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Diversion of Bolivian Plane Angers Latin American Leaders Barring of Bolivian Plane Infuriates Latin America as Snowden Case Widens
(about 5 hours later)
CARACAS, Venezuela — Latin American leaders reacted with fury on Wednesday to the diversion of the airplane carrying President Evo Morales of Bolivia through European airspace, calling it a grave offense to all of their countries, unjustified by suspicions that the fugitive American former security contractor, Edward J. Snowden, was on board. CARACAS, Venezuela — The geopolitical storm churned up by Edward J. Snowden, the fugitive American intelligence contractor, continued to spread on Wednesday as Latin American leaders roundly condemned the refusal to let Bolivia’s president fly over several European nations, rallying to his side after Bolivian officials said the president’s plane had been thwarted because of suspicions that Mr. Snowden was on board.
Latin American leaders immediately called for an emergency meeting of the Union of South American Nations, which was expected to take place on Thursday. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the president of Argentina, said the episode had “vestiges of a colonialism that we thought was completely overcome,” adding that it was a humiliating act that affected all of South America. President Rafael Correa of Ecuador said in a post on Twitter that the situation was “EXTREMELY serious” and called it an “affront to all America,” referring to Latin America. Calling it a grave offense to their entire region, Latin American officials said they would hold an emergency meeting of the Union of South American Nations on Thursday.
The diplomatic skirmish began with a seemingly offhand remark. Mr. Morales was flying home on Tuesday from Moscow, where he had attended a meeting of natural-gas exporting nations, and had told Russian television that he was open to giving asylum to Mr. Snowden. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina said the episode had “vestiges of a colonialism that we thought was completely overcome,” describing it as a humiliating act that affected all of South America.
President Rafael Correa of Ecuador said in a post on Twitter that the situation was “EXTREMELY serious” and called it an “affront to all America,” referring to Latin America.
The diplomatic and political tempest over Mr. Snowden and his revelations of far-reaching American espionage programs has swept up adversaries and allies from across the globe.
Tensions emerged right away between the United States and the two major powers Mr. Snowden has fled to, China and Russia, over their refusal to detain him and turn him over to the American authorities.
The discord soon spread to some of America’s closest allies in Europe. After newspaper reports based on documents Mr. Showden compiled as a contractor for the National Security Agency showed that the United States had been spying on an array of embassies and diplomatic missions, including the European Union’s offices in Washington and New York, the outrage rattled prospects for a trans-Atlantic free-trade agreement.
The United States and Europe have emphasized the importance of the trade talks, saying they would create the world’s largest free trade zone and stimulate growth. But on Wednesday, France said it would be wise for the talks to be suspended for two weeks to give Washington time to supply information about its spying program, while a German government spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told reporters that “we want a free-trade deal, and we will start the negotiations.”
Hours later, José Manuel Barroso, the head of the union’s governing commission, announced a compromise in which trade talks could start as planned, but only if the United States opened talks at the same time on its intelligence operations.
Now, the uproar has encompassed Latin America as well.
“In some sense, it parallels ironically what the N.S.A. is doing,” said Faiza Patel, a co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, a research and advocacy organization. “The N.S.A. is reaching its tentacles aross the world.”
Mr. Snowden and his disclosures have touched different chords in each region. In Europe, Ms. Patel noted, they have provoked memories of the police states created by fascism and communism, with their heavy-handed surveillance of their own people. In Latin America, she said, they have touched on a wellspring of resentment over the legacy of colonialism and American power, as well as the region’s own history of secretive dictatorships.
The latest burst of outrage came in response to the diversion of a plane carrying Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, as he was flying home from Moscow on Tuesday. He had attended a meeting of natural-gas-exporting nations and had told Russian television that he was open to giving asylum to Mr. Snowden.
Mr. Snowden has been holed up at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow for more than a week, hoping to receive a positive response to the asylum requests he has made to several countries, and Mr. Morales’s remark may have set off suspicion that he was bringing the fugitive aboard.Mr. Snowden has been holed up at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow for more than a week, hoping to receive a positive response to the asylum requests he has made to several countries, and Mr. Morales’s remark may have set off suspicion that he was bringing the fugitive aboard.
After taking off from Moscow, Mr. Morales’s plane asked permission to land in France to refuel, according to Carlos Romero, the minister of government in La Paz. But France refused and denied the plane permission to enter French airspace, Bolivian officials said. Portugal had also previously refused to let the plane land for refueling in Lisbon. After taking off from Moscow, Mr. Morales’s plane sought permission to land in France to refuel, according to Carlos Romero, the minister of government in La Paz. But France refused and denied the plane permission to enter French airspace, Bolivian officials said. Portugal had previously refused to let the plane land for refueling in Lisbon.
Mr. Morales was finally given permission to land in Vienna, where he spent the night. Mr. Morales told reporters in Vienna that he had not met Mr. Snowden in Moscow and that he had previously known little about the case. Mr. Morales was given permission to land in Vienna, where he spent the night. Officials said that as a new flight plan was being drawn up, Italy also denied permission for Mr. Morales’s plane to use its airspace. Bolivia’s foreign minister, David Choquehuanca, said the refusals stemmed from “unfounded suspicions that Mr. Snowden was on the plane.”
Karl-Heinz Grundböck, a spokesman for the Austrian Interior Ministry, said that the Austrian border authorities carried out a routine check of the passports of everyone aboard Mr. Morales’s plane after it landed and that they were also granted permission to search the plane to ensure that Mr. Snowden was not aboard. “The rumors were just that,” Mr. Grundböck said.Karl-Heinz Grundböck, a spokesman for the Austrian Interior Ministry, said that the Austrian border authorities carried out a routine check of the passports of everyone aboard Mr. Morales’s plane after it landed and that they were also granted permission to search the plane to ensure that Mr. Snowden was not aboard. “The rumors were just that,” Mr. Grundböck said.
But in La Paz, officials said that no search had taken place, asserting that it would be improper to search the plane of a head of state. As for the forced diversion of the flight, the vice president of Bolivia, Álvaro García Linera, equated it to a kidnapping. But in La Paz, officials said that no search had taken place, contending it would be improper to search the plane of a head of state. As for the forced diversion of the flight, the vice president of Bolivia, Álvaro García Linera, equated it to a kidnapping.
“Yesterday was one of the most shameful pages in the political history of some countries in Europe,” Mr. García Linera said in La Paz on Wednesday.“Yesterday was one of the most shameful pages in the political history of some countries in Europe,” Mr. García Linera said in La Paz on Wednesday.
For many in the region, the episode was a throwback to the colonial era, when European countries held sway over a weak Latin America. Many also blamed the United States, insisting that the Obama administration had instructed its European allies to stop Mr. Morales’s plane on the suspicion that it carried Mr. Snowden, who is wanted on charges of violating espionage laws for divulging secrets about American surveillance programs. French officials apologized on Wednesday, saying they had never meant to block Mr. Morales from their airspace and reversed the decision after learning that the Bolivian president was aboard.
After European nations cleared Mr. Morales to fly, he took off from the Vienna airport at about 11:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday and later stopped for refueling in the Canary Islands, which belong to Spain. He was expected to make another refueling stop in Brazil before arriving home in La Paz on Wednesday night. “There was conflicting information about the passengers who were on board,” said the French president, François Hollande. “When I knew it was the plane of the Bolivian president, I immediately gave permission for it to fly” over French territory, he said.
Austria’s president, Heinz Fischer, told state radio that he visited Mr. Morales before his departure to “ensure that our procedures here in Vienna were all correct.” The two leaders also had the opportunity to discuss other topics, Mr. Fischer said, but declined to elaborate. Some Latin American officials blamed the United States, insisting that the Obama administration had instructed its European allies to stop Mr. Morales’s plane on the suspicion that it carried Mr. Snowden, who is wanted on charges of violating espionage laws for divulging secrets about American surveillance programs. The White House declined to comment on whether the American government had anything to do with the plane’s diversion.
Mr. Morales appeared Wednesday morning before reporters who had gathered at the airport as rumors spread that Mr. Snowden might be aboard, ORF, an Austrian public television network, reported. At the State Department, a spokeswoman, Jennifer Psaki, declined to say whether American authorities had asked other countries to deny airspace to the Bolivian plane. “I would point you to them to describe why they made decisions if they made decisions,” Ms. Psaki told reporters.
“At the moment there is nothing we can do but wait for permission for a flyover,” said Mr. Morales, speaking through a translator. “Spain is now consulting with the U.S.A. whether the plane can fly over Spanish airspace.” The president, his staff and four pilots were forced to spend the night in the airport’s V.I.P. area. Mr. Morales referred to his unscheduled stop in Vienna as “being held hostage.” After European nations eventually cleared Mr. Morales to fly, he took off from the Vienna airport about 11:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
Asked by a reporter about Mr. Snowden’s presence on his airplane, Mr. Morales declined to comment directly, but insisted that it would be impossible to take along a passenger who no longer holds a valid passport. The United States revoked Mr. Snowden’s passport on June 22 after charging him with espionage. Meanwhile, the foreign minister of Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño, said on Wednesday in Quito that his government had discovered a hidden microphone in the office of its ambassador in London. The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, who has been acting as an adviser to Mr. Snowden, has been living in the London embassy for more than a year, given asylum there to escape extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on sexual assault allegations.
“How could we have a person in our plane who has problems with his homeland? He has never sought asylum in Bolivia,” Mr. Morales said. “We are very responsible in our actions and our respect for international conventions.” Mr. Patiño, whose country is a possible asylum destination for Mr. Snowden, said that the device was linked to a private British security firm and that he was asking British authorities for help in finding who was behind the bugging.
After the plane touched down in Vienna, the foreign minister of Bolivia, David Choquehuanca, said of the refusal by some European countries to allow the president’s plane in their airspace: “They say it was due to technical issues, but after getting explanations from some authorities we found that there appeared to be some unfounded suspicions that Mr. Snowden was on the plane.”

William Neuman reported from Caracas, and Alison Smale from Berlin. Reporting was contributed by Melissa Eddy from Berlin, Steven Erlanger from Paris, Rick Gladstone from New York, and Peter Baker from Washington.

“We don’t know who invented this big lie,” Mr. Choquehuanca said at a news conference in La Paz. “We want to express our displeasure because this has put the president’s life at risk.”
Before Mr. Morales’s plane left the Vienna airport, the crew awaited authorization to continue through other European countries’ airspace, the Austrian authorities said. France granted authorization Wednesday morning, although a spokesman for the Spanish Foreign Ministry said it would not comment, and there was no immediate comment from Portugal.
Rubén Saavedra, the Bolivian defense minister, who was on the plane with Mr. Morales, accused the Obama administration of being behind the action by France and Portugal, calling it “an attitude of sabotage and a plot by the government of the United States.”
There was no immediate response by officials in Washington.
“We were in flight; it was completely unexpected,” Mr. Saavedra said on the Telesur cable network. “The president was very angry.”
In a possible sign of further suspicion about the passenger manifest, Mr. Saavedra said Italy had also refused to give permission for the plane to fly through its airspace.
On Monday, Mr. Morales, who was attending an energy conference in Moscow, was asked in an interview on the Russia Today television network if he would consider giving asylum to Mr. Snowden.
“Yes, why not?” Mr. Morales responded. “Of course, Bolivia is ready to take in people who denounce — I don’t know if this is espionage or monitoring. We are here.”
He said, though, that Bolivia had not received a request from Mr. Snowden, despite news reports to the contrary.
It was already clear by then that the Moscow conference had been overshadowed by the drama of Mr. Snowden and his disclosures about American intelligence programs, which have deeply embarrassed the Obama administration.
President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, who was also at the conference, suggested that he would offer Mr. Snowden asylum but said he did not plan to fly him to Venezuela.
But Mr. Morales’s remarks appeared to open the door. At least that is the way they were interpreted.
The problems began even before Mr. Morales left Moscow, Mr. Choquehuanca said. On Monday, Portugal, without explanation, withdrew permission for Mr. Morales’s plane to stop in Lisbon to refuel, the foreign minister said. That required Bolivian officials to get permission from Spain to refuel in the Canary Islands.
The next day, after taking off from Moscow, Mr. Morales’s plane was just minutes from entering French airspace, according to Mr. Saavedra, when the French authorities informed the pilot that the plane could not fly over France.
There was also plenty of confusion in Moscow over how Mr. Snowden could possibly have left undetected on a government aircraft.
Government planes carrying foreign officials to diplomatic meetings in Moscow typically arrive and depart from Vnukovo Airport, which is also the main airfield used by the Russian government, rather than from Sheremetyevo, to which Mr. Snowden arrived from Hong Kong on June 23, hours after American officials had sought his extradition.
The speculation that Mr. Snowden would hitch a ride on a government jet was discounted by the fact that the plane would have to first make a quick flight from one Moscow airport to the other.
In an interview with Russia Today, Mr. Maduro said he would consider any request by Mr. Snowden. Then, ending the interview with a dash of humor, he said, “It’s time for me to go; Snowden is waiting for me.”

William Neuman reported from Caracas, Rick Gladstone from New York, and Melissa Eddy from Berlin. Reporting was contributed by Scott Sayare from Paris, Raphael Minder from Madrid, David M. Herszenhorn and Andrew Roth from Moscow, and Monica Machicao from La Paz, Bolivia.