cnn | Rumors that U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden hitched a ride on
the Bolivian presidential jet forced the plane's grounding in Austria
and outraged several South American leaders.
The drama unfurled when
Portuguese authorities wouldn't let Bolivian President Evo Morales'
plane land in Lisbon for refueling while on his way back from Russia,
Bolivian Defense Minister Ruben Saavedra told CNN en Español.
French authorities also wouldn't let the plane enter their airspace, he said.
"We are told that there
were some unfounded suspicions that Mr. Snowden was on the plane,"
Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said. "We do not know who
has invented this lie. Someone who wants to harm our country. This
information that has been circulated is malicious information to harm
this country."
After landing in Austria, Morales spent more than 10 hours stuck in Vienna.
Austrian officials said
they believe Snowden was not on the plane, as passport officials have
checked the passports of everyone on the aircraft, Austrian Interior
Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grunbock told CNN. But he said the
passport officials have not been on board the plane itself to inspect
it.
The Austrian government is accepting Morales' word and, saying "there is no reason to doubt that," Grunbock said.
The Bolivian mission in
Vienna said Italy joined France and Portugal in refusing to allow
Morales' plane in their airspace. Such restrictions would cut off any
direct path from Austria to Bolivia.
Outrage in Latin America
Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera described Morales as a "hostage of imperialism."
"The president has been
kidnapped by imperialism, and he is being held in Europe," he said in a
televised address late Tuesday night. The vice president called for
workers worldwide to protest "this act of imperial arrogance."
The situation drew a
swift rebuke from Ecuador's foreign minister, who told reporters he
planned to call a regional meeting of the Union of South American
Nations, known as UNASUR, to discuss it.
"We consider this a huge
offense, and I will call for a UNASUR special summit with foreign
secretaries to discuss this issue," Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo
Patino said.
Cuba's Foreign Ministry also condemned the incident.
"This constitutes an
unacceptable, unfounded and arbitrary act which offends all of Latin
America and the Caribbean," the ministry said in a statement.
