Reply #5: US asked Fulbright scholar to spy on Cubans, Venezuelans

[Judi Lynn]

US asked Fulbright scholar to spy on Cubans, Venezuelans
David Edwards and Adam Doster
Published: Saturday February 9, 2008

On a Fulbright scholarship to conduct research in Bolivia, Alex van Schaick had no training in espionage. But that didn’t stop an official at the U.S. Embassy for inquiring about his services.

On Friday, van Schaick told media officials that a member of the U.S. Embassy asked him to keep tabs on Venezuelan and Cuban workers during his time in Bolivia.

“The part that obviously startled me was when he just … said, ‘should you happen to encounter any Venezuelans or Cubans in the field – doctors, field workers, whatever – we’d like you to report their names and their information, like where they live, to the U.S. Embassy,’” he told ABC News. “And then he said something along the lines of ‘we know they’re out there, we just want to keep tabs on them.’”

More:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/US_asked_Fulbright_scholar_to_spy_0209.html

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Scholar: U.S. asked him to keep tabs on Cubans in Bolivia

U.S. says such request would be error
By Dan Keane
ASSOCIATED PRESS

7:38 p.m. February 8, 2008

LA PAZ, Bolivia – An American scholar said Friday that an official at the U.S. Embassy asked him to keep tabs on Venezuelan and Cuban workers in Bolivia. Washington said that any such request would be an error and against U.S. policy.
(snip)

Also Friday, ABC News reported a claim that the same official made a similar request to a group of Peace Corps volunteers last year.

In a statement, the Peace Corps said that as a matter of law and policy its volunteers cannot be asked to gather intelligence for the U.S. government.

More:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20080208-1938-bolivia-us.html