U.S. Official Charged With Espionage, Won't Return To Bolivia

[Judi Lynn]

Source: ABC News

U.S. Official Charged With Espionage, Won't Return To Bolivia
Charges Mark the First Time Bolivia Has Charged a U.S. Embassy Official With a Criminal Offense
Thursday, February 14, 2008

Government officials in Bolivia have filed espionage charges against a U.S. official who instructed Peace Corps volunteers and a Fulbright scholar to provide information on Cubans and Venezuelans living in Bolivia, marking 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 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 between himself, Bolivian Minister of Government Alfredo Rada and U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg.

It was the first time that government officials from both sides had met face-to-face since the Blotter on ABCNews.com published the allegations last Friday.


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4290936&page=1

[seafan]

1. I'm certain we won't have to look very far to find the hand of the BFEE in this. n/t

[flyingfysh]

2. I saw a Truthout video podcast about this

I saw an interview of a Fulbright scholar who was asked to spy for the US. This was around a couple of days ago, I think.

[Peace Patriot]

3. That's what I'm talkin' about! HIT BACK against these fascist Bushite S.O.B.'s!

Call them on their shit! Catch them! Prosecute them! Impeach them! Don't be bullied by their gangsterism!

The South Americans are showing us the way out of this nightmare, back toward democracy and decent government. They hold elections that put our own to shame for their transparency --and actually elect people who believe in public service and act in the public interest.

It's a crying shame that we can't--but somebody is--a whole continent of people, in the southern hemisphere, who have had it with this fascist/corporate crap, and have done their civic homework, and have elected leftist governments in Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and Nicaragua (and soon Paraguay), governments that have quickly formed economic and political alliances, and are performing miracles, such as kicking the World Bank loan sharks out of the region, and gaining control of natural resources--such as oil--for the benefit of the people who live there.

It is no surprise at all that the Bush Junta is using every means possible to stop this peaceful, democratic, leftist revolution including--coup attempts, black ops, billions of our tax dollars fed into rightwing groups through USAID-NED and other budgets, spying (using Peace Corps, Embassy and other personnel, including telecoms no doubt--as here), destabilization tactics (notable in Bolivia), economic warfare--such as Exxon Mobile's recent move to freeze $12 billion of Venezuela's assets, over a dispute about Venezuela's rightful 60% share of its own oil--assassination attempts (against Chavez), massive arming of the rightwing security and paramilitary forces in Colombia, drug trafficking, attempted sabotage of Chavez's hostage negotiations (with FARC in Colombia), ridiculous items such as the Bush/CIA caper out of Miami involving the "suitcase full of money" (trying to "divide and conquer" Venezuela and Argentina), and god knows what else.

See this for an outline of the Bush Junta's new oil war:

"The Smart Way to Beat Tyrants Like Chávez," by Donald Rumsfeld, 12/1/07
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/30/AR2007113001800.html

I've been worried about Bolivia--which elected its first indigenous president, Evo Morales--a wonderful leader with huge popular support (like Chavez in Venezuela, and Rafael Correa in Ecuador). The Bushites have been busy in Bolivia, stoking up a rightwing plot to divide the country in two, and split off the rural provinces where the oil and gas reserves are, in order to deny the benefit of those resources to the vast poor population in urban areas, and to create a second fascist launching pad (in addition to Colombia) from which to conduct both economic and military warfare against the oil-rich Andes democracies. It's early yet in the Bolivarian revolution in Bolivia--they're still in the process of trying to write a new Constitution that will strengthen the presidency and at the same time enhance public participation. (Venezuela wrote and passed theirs, by popular vote, in 2000.) The Bushites are clearly trying to sabotage that process--with this "split up the country" strategy--to weaken the popular Morales.

I am therefore VERY GLAD to see that the Morales government is fighting back--like Cristina Fernandez Kirchner did, over the "suitcase" caper(--publicly calling it a Bush/CIA op, and declaring that Argentina's alliance with Venezuela has been strengthened, not weakened, by it--and a couple of weeks later, we see this new beef for oil deal between the countries, to counter the Bushite sabotage in Venezuela, with the rich grocery chains hoarding food). And like Chavez himself, who has never backed down from a fight with the Bush Junta. And like Rafael Correa, in Ecuador, who, when asked about Chavez's remark to the U.N. that Bush is "the devil," said that it was "an insult to the devil," and, when asked about his intention to throw the U.S. military base out of Ecuador, said that he would welcome the U.S. military in Ecuador--when the U.S. permitted Ecuador to put a military base in Miami! And like Nestor Kirchner, when word came down from the Bush Junta that South American leaders must "isolate" Hugo Chavez and Venezuela, said, "But he's my brother!"

I wish our Democrats would take their cue from the South Americans, and FIGHT BACK. But that probably won't happen until we have done our civic homework and restored transparent elections here. We can meanwhile take heart from our South American kin, who are showing us how it's done.