In a surprise announcement President Morales of Bolivia has warned that his government may close the US Embassy to Bolivia, following an incident earlier this week when his presidential jet bound for La Paz from Moscow was suddenly banned from EU airspace without any prior notification.
Written by Chris White
The warning comes as a special South American summit in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba was held on Thursday, in which South American leaders showed their support for President Morales.
The delegates included the presidents of no less than five South American nations; Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Venezuela and Suriname.
Speaking at the summit was President Rafael of Correa of Ecuador, who said: “If this had happened to the president of the United States, it probably would have been grounds for war. They think they can attack, crush [and] destroy international law.”
President Correa’s Republic of Ecuador last year granted asylum to Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder who has been holed up at Ecuador’s Embassy in London for more than 12 months.
Morales’ plane which was bound for La Paz via Spain, was forced to turn back for Austria after a general alert went out, indicating that the US fugitive Edward Snowden was on board the flight.
Portugal, Spain, France and Italy all closed their airspace to his presidential jet as it attempted to traverse Europe’s skies, a move which the President blamed on political pressure from Washington to prevent Snowden from escaping Russia.
The former CIA/NSA contractor is said to still be holed up in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport since fleeing Hong Kong last month, where he leaked detailed information of a vast US spy network which collects the phone and email records of every single person in the United States.
Speaking to Bolivian crowds assembled in the nation’s capital President 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.”
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