Bolivian president’s treatment stirs up fury in Latin America

•         Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro

• The Guardian,             Wednesday 3 July 2013 15.49 BST

The Bolivian president, Evo Morales, in Vienna airport. Photograph: Helmut Fohringer/AFP/Getty Images

Forced to land in Vienna, left waiting for 13 hours and only allowed to leave after agreeing to a search – presumably for the US whistleblower Edward Snowden – the treatment of Evo Morales has stirred up fury in Latin America, a region that has long bristled at the bullying of the US and double standards of its former colonial masters in Europe.

Bolivia has denounced what it calls a “kidnap” operation of its president by imperial powers that violates the Vienna convention and its national sovereignty. Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay have joined in the condemnation. Angry headlines have been splashed on newspapers across the region.

Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño Aroca, said his country would stand with Bolivia. “We will not allow this affront against a Latin American leader,” he tweeted.

The secretary general of the Organisation of American States, José Miguel Insulza, expressed his “profound displeasure” with the countries who refused to allow Morales’s plane through their airspace.

“Nothing justifies an action as disrespectful to the highest authority of a country,” Insulza said in a statement.

Peru reportedly called for an emergency meeting on Wednesday of another regional grouping, the Union of South American Nations (Unasur).

“Tomorrow is going to be a long and difficult day,” tweeted the Argentinian president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, on Tuesday night, adding that Morales had been treated with “impunity”. Venezuela is furious and the Uruguayan president, José Mujica, is also said to be indignant.

The United States has yet to comment, but the longer it remains silent, the stronger will be the suspicions that it leaned on France, Spain, Portugal and Italy to deny permission for Morales’s plane to fly through their airspace, in effect putting the hunt for a US whistleblower above international law and the rights of a president of a sovereign nation.

Several politicians and commentators in the region are already adding this action to a long list of interventions, invasions and “policing actions” by Latin America’s giant northern neighbour, along with the Monroe Doctrine, the annexation of half of Mexico, the Bay of Pigs invasion, support for Chile’s Augusto Pinochet and other dictators and the ousting of democratically elected leftist governments in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and elsewhere.

Europe has been accused of reopening historical scars by abetting in the detention of Latin America’s first indigenous president.

“Just as they did 500 years ago, foreign powers have once again mistreated and assaulted the Bolivian people,” the country’s vice-president, Álvaro García Linera, said.

Ecuador was set to provide further evidence of intrusiveness and interference at a press conference later on Wednesday, when the foreign minister said he would provide evidence of a bug that was discovered at the country’s London embassy, where the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been taking refuge for a year.

Ecuador had also looked like a likely destination for Snowden, though its president, Rafael Correa, appears to have cooled on the idea in recent days. Many attribute his change of tone to a phonecall from the US vice-president, Joe Biden, which reportedly included a reminder that Ecuador uses the US dollar as its currency. For some commentators, this was a veiled threat.

Conscious of the growing importance of the Latino vote in the US, the president, Barack Obama, has tried to bolster his reputation in the region by making immigration reform one of the priorities of his second term.

But his secretary of state, John Kerry, upset many in Latin America earlier this year, when he referred to the region as the US “backyard” – a term that has long been seen as a sign of US imperialistic tendencies. In response, Bolivia expelled USAid, a development agency.

Spain, France, Portugal and Italy reportedly denied permission for Morales’s plane to fly through their airspace, in effect forcing it to make an unscheduled stop in Vienna, where Austrian authorities inspected the plane.

“So many beautiful masks fell. As always, in times of crisis you learn the truth behind the speeches,” tweeted Patiño. He then praised a comment about the solidarity of Latin America, which has built closer regional ties in recent years. “Unasur today must prove to the European Union the true meaning of Latin American integration,” he wrote.

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For Bradley Manning

Remind General Buchanan that Bradley Manning’s rights have been trampled – Enough is enough! Call the new general’s Public Affairs Office at 202-685-2900 Dear readers, Last week Major General Jeffery S. Buchanan succeeded Major General Linnington as the new Convening Authority in Bradley Manning’s trial. In the military court martial system the Convening Authority has absolute power to reduce any sentence or ruling against a service member. Let’s remind General Buchanan that this system should be about justice and due process, and that these things have been absent from US v. Manning so far. Bradley has been imprisoned for over three years now. If the military requires punishment for an act of civil disobedience, they already got that. Given that Bradley spent nearly a year in solitary confinement that the UN described as “cruel, inhuman and degrading”, it is reasonable for General Buchanan to join us in declaring enough is enough! It’s time to free Bradley Manning. The convening authority can reduce the sentence after the Judge makes her ruling. Let’s Remind Maj. General Buchanan: that President Obama has unlawfully influenced the trial with his declaration of Bradley Manning’s guilt. that the media has been continually blocked from transcripts and documents related to the trial and that it has only been through the efforts of Bradley Manning’s supporters that any transcripts exist. that under the UCMJ a soldier has the right to a speedy trial and that it was unconsciable to wait 3 years before starting the court martial. that absolutely no one was harmed by the release of documents that exposed war crimes, unnecessary secrecy and disturbing foreign policy. that Bradley Manning is a hero who did the right thing when he revealed truth about wars that had been based on lies. Remind General Buchanan that Bradley Manning’s rights have been trampled – Enough is enough! Call the new general’s Public Affairs Office at 202-685-2900 If that number stops answering, try calling Col. Michelle Martin-Hing, Public Affairs Officer (202) 685-4899. And try emailing Maj. Gen. Buchanan at jeffrey.s.buchanan@us.army.mil