US Embassy asks Peace Corps, Fulbright Scholar to 'Spy' on Cubans,
Venezuelans
*Official's 'Spy' Request Violated Long-Standing **U.S.** Policy*
*Jean Friedman-Rudovsky and Brian Ross, **Feb. 8, 2008***
In an apparent violation of U.S. policy, Peace Corps volunteers and a
Fulbright scholar were asked by a U.S. Embassy official in Bolivia "to
basically spy" on Cubans and Venezuelans in the country, according to Peace
Corps personnel and the Fulbright scholar involved.
"I was told to provide the names, addresses and activities of any Venezuelan
or Cuban doctors or field workers I come across during my time here,"
Fulbright scholar John Alexander van Schaick told ABCNews.com in an
interview in La Paz.
Van Schaick's account matches that of Peace Corps members and staff who
claim that last July their entire group of new volunteers was instructed by
the same U.S. Embassy official in Bolivia to report on Cuban and Venezuelan
nationals.
The State Department says any such request was "in error" and a violation of
long-standing U.S. policy which prohibits the use of Peace Corps personnel
or Fulbright scholars for intelligence purposes.
"We take this very seriously and want to stress this is not in any way our
policy," a senior State Department official told ABCNews.com.
The Fulbright scholar van Schaick, a 2006 Rutgers University graduate, says
the request came at a mandatory orientation and security briefing meeting
with Assistant Regional Security Officer Vincent Cooper at the embassy on
the morning of Nov. 5, 2007.
According to van Schaick, the request for information gathering "surfaced
casually" halfway through Cooper's 30-minute, one-on-one briefing, which
initially dealt with helpful tips about life and security concerns in
Bolivia.
"He said, 'We know the Venezuelans and Cubans are here, and we want to keep
tabs on them,'" said van Schaick who recalls feeling "appalled" at the
comment.
"I was in shock," van Schaick said. "My immediate thought was 'oh my God!
Somebody from the U.S. Embassy just asked me to basically spy for the U.S.
Embassy.'"
A similar pattern emerges in the account of the three Peace Corps volunteers
and their supervisor. On July 29, 2007, just before the new volunteers were
sworn in, they say embassy security officer Vincent Cooper visited the
30-person group to give a talk on safety and made his request about the
Cubans and Venezuelans.
"He said it had to do with the fight against terrorism," said one, of the
briefing from the embassy official. Others remember being told, "It's for
your own safety."
Peace Corps Deputy Director Doreen Salazar remembers the incident vividly
because she says it was the first time she had heard an embassy official
make such a request to a Peace Corps group.
Salazar says she and her fellow staff found the comment so out of line that
they interrupted the briefing to clarify that volunteers did not have to
follow the embassy's instructions, and she later complained directly to the
embassy about the incident.
"Peace Corps is an a-political institution," Salazar says. "We made it clear
to the embassy that this was an inappropriate request, and they agreed."
Indeed, the State Department admits having acknowledged the infraction and
assuring Salazar that it would not happen again. Yet, it was just four
months later that Fulbright scholar van Schaick says he was asked by the
same embassy official, Cooper, to "spy" on the Cubans and Venezuelans.
A U.S. Embassy official in La Paz, Bolivia said Cooper was referring all
calls for comment to the State Department in Washington.
Van Schaick says he never considered complying with the request, fearful he
would violate Bolivian espionage laws and that he would jeopardize the
integrity of the Fulbright program, which yearly sends hundreds of American
college graduates to countries around the world.
"I am supposed to be a cultural ambassador increasing mutual understanding
between us and the Bolivian people," van Schaick explains. "This flies in
face of everything Fulbright stands for."
The Fulbright program receives its funding from the U.S. State Department
and the Peace Corps is a federal agency, but the State Department insists
that neither group has the obligation to act in an intelligence capacity. In
fact, both have strict regulations against members getting involved in
politics in their host country.
The press director at the Peace Corps told ABC News in no uncertain terms
that the corps is not involved in any intelligence gathering.
"Since Peace Corps' inception in 1961, it has been the practice of the Peace
Corps to keep volunteers separate from any official duties pertaining to U.S.
foreign policy, including the reality or the appearance of involvement in
intelligence-related activities," said Amanda Beck, press director of the
Peace Corps. "Any connection between the Peace Corps and the intelligence
community would seriously compromise the ability of the Peace Corps to
develop and maintain the trust and confidence of the people in the host
countries we serve."
Like many of the Peace Corps workers, van Schaick is carrying out his
research in the Santa Cruz countryside, where a number of Cuban doctors are
deployed providing free medical services as part of Cuba's solidarity with
its socialist ally, Bolivia's President Evo Morales.
The accusations are likely to reverberate in Bolivia, especially given the
already shaky relationship between the Bush administration and President
Morales' two-year-old government.
"These are serious incidents that we will investigate thoroughly," says
Bolivia's Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca in an interview.
"Any U.S. government use of their students or volunteers to provide
intelligence represents a grave threat to Bolivia's sovereignty."
Bolivian law provides severe penalties in espionage cases. According to
Article 111 of the country's penal code, "he who procures secretive
documents, objects or information&concerning [Bolivia's] foreign relations
in an espionage effort for other countries during times of peace,
endangering the security of the State, will incur a penalty of 30 years in
prison." In lay man's terms: if any U.S. citizen provides information of use
in a spying effort, they would be subject to Bolivia's maximum prison
sentence.
But the U.S. citizens who reported being approached in this way by the State
Department official said no mention was made of any legal risks arising from
complying with the request to keep tabs on foreign nationals in Bolivia.
There is no indication that any of the volunteers made reports to the U.S.
Embassy.
Van Schaick says he is keenly aware of the Pandora's box now knocked open.
The Hoboken, N.J. native, however, was adamant that the incident be brought
to light -- in the hopes for change. "I came forward because the Bolivian
people have a right to know," former union activist van Schaick says.
"Asking Fulbrighters to spy is just not OK."
Three of the other four Fulbright scholars currently in Bolivia say they
were never asked about Cubans or Venezuelans in their briefings. A fourth
Fulbright scholar declined repeated requests for an interview on the
subject.
*Editor's Note: Jean Friedman-Rudovksy is a freelance journalist based in **La
Paz**, **Bolivia** where she is the correspondent for TIME Magazine and
Women's Enews. She has worked as an associate producer for ABC News in **
Bolivia** and is a founding editor of Ukhampacha **Bolivia**, an online
bilingual Web journal on Latin American social and political issues.*
Republished from ABC News
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