ABC News is breathlessly reporting in an "exclusive" interview from Bolivia that an American Fulbright scholar wearing a Che Guevara hat says that the State Department asked him and Peace Corps volunteers "to basically spy" [sic] on Cuban and Venezuelan operatives in the Andean country.
John Alexander van Schaick (pictured), who received his Fulbright scholarship from the State Department, expressed shock and dismay that the State Department would ask him to pitch in against Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Fulbright programs and the Peace Corps are supposed to be off-limits for intelligence collection purposes, but the issue here is the student's indignation about being asked to serve his country - and the fact that he gave the interview while wearing a Che Guevara hat.
Van Schaick's hat proclaims, "Che Vive" (Che Lives). We checked with our buddy Felix Rodriguez, the CIA man who handed Che to his Bolivian executioners, and are assured that the Fulbright scholar's hat has its facts wrong.
ABC published a Spanish translation of the story on ABCNews.com. (By the way, for proper Che hats and shirts, check out Che Mart at www.che-mart.com.)
State Department made a mistake by indiscriminately asking Peace Corps people for help. The mistake was made repeatedly and finally the State Department got burned. I think the story is fair in this case.
And yes, that guys wears a Che hat. I'm pretty sure he does that because he's ignorant enough to think that it's cool.
Posted by: Alex | February 11, 2008 at 12:21 AM