MONTEVIDEO: Latin American countries have decided to recall their ambassador from the European countries that denied their airspace to Bolivian President Evo Morales’s plane during a recent routine trip.
During the 45th summit of the Mercosur trade bloc in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, the leaders of Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil and Uruguay decided to recall their envoys to Spain, France, Italy and Portugal for consultations.
“We’ve taken a number of actions in order to compel public explanations and apologies from the European nations that assaulted our brother Evo Morales,” Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said.
In a statement, the Mercosur’s member states expressed regret over the “unacceptable behavior” by certain European countries “that breaches our sovereignty and harms relations between nations.”
“The gravity of the incident – indicative of a neocolonial mindset – constitutes an unfriendly and hostile act, which violates human rights and impedes freedom of travel, as well as the treatment and immunity appropriate to a head of state,” the joint statement read.
On July 2, Morales’ plane, which was flying from Moscow back to Bolivia, was diverted to Austria due to false “suspicion” that US surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board.
Snowden is currently in a transit zone at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow, after the United States revoked his passport to prevent him from travelling further.
Snowden revealed top secret US government spying programs, under which the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have been spying on a global scale.
The NSA scandal took even broader dimensions when Snowden revealed information about US espionage activities targeting countries friendly to the US.
