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South American leaders demand apology over plane row involving Bolivia's Morales
• COCHABAMBA, Bolivia (AP) -- South America's leftist leaders rallied to support Bolivian President Evo Morales after his plane was rerouted amid suspicions that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was on board and demanded an apology from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
• The presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, Suriname, Venezuela and Uruguay joined Morales in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba late Thursday to address the diplomatic row. Morales used the gathering to warn that he would close the U.S. Embassy in Bolivia if necessary.
• Morales again blamed Washington for pressuring European countries to refuse to allow his plane to fly through their airspace on Tuesday, forcing it to land in Vienna, Austria, in what he called a violation of international law. He had been returning from a summit in Russia during which he had suggested he would be willing to consider a request from Snowden for asylum.
• Latin American leaders were outraged by the incident, calling it a violation of national sovereignty and a slap in the face for a region that has suffered through humiliations by Europe and several U.S.-backed military coups.
• "United we 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," Morales said in the city where he started his political career as a leader of coca leaf farmers. "We do not need the embassy of the United States."
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Spain says it was 'told' NSA leaker Snowden was aboard Bolivian presidential plane
• MADRID (AP) -- Spain says it and other European countries were told that fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden was aboard the Bolivian presidential plane that was diverted to Austria this week, causing a diplomatic row.
• Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Friday on Spanish National Television "they told us that the information was clear, that he was inside."
• The minister did not say who supplied the information and declined to say whether he had been in contact with the United States. But he says European coun (Continued on page 23)
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