Bolivian President Evo Morales (center), joined by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (L) and Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa
South American leaders have stood behind Bolivian President Evo Morales after his plane was rerouted over Europe on rumors that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was on board, demanding an apology from some EU nations.
The presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, Suriname, Venezuela and Uruguay joined President Morales in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba on Thursday to address the diplomatic row, demanding a formal apology from Western European countries of France, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
Brazil was also represented at the gathering by President Dilma Rousseff’s top international adviser but Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota missed the summit due to engagements in Europe.
Latin American leaders expressed outraged over the incident, dismissing it as a violation of national sovereignty and a slap in the face for a region that has suffered through humiliations imposed by Europe and numerous US-backed military coups.
“United we will defeat American imperialism. We met with the leaders of my party and they asked us for several measures and if necessary, we will close the embassy of the United States,” said President Morales. “We do not need the embassy of the United States.”
In a joint statement read after the summit, the presidents also said they would back Bolivia’s official complaint with the UN Human Rights Commission.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said he and other leaders were offering full support to Morales following the diversion of his plane over Europe, calling the move an aggression against the Americas.
“We’re not going to accept that in the 21st century there’s first, second and third rate countries,” Correa emphasized.
“The leaders and authorities in Europe have to take a lesson in history and understand that we’re not 500 years behind. This Latin America of the 21st century is independent, dignified and sovereign,” he added.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, meanwhile, protested alleged attempts by Spanish officials to search the Bolivian presidential plane and accused the CIA of urging a number of European countries to deny their airspace to the presidential aircraft.
“A minister of one of those European governments told me personally that it was the CIA who gave the order to the aeronautical authorities, the one who gave the alert that Snowden was on the plane,” he said at a rally prior to the summit.
“The CIA is more powerful that governments,” Maduro underlined.
Moreover, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez insisted that Latin Americans treasured freedom after fighting for their independence from Europe in the 19th century and then surviving Washington’s 20th-century history of supporting dictatorships in the Americas.
Demanding an apology for rerouting the presidential plane, Fernandez said, “I’m asking those who violated the law in calm but serious manner, to take responsibility for the errors made, it’s the least they can do; to apologize for once in their life, to say they’re sorry for what they’ve done.”
Meanwhile, Morales blamed the Obama administration for pressuring the EU countries to deny his aircraft an over-flight through their airspace on Tuesday, forcing it to land in Vienna, Austria, in a move that he described as a violation of international law.
He was on his way back home after attending a summit in Russian capital of Moscow of leaders of Gas Exporting Countries, during which he reportedly suggested he may consider granting asylum to the NSA whistleblower.
The Bolivian president has said that while the plane was parked in Vienna, the Spanish ambassador to Austria arrived with two embassy personnel and they asked to search the plane. He said he denied them permission.
He received a hero’s welcome in an airport in the Bolivian capital of La Paz late Wednesday night. His return followed the dramatic, unplanned 14-hour layover in Vienna.
MFB/MFB
Republished with permission from: Press TV