Peace Corps security briefing in Bolivia leads to tension with USA

A recent security briefing for Peace Corps volunteers in Bolivia has resulted in accusations by the Bolivian government that a U.S. Embassy security officer was recruiting spies for the USA. On Friday, Fulbright scholar Alex van Schaick told The Associated Press that Vincent Cooper, the US embassy's assistant regional security officer, asked him to pass along the names and addresses of any Venezuelan and Cuban workers he might encounter in the country. Reports said that the request was also made of 30 Peace Corps volunteers working in Bolivia. ABC News reported that Cooper made a similar request to 30 newly arrived Peace Corps volunteers on July 29, angering the Peace Corps programming and training officer for Bolivia, Doreen Salazar, who told Cooper that the request violated policy and told the volunteers to ignore it. The US embassy released a statement Monday explaining that, in the latest episode, Peace Corps volunteers had been mistakenly given a security briefing meant only for embassy staff, asking them to report "suspicious activities." In strongly worded statement, the Peace Corps said that by law, volunteers cannot be asked to gather intelligence for the U.S. government. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080212/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/..