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Peace Corps, Espionage, and Bolivia, Part II

February 16, 2008 ( politics )

Bolivia charged a US embassy official with espionage. He's been removed from the country with promises from the US Embassy that he will never set foot in Bolivia again, after it came to light that he's been asking Fullbright scholars and Peace Corps volunteers to spy on Venezuelans and Cubans in Bolivia, says ABCNews:

... the first time in history that the Bolivian government has charged a U.S. embassy official with a criminal offense -- let alone for one as serious espionage.

Officials from the two countries met for hours yesterday in La Paz in an attempt to quell the growing tension and called a truce last night. Both sides declared their intentions to better relations and made clear that the official in question -- Assistant Regional Security Advisor Vincent Cooper -- would not return to Bolivia.

"We accept the [U.S.] ambassador's explanations, and we want to get past the issue," said Foreign Relations Minister David Choquehuanca at the press conference that followed the more than three-hour-long meeting

A sad footnote that scooted in to the end of the ABC News article:

The U.S. Embassy in La Paz acknowledges the July incident, having received complaints from Peace Corps staff last year about the matter. But both the embassy and the State Department claim it was "an error," emphasizing that it should not have been interpreted as a request for U.S. citizens to spy.

What was the error? That the volunteers and scholars were asked at all, or that the ask was "interpreted" as espionage?

Posted by griffjon at February 16, 2008 02:45 PM

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