South America’s leftist leaders, who rallied to support Bolivian President Evo Morales after his plane was rerouted amid suspicions that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was on board, demanded an apology from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
Spain’s foreign minister insisted Friday that no apology was needed, saying Spanish airspace was never closed to Morales.
The presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, Suriname, Venezuela and Uruguay joined Morales in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba late Thursday to denounce the treatment of Morales, who warned that he would close the U.S. Embassy in Bolivia if necessary.
Morales again blamed Washington for pressuring European countries to refuse to allow his plane to fly through their airspace on Tuesday, forcing it to land in Vienna, Austria, in what he called a violation of international law. He had been returning from a summit in Russia during which he had suggested he would be willing to consider a request from Snowden for asylum.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Friday that his nation and other European countries were told Snowden was aboard the Bolivian presidential plane. He did not say who supplied the information and declined to say whether he had been in contact with the United States.
Garcia-Margallo insisted, however, that Spain did not prevent Morales’ plane from landing in its territory.
He said Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca gave him written assurances that Snowden was not on the plane.
“Spain does not have to make any apology,” Garcia-Margallo told public Television Espanola. “The airspace was never closed.”
Latin American leaders were outraged by the incident, calling it a violation of national sovereignty and a slap in the face for a region that has suffered through humiliations by Europe and several U.S.-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,” Morales said in the city where he started his political career as a leader of coca leaf farmers. “We do not need the embassy of the United States.”
Morales’ government has had a conflictive relationship with Washington.
It expelled the U.S. ambassador and agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2008 for allegedly inciting the opposition. The Andean nation restored full diplomatic ties with the U.S. in 2011. But relations soured again amid mutual distrust on drug war politics and hit an especially low point after Secretary of State John Kerry referred to the Western Hemisphere as Washington’s “backyard” in April.
Morales expelled the U.S. Agency for International Development in May for allegedly seeking to undermine his government.
In a joint statement read after the summit, the presidents also said they would back Bolivia’s official complaint with the U.N. Human Rights Commission
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said he and other leaders were offering full support to Morales following the rerouting of the plane, calling it 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 said.
“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.”
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