Bolivia's Morales says US aimed to intimidate
Bolivian President Evo Morales said Thursday that the rerouting of his plane over suspicions that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden was on board was a plot by the U.S. to intimidate him and other Latin American leaders. Morales, long a fierce critic of U.S. policy toward Latin America, received a hero's welcome from a cheering crowd in La Paz airport late Wednesday night.
His return followed a dramatic, unplanned 14-hour layover in Vienna that ignited an international diplomatic row. Bolivia's government said France, Spain and Portugal refused to let the president's plane through their airspace, forcing it to land in Austria. He was flying home from a summit in Russia.
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It's still unclear whether European countries did block the plane and, if so, why. French, Spanish and Portuguese officials have all said the plane was allowed to cross their territory.
The emergency stop in Austria may have been caused by a row over where the plane could refuel and whether European authorities could inspect it for signs of Snowden.
The U.S. has declined to comment on whether it was involved in any decision to close European airspace, saying only that "US officials have been in touch with a broad range of countries over the course of the last 10 days," about the Snowden case.
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http://news.yahoo.com/bolivias-morales-says-us-aimed-intimidate-195525081.html
