational business advisor to LLYC, plans to plead guilty to charges that he was a secret agent for Cuba.
CEO mentoring is an often-overlooked aspect of why CEOs are able to make good decisions, and sometimes make bad ones—all of which intersects with the role and duties of a board. 
How organizations can anticipate, prepare and respond to crises in an increasingly complex world where a convergent landscape of global challenges, threats and risks seem to arrive at an unrelenting pace.
Have a comment? Send it to 
No comments have been submitted for this story yet.