Bolivian President Morales: 'We Don't Need A U.S. Embassy, Being United Will Defeat American Imperialism'
Morales had to reroute his air plane on suspicion that the American fugitive Edward Snowden was accompanying him on board.
President Evo Morales of Bolivia has made a move signalling that the U.S embassy in his country be shut down after an embarrassing situation when he was refused entry into European air space.
Morales had to reroute his air plane on suspicion that the American fugitive Edward Snowden was accompanying him on board. The Bolivian president was under the impression that the U.S. had coerced European countries to deny him the right to fly through their airspace.
Surprised by the nature of events leading up to the incident, Pres. Morales issued a warning that he will "study, if necessary, closing the US embassy in Bolivia,” reports News.com
"We don't need a US embassy in Bolivia," he was quoted as saying by the Dow Jones Newswires, adding, "my hand would not shake to close the US embassy. We have dignity, sovereignty. Without the United States, we are better politically, democratically," News.com reported.
The miscalculation emanated from rumours of Snowden’s attempts to seek asylum in a number of Latin American countries such as Ecuador, and Russia.
Other Latin American leaders jumped on the bandwagon after Pres. Morales landed in Bolivia on Wednesday, after a delay caused by a halt in Vienna after four European countries refused him airspace. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner, Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, Uruguay’s Jose Mujica and Suriname’s Desi Bouterse of expressed their solidarity with Pres. Morales on the issue in Cochabamba, a central city in Bolivia.
The leaders united to say that they demand a ‘public apology.’
"Being united will defeat American imperialism. We met with the leaders of my party and they asked us for several measures and if necessary, we will close the embassy of the United States," said Morales in a report by The Ledger.
Pres. Maduro said in a rally that the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had demanded a freeze on Pres. Morales’ plane to fly over Italy, Spain, Portugal and France.
Juan Manuel Santos, Colombian President supported Morales for the inconvenience. However, he tweeted against "converting this into a diplomatic crisis between Latin America and the EU (European Union)."
Snowden is seeking asylum to deflect charges of espionage in the U.S. Pres. Morales had said that he might consider an asylum application from Snowden. He is a former contractor with the National Security Agency and he is defecting after leaking information about a widespread surveillance operation involving phone calls and emails.
The U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia seeks to promote understanding and improve diplomatic relations with the Bolivian government. In strengthening the mutual understanding among its people, the two countries have common goals in areas such as economic growth, public health, counter narcotics operations, environmental protection, and commerce.