2013-07-04 Snowden-Morales: South American Fallout

The revelations of and the US hunt for Snowden, together with violations of the Vienna Convention by the US in connection with the flight of Bolivian President Evo Morales from Moscow to La Paz, have resulted in considerable political fallout in South America.

Bloomberg reported that Bolivia rejected a US request for Snowden a day after US speculation that the NSA whistleblower was onboard President Morales air force jet.

"This is an open provocation to the continent, not just the president", said Morales. "They will never intimidate us, never make us afraid, because we are a unified and sovereign people."

Morales was greeted at the La Paz airport no his return by supporters throwing flowers and waving flags.

South American leaders rallied to Morales. Argentine President Cristina Kirchner called the actions of the US a "humiliation". Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said yesterday she was "surprised and amazed".

France's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, attempted to backpedal, now offering a formal apologiy for denying Morales access to French airspace.

"There had, of course, never been any intention of refusing President Morales' plane access to our airspace", said the office of Fabius. "The authorisation to fly over French territory was granted as soon as the French authorities had been informed that the aircraft in question was that of President Morales."

But US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki admitted her government put pressure on EU countries to deny Morales use of their airspace.

Venezuelan President Nicholás Maduro said he'd also received a request from the US to extradite Snowden, but rejected it on the grounds that the US has "no moral authority" to arrest Snowden after Showden revealed US "crimes against humanity".

They have no moral authority to request the extradition of a young man who exposed the illegality under which the Pentagon, the CIA and the power of the US work. I reject any request they are making for extradition.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said today's meeting of South American leaders was yet another chance to show that South America was no longer anyone's colony.

We're not going to let them treat a head of state of our America like this.