Bolivian President Evo Morales. Photograph by Sebastian Baryli
Bolivian president Evo Morales has threatened to close the US embassy in La Paz after his official plane was forced to land in Austria to search for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The President’s jet was rerouted to Austria after pressure from the US administration in their search for Snowden meant that France, Portugal, Italy, and Spain barred the plane from flying in through their airspace. Snowden, however, was not on the plane, and is believed to still be in the transit area of Moscow airport.
Blaming the US for European countries refusing him passage en route back from an international energy meeting in Russia, Morales said
“My hand would not shake to close the US embassy… We have dignity, sovereignty. Without the United States, we are better politically and democratically.”
Morales has found support from other South American countries, and after a meeting with the presidents of Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Venezuela and Suriname, a joint statement was issued demanding an explanation from the European countries involved.
After the meeting, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said:
“If this had happened to the president of the United States, it probably would have been grounds for war”