Plane lands in a storm
Latin Americans assailed the route change but weren't eager for Snowden.
The European rerouting of the Bolivian presidential plane over suspicions that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden was aboard ignited outrage Wednesday among Latin American leaders who called it a stunning violation of national sovereignty and disrespect for the region.
But as President Evo Morales headed home after an unplanned 14-hour layover in Vienna, Austria, there was no immediate sign that Latin America anger would translate into a rush to bring Snowden to the region.
Snowden was still believed to be in the transit area of Moscow's international airport. As his case grinds on, it appears to illustrate the strength of U.S. influence, despite the initial sense that the Obama administration lost control of the situation when China allowed Snowden to flee Hong Kong.
Morales originally planned to fly home from a Moscow summit via Western Europe, stopping in Portugal and Guyana to refuel. His plane was diverted to Vienna on Tuesday night after his government said France, Spain, and Portugal all refused to let it through their airspace because they suspected Snowden was on board. Spain's ambassador to Austria even tried to make his way onto the plane on the pretext of having a coffee to check that Snowden wasn't there, Morales said.
Morales had sparked speculation that he might try to help Snowden get out during a visit to Russia after he said that his country would be willing to consider granting him asylum. Austrian officials said Morales' plane was searched early Wednesday by Austrian border police after Morales gave permission. Bolivian and Austrian officials both said Snowden was not on board.
Throughout Latin America there was a sense of deep injustice and offense at what was widely believed to be U.S.-prompted interference with Bolivia's equivalent of Air Force One.
Preventing the passage of a presidential jet and even searching it is legal under international law but unprecedented in recent memory, aviation experts said.
The United States declined to comment on whether it was involved in any decision to close European airspace, saying only that "U.S. officials have been in touch with a broad range of countries over the course of the last 10 days" about the Snowden case.
European responses shifted throughout the day.
Spain explicitly denied Bolivian charges that it had closed its airspace to Morales.
After initial hedging from France, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius issued a statement Wednesday acknowledging that Morales' plane was initially refused and saying Fabius called his Bolivian counterpart to apologize. The statement didn't explain why.
Portugal said it had granted permission for the plane to fly through its airspace but declined Bolivia's request for a refueling stop in Lisbon due to unspecified technical reasons.