{{Six South American leaders have demanded an explanation and public apology from four European countries for diverting Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane earlier this week.}}
Morales’ presidential plane landed in Austria on Tuesday night after France, Portugal, Italy and Spain closed their airspace over suspicions that the fugitive US whistleblower Edward Snowden was aboard. The information was inaccurate and Morales, who was returning from a summit in Russia, was able to fly home on Wednesday.
At the summit in the Bolivian city Cochabamba on Thursday, five regional leaders joined Morales in denouncing his “virtual kidnapping” and the US pressure they believed spurred it behind the scenes.
At the end of the summit, which included the leaders of Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Surinam and Venezuela, a statement was issued demanding answers from France, Portugal, Italy and Spain, the European Union (EU) member states that closed their airspace. The US was not mentioned in the statement.
‘We don’t need US embassy’
Morales warned that he could close the US Embassy in Bolivia, blaming Washington for pressuring European countries to refuse to allow his plane to fly through their airspace in what he called a violation of international law.
“We don’t need a US embassy in Bolivia,” Morales said. “My hand would not shake to close the US embassy. We have dignity, sovereignty. Without the US, we are better politically, democratically.”
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