#freesnowden – Mr Morales described his stopover as something similar to “a 13 hour kidnap.” He said the decision by France, Italy and Portugal to refuse him entry into their airspace was “a historic error” and the de facto detention of his aircraft was an act of “aggression towards not just Bolivia, but all Latin America.”
Austrian authorities inspected the plane and declared there was no clandestine passenger on board.
There was anger in Bolivia with citizens there claiming that the life of their President had been put in danger. Bolivian authorities said the rumours about Snowden being on board were floated by US agents in order to put pressure on Bolivia. Bolivian defence minister Reubens Saavedra is reported to have said: “These European countries were manipulated by a foreign power, namely the USA.”