What is Wrong at the US Embassy in Bolivia? Last summer Peace Corps Inspector General David Kotz cited the lack of cooperation from the US embassy in Bolivia in the search for missing Peace Corps Volunteer Walter Poirier III. Now a member of the US Embassy Staff in Bolivia is accused of asking Peace Corps Volunteers "to basically spy" on Cubans and Venezuelans in the country. Could US Ambassador Philip S.Goldberg please explain what is going on at the embassy that he has been running in La Paz since 2006?

• 2008.02.28: February 28, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Intelligence Issues: Safety: Cuba: BBC: Hugh O'Shaughnessy of BBC News writes: For Cubans, the recent Cooper affair was all part of a US strategy to tempt Cuban doctors to desert  Saturday, March 01, 2008 - 7:39 pm [2]

• 2008.02.11: February 11, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Safety: Intelligence Issues: ABC News: Jean Friedman-Rudovsky writes: U.S. Diplomat Vincent Cooper Recalled After 'Spying' Allegations in Bolivia  Friday, February 22, 2008 - 10:53 am [7]

• 2008.02.11: February 11, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Safety: Intelligence Issues: Associated Press: Bolivian President Evo Morales declared a U.S. Embassy security officer Vincent Cooper to be an "undesirable person" after reports that the officer asked 30 Peace Corps volunteers to pass along information about Cubans and Venezuelans working in Bolivia  Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - 10:19 am [2]

• 2008.02.08: February 8, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Safety: Intelligence Issues: Terrorism: Peace Corps Press Release: Peace Corps policy against intelligence connections is based on the general authority of the Director of the Peace Corps  Saturday, February 09, 2008 - 8:48 am [1]

• 2008.02.08: February 8, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Safety: Intelligence Issues: Terrorism: Associated Press: US Embassy Official Made Security Request to PCVs  Saturday, February 09, 2008 - 8:40 am [1]

• 2008.02.08: February 8, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Safety: Intelligence Issues: Terrorism: UPI: Peace Corps members asked to spy  Saturday, February 09, 2008 - 8:32 am [1]

• 2008.02.10: February 10, 2008: Headlines: COS - Bolivia: Safety: Intelligence Issues: Terrorism: Prensa Latina (Cuba): US Embassy Admits Peace Corps and Fulbright study program beneficiaries asked by US official Vincent Cooper to provide data about their "contacts with citizens from certain countries"  Sunday, February 10, 2008 - 12:32 pm [1]

PCVs in Bolivia asked to 'Spy' by US Embassy Official Vincent Cooper



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. There is no indication that any of the volunteers made reports to the U.S. Embassy. The press director at the Peace Corps told ABC News in no uncertain terms that the corps is not involved in any intelligence gathering.

PCVs in Bolivia asked to 'Spy' by US Embassy Official Vincent Cooper

Exclusive: Peace Corps, Fulbright Scholar Asked to 'Spy' on Cubans, Venezuelans

U.S. Embassy Official's 'Spy' Request Violated Long-Standing U.S. Policy

By JEAN FRIEDMAN-RUDOVSKY and BRIAN ROSS

Feb. 8, 2008

Caption: The US Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia.

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.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: February, 2008; Peace Corps Bolivia; Directory of Bolivia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Bolivia RPCVs; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Intelligence Issues; Terrorism

By Walter P. Blass (walterblass) (71.187.60.155) on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 12:08 pm: Edit Post

Can someone tell me what happened to Ray Feichtmeir and his wife Rachel ( Balayet) after 1995? Ray succeeded me as Country Director for Peace Corps/Afghanistan in April 1968. I understand he was badly injured in a bicycle accident in France, and subsequently died.

Thank you Walter P. Blass
<walterblass@att.net>