better lift that "head of state" sack and cough, boy!

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.