U.S. scholar told to spy on Bolivia?

A Fulbright scholar who went to study in Bolivia claimed that a U.S. Embassy official told him to act like a spy. In declarations made last week, Alex van Schaick [image] said that the comments were made to him while he was in the Andean nation last November:

"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…

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 State Department spokesman responded last Friday that if the official’s actions are true then that was a mistake which is against U.S. diplomatic policy. Yesterday, however, U.S. ambassador to Bolivia Philip S. Goldberg denied van Shaick’s allegations and said that he would be “ready to talk” with the Bolivian government.

The Morales administration hasn’t been pleased with the incident and has requested that the embassy official in question be sent back to the U.S.

Sources- Associated Press, MSNBC, CNN, ABC News, UPI

Image- MSNBC