Just something people are missing about yesterdays drama...

[tangent4ronpaul]

The Bolivian coalitions plane was diverted on their way back from a International gas (as in natural gas) forum in Russia.

Who else was at that forum? umm, the Venezuelan coalition?

What two countries are most likely to give Snowden asylem? Bolivia and Venezuela...

So where is the Venezuelan aircraft?

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/edward-snowden-asylum-live?CMP=twt_gu

1 hr ago:
https://twitter.com/scharlatanja/statuses/352292342998384640

tanja malle tanja malle ‏@scharlatanja

Austrian officials can not claim truthfully #Snowden is not on #Morales plane, for crew says, no one was allowed to enter it. #Vienna

==
Austrian officials have said that Snowden is not on board. But a journalist on the ground said that it was impossible for them to ascertain this, as, according to the plane crew, they were not allowed to enter the jet (as a presidential plane they can restrict access).

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

What a clusterfuck...



5 min ago

The Spanish government has not just annoyed Morales and Bolivia with its refusal to allow his plane through its airspace. Austrian foreign minister Michael Spindelegger is also annoyed. He reportedly said:

We don´t understand, why Spain is acting like that.

He also maintained that Austrian officials had been on the plane and Snowden was not there. Journalists at the airport had earlier suggested that Austrian authorities could not conclusively attest to Snowden not being on board as the jet's crew were saying no-one had been allowed on to the plane.

Updated 5 min ago

33 min ago

Morales said he refused a request by the Spanish authorities to inspect his plane in Vienna and has not been granted permission to use Spanish airspace, according to Reuters.

Updated 21 min ago

39 min ago

It appears that Morales's path may not have been cleared after all. The Austrian reporter Tanja Malle tweets that at another press conference, this time with Morales and ambassadors from the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (Alba), it was said that Spain was still not opening its airspace to his flight.

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

14 min ago

This is very strange. AP is reporting that both French and Spanish officials have denied refusing to let Morales's plane cross their respective airspace.

French officials denied on Wednesday that France refused to let the Bolivian president's plane cross over its airspace amid suspicions that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was aboard. Spain, too, said the plane was free to cross its territory ...

Bolivian officials said that France, Portugal, Spain and Italy blocked the plane from flying over their territories, and angrily demanded explanation ...

Two officials with the French foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Morales's plane had authorisation to fly over France. They would not comment on why Bolivian officials said otherwise. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to be publicly named according to ministry policy.

An official with Spain's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the country on Tuesday authorised Morales' plane to fly within its airspace and to make a refueling stop. The official said Bolivia asked again this morning for permission and got it. She spoke on condition of anonymity because of department rules.

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

Take a look at the last line of the OP.

I wonder if this is one of those: "Hi officer, I'm the designated decoy. All my friends just went that way..." type things...

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

8 min ago

So, after a stopover of more than 12 hours at Vienna airport, Morales is on his way. But the diplomatic row is set to run.

Bolivia's ambassador to the United Nations in New York said the refusal to let his president's plane cross over European airspace was an act of aggression that should have consequences, AP reports.

Sacha Llorenti told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday that France, Portugal, Spain and Italy "violated international law" when they blocked President Evo Morales' plane that was returning from a trip to Moscow, based on suspicions NSA leaker Edward Snowden might be aboard.

"We interpret this as an aggression" and will ask UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to intervene, he said Wednesday.

Llorenti says "the orders came from the United States" but other nations violated the immunity of the president and his plane, putting his life at risk.

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

Bolivia angered by search of president's plane, no sign of Snowden
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/03/us-usa-security-snowden-idUSBRE9610C520130703

Bolivia accused Austria of an act of aggression by searching President Evo Morales' plane on Wednesday and blamed Washington for its forced landing in Vienna over suspicions that former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was on board.

Morales' plane was stranded at Vienna airport for several hours after Portugal and France abruptly canceled air permits for it to fly through their airspace, but eventually resumed its flight home form an energy meeting in Moscow.

Austria found no sign of Snowden on board. He is believed to still be in the transit area of a Moscow airport, where he has been trying since June 23 to find a country that will protect him from prosecution in the United States on espionage charges.

The diversion and search of Morales' plane were the latest turns in the 30-year-old Snowden's bid to escape the clutches of the United States since he divulged details of a secret U.S. government surveillance program, Prism.

Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca blamed the forced stopover in Vienna on "unfounded suspicions that Mr Snowden was on the plane".

"We don't know who invented this lie," Choquehuanca said in La Paz. "We want to express our displeasure because this has put the president's life at risk."

Bolivia's ambassador to the United Nations told reporters in Geneva that Austria's decision to search the plane was an act of aggression and a violation of international law.

The envoy, Sacha Llorentty Soliz, said he had no doubt that the orders to divert Morales' plane came from the United States.

Austria's deputy chancellor, Michael Spindelegger, confirmed Snowden had not been stowed away after Austrian authorities inspected Morales' government plane but said the search had been permitted by Morales.

"Our colleagues from the airport had a look and can give assurances that no one is on board who is not a Bolivian citizen," Spindelegger told reporters at the airport.

"Morales agreed to a voluntary inspection," he added.

Austrian President Heinz Fischer said Spanish airspace was open to Morales' plane.

The plane eventually left Vienna about noon on Wednesday, an airport spokesman said.

Bolivia is among more than a dozen countries where Snowden has sought asylum and Morales has said he would consider granting the American refuge if requested.

Snowden's options have narrowed since he arrived in Moscow from Hong Kong with no valid travel documents after the United States revoked his passport.

U.S. President Barack Obama has warned that an offer of asylum from a country would carry serious costs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is unwilling to send Snowden to the United States, a move that could make it look weak, and it has no extradition treaty with Washington. But he also does not want to damage ties with the United States over a man for whom Putin, a former KGB spy, has little sympathy.

Five countries have rejected granting Snowden asylum, seven have said they would consider a request if made on their soil, and eight said they had either not made a decision or not received a request.

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

4 min ago

My Guardian colleague Glen Greenwald, who was approached by Edward Snowden with the NSA leaks, tweets, citing an Austrian journalist, that airport police officers were only allowed to "walk through" the plane.

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 3, 2013

Austrian journalist tells me: Bolivia did not give permission to have Morales' plane searched, but airport policeman allowed to walk through

Bolivia's ambassador to the UN has said that Austria's decision to search the plane was an act of aggression and a violation of international law, while Austria's deputy chancellor has said Morales granted permission to search it.

25 min ago

Bolivia's ambassador to the UN Sacha Lorenti also said that Austria's decision to search the plane was an act of aggression and a violation of international law, according to Reuters. Earlier, Morales referred to his Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer as his "brother".

Austria's deputy chancellor Michael Spindelegger claimed that Morales "agreed to a voluntary inspection".

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

5 min ago

Individual European Union member states have the right to refuse access to their airspace but it was unclear why France and Portugal cancelled air permits for a plane carrying the Bolivian president Evo Morales, an EU Commission spokeswoman said. She told Reuters:

At the moment it is not entirely clear what happened this morning, why the French and Portuguese decided to divert the flight.

But she added that it was a sovereign responsibility of EU member states to decide whether to refuse access to an aircraft and the EU had no powers in the area.

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

3 min ago

With uncanny timing, given events over the past 24 hours, Reporters Without Borders general secretary Christophe Deloire, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have co-signed an op-Ed in Le Monde calling on EU states to protect Edward Snowden. It says:

On October 12, 2012, the European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize for contributing to the “advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.” The EU should show itself worthy of this honor and show its will to defend freedom of information, regardless of fears of political pressure from its so-called closest ally, the United States ...

This young man [Snowden] will remain abandoned in the transit zone of the Moscow airport only if the European countries abandon their principles, as well as a major part of the raison d’être of the EU. Expressions of diplomatic outrage will be empty gestures if the person responsible for the revelations is left isolated and abandoned.

-t

[ghengis86]

So france/spain did or did not block their airspace?

And was it a search or just a walk through?

This flight was either a decoy/test to determine US response, or Snowden was/is really on that flight.

[limequat]

Kinda sounds like Morales is pretending to be outraged, and the Austrians are pretending they did a search.

Pretty strong actions taken here. Someone with power thought Snowden was on that plane.

[angelatc]

police state? more like a police world.

[V3n]

This guy thinks he'll show up...

http://i.imgur.com/gNHzJbX.jpg

[Lucille]

INCiDeNT OVeR VieNNa
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-07-03/incident-over-vienna

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5550/9196072037_26b7f7d21a_b.jpg

[HOLLYWOOD]

France24.com


Morales’s plane en route amid Snowden scandal


© Photo: AFP

Bolivian President Evo Morales took off from Vienna on Tuesday after being diverted and held up for more than 14 hours amid suspicions that US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board his jet. By Shona BHATTACHARYYA (http://www.france24.com/en/category/tags-auteurs/shona-bhattacharyya) (video)
FRANCE 24 (http://www.france24.com/en/category/tags-auteurs/france-24) (text)

An airplane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales from Moscow was diverted and held up in Vienna for more than 14 hours after several European countries forbade the Bolivian-bound jet to travel through their airspace amid suspicions that US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden (http://www.france24.com/en/category/tags-th%C3%A9matiques/edward-snowden) was on board.
Morales’s plane departed from Vienna around 11:45am (0945GMT), but not before the incident sparked a major diplomatic row.








Morales is leaving. With or without #snowden (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23snowden&src=hash) pic.twitter.com/yoCRi14ONX (http://t.co/yoCRi14ONX)
— Matthias Cremer (@MatthiasCremer) July 3, 2013 (https://twitter.com/MatthiasCremer/statuses/352362278911361024)






Bolivia's Ambassador to the United Nations in New York Sacha Llorenti said the South American country would file a UN complaint over the European airspace blockade.
France's foreign ministry told FRANCE 24 on Wednesday that the presidential plane had been allowed to traverse French airspace, denying earlier reports that France had also banned the jet from its territory.
Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca initially accused France and Portugal of closing its airspace.
Defence Minister Ruben Saavedra, travelling with Morales, told an impromptu press conference at Vienna airport that he and the president had “no contact” with Snowden.
Austrian officials insisted Snowden was not on board after searching the plane, a move Llorenti described as “an act of aggression and a violation of international law”.
President Morales had been in Moscow for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders. Snowden, wanted in the US for uncovering a vast surveillance operation by the National Security Agency, has been holed up in a Moscow airport since June 23, from where he has reportedly requested asylum from 20 different countries.
‘We are all Bolivia!’
The incident has sparked a diplomatic scandal, with Latin American leaders convening an emergency Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) meeting to discuss the matter, according to Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez.
In a midnight press conference from the city of La Paz, Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia said that Morales had been “kidnapped by imperialism” in Europe. “President Evo is no criminal. He had the right to immunity on his flight,” Garcia said.








Austria's president Fischer said #morales (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23morales&src=hash) can continue his trip soon pic.twitter.com/qSGh1NN99X (http://t.co/qSGh1NN99X)
— Alexander Weber (@WeberAlexander) July 3, 2013 (https://twitter.com/WeberAlexander/statuses/352334071365529600)






Meanwhile in Vienna, Defence Minister Saavedra pointed an accusatory finger at Washington. “We want to declare very firmly that it was an American story that Edward Snowden was on this flight,” he said from the airport lounge.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa called on his regional counterparts to form a unified response to the incident that he labelled an “affront” not just to Morales, but the entire region.
“This is a critical moment for UNASUR: Either we are colonies or we assert our independence, sovereignty and dignity. We are all Bolivia!” Correa said via the micro-blogging website Twitter.
The rerouting of the plane follows Correa’s revelation on Saturday that US vice-president Joe Biden asked Ecuador to turn down an asylum request from Snowden.
Meanwhile, the anti-secrecy WikiLeaks group said Tuesday it had filed asylum requests on behalf of Snowden to several other Latin American countries, including Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Nicaragua andVenezuela.
However, Quito and Caracas have expressed reticence at approving the asylum request, and Brazil flatly said it would refuse to answer it.
Amid the international fallout over the US spying allegations, Ecuador’s foreign minister on Tuesday said that a surveillance microphone had been uncovered at its embassy in London, where WikiLeaks figurehead Julian Assange has been camping out for over a year.

[tangent4ronpaul]

5 min ago

The Associated Press has a good round-up on the responses of France, Portugal, Italy and Spain to Bolivia's claims those countries would not let Morales's plane fly through their airspace.

French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said: "France ended up authorising the flight over its airspace by Mr Morales's plane." She said that the plane was "authorised to fly over French territory", but wouldn't say whether there had been an initial refusal last night.

The Portuguese foreign ministry said that Portugal had granted permission for the plane to fly through its airspace but declined Bolivia's request for a refuelling stop in Lisbon due to unspecified technical reasons.

Italian officials have not spoken out about the matter.

Spain, where Morales's plane is due to refuel during its current journey, denied Bolivian claims that it only agreed to allow the plane to refuel in the Canaries if Bolivian authorities allowed it to be inspected. The foreign minister said this was not the case. The prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, said authorisation was given for the refuelling stop but that it was important that Snowden was not aboard.

20 min ago

France has called for the trade negotiations between the US and the EU to be put on hold for two weeks in the wake of Guardian and Spiegel revelations about America eavesdropping on its European allies.

"It seems wise to us to suspend [the talks] temporarily, for a period of 15 days," French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said.

But Paris has never been that keen on the trade deal and the rest of the EU is unlikely to agree.

31 min ago

Jim Roberts of Reuters quotes Sacha Llorenti Soliz, the Bolivian ambassador to the UN, as also using the charged term "kidnapped" to describe the aeroplane incident. (The Bolivian vice president, Alvaro Garcia, said overnight that Evo Morales had been "kidnapped by imperialiam".)

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) July 3, 2013

Bolivia's UN Amb.: "We're talking about the president on an official trip after an official summit being kidnapped" http://t.co/weqLOi1VAP

46 min ago
Summary

• A jet carrying the Bolivian president is on its way home after being forced to land at Vienna airport because of the refusal of some European countries to let it pass through their airspace. Eva Morales was returning from a visit to Moscow. He called it "an excuse to scare, intimidate and punish me".

• Morales was stranded at the airport for 14 hours amidst suspicions that the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was onboard. Both the Bolivian and Austrian authorities insisted he was not on the plane, although the extent to which the Austrian police officers searched the jet was unclear.

• An Austrian official told AP that Morales' aircraft asked controllers at Vienna airport to land because there was "no clear indication" that the plane had enough fuel to continue on its journey. This tallies with audio posted online purporting to be of a conversation between the jet pilot and the control room at the airport.

• The Austrian government said it was given permission by Morales to search the plane but Bolivia's vice-president Alvaro Garcia denied this, saying the jet was entitled to immunity. He said Morales had been "kidnapped by imperialism", while the Bolivian foreign minister, David Choquehuanca, accused France and Portugal of putting the president's life at risk by cancelling authorisation for the plane.

• Bolivia's ambassador to the UN Sacha Llorenti Soliz France, said Portugal, Spain and Italy "violated international law" by blocking Morales's plane, adding that "the orders came from the United States". AP quoted French and Spanish officials denying that they had refused entry but Spanish officials did not comment on the Bolivian claim that they made searching the plane a condition of refuelling in the Canary Islands.

• A number of South American leaders voiced outrage at the incident, including the Argentinian president Cristina Kirchner and Rafael Correa, the president of Ecuador.

• Latin American presidents plan an emergency meeting today to discuss the diversion of the plane. The time of the meeting of Unasur (Union of South American Nations) has not been revealed.

• Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino says Ecuador has found a hidden microphone inside its London embassy, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is living, and it will disclose today who controls the device. He described it as "another instance of a loss of ethics at the international level in relations between governments".

1 hour ago

In a statement (in Spanish), the office of the Bolivian presidency says Morales is due to arrive in Bolivia at about 2.30pm (7.30pm BST).

It says his jet will stop in the Canary Islands for refuelling (Spain was previously denying the jet permission to land for refuelling unless the plane could be searched in Vienna, according to Bolivia) and Brazil.

The statement referred to the claims that Snowden was on board as "baseless".

1 hour ago

Index on Censorship has called on EU members to honour their commitments to freedom of expression, following the reports that some countries prevented the plane carrying Morales from entering their airspace.

Chief executive Kirsty Hughes said:

Members of the EU have a duty to protect freedom of expression and should not interfere in an individual’s rights to seek asylum. Edward Snowden is a whistleblower whose free speech rights should be protected not criminalised.

2 hours ago

Latin American presidents plan an emergency meeting today to discuss the diversion to Austria of a plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales, the Bolivian ambassador to the United Nations has said (via Reuters).

The Bolivian plane, which was taking Morales home from Moscow, was stranded and searched in Vienna on suspicion that it might be carrying fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden. A search determined that Snowden was not onboard and the plane eventually left Vienna about noon on Wednesday.

"We have been told that an emergency meeting of Unasur (Union of South American Nations) is going to be held today," Sacha Llorenti Soliz told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday. No time for the meeting was mentioned.

"What's at stake here is ... the dignity of Bolivia and the dignity of Latin America," he said, adding that the presidents of Peru, Ecuador and Argentina had all spoken with Morales about the incident.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told a news conference in Geneva that he had not received any request for such a meeting.

2 hours ago

In not totally unrelated news, Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino says Ecuador has found a hidden microphone inside its London embassy, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is living, and it will disclose on Wednesday who controls the device. He described it as "another instance of a loss of ethics at the international level in relations between governments".

Wikileaks linked the bugging to the blockading of Morales's jet, describing it as another instance of "imperial arrogance".

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 3, 2013

Sieging/bugging of Ecuador's London embassy and the blockading of Morales jet shows that imperial arrogance is the gift that keeps on giving

3 hours ago

My colleague Angelique Chrisafis sent this update from Paris - it seems France is keen to draw a line under the matter.

In a briefing, the French foreign office spokesman was asked why France had closed its airspace to Morales's flight, and was asked to detail exactly when requests had been made by Bolivia for the flight to cross French airspace. The spokesman said only: “Authorisation to fly over [French] national territory has been given to the Bolivian president's flight. We don't want to stoke any controversy on this subject via the press.”

[tangent4ronpaul]

53 min ago

The Associated Press has a good round-up on the responses of France, Portugal, Italy and Spain to Bolivia's claims those countries would not let Morales's plane fly through their airspace.

French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said: "France ended up authorising the flight over its airspace by Mr Morales's plane." She said that the plane was "authorised to fly over French territory", but wouldn't say whether there had been an initial refusal last night.

The Portuguese foreign ministry said that Portugal had granted permission for the plane to fly through its airspace but declined Bolivia's request for a refuelling stop in Lisbon due to unspecified technical reasons.

Italian officials have not spoken out about the matter.

Spain, where Morales's plane is due to refuel during its current journey, denied Bolivian claims that it only agreed to allow the plane to refuel in the Canaries if Bolivian authorities allowed it to be inspected. The foreign minister said this was not the case. The prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, said authorisation was given for the refuelling stop but that it was important that Snowden was not aboard.

1 hour ago

France has called for the trade negotiations between the US and the EU to be put on hold for two weeks in the wake of Guardian and Spiegel revelations about America eavesdropping on its European allies.

"It seems wise to us to suspend [the talks] temporarily, for a period of 15 days," French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said.

But Paris has never been that keen on the trade deal and the rest of the EU is unlikely to agree.

1 hour ago

Jim Roberts of Reuters quotes Sacha Llorenti Soliz, the Bolivian ambassador to the UN, as also using the charged term "kidnapped" to describe the aeroplane incident. (The Bolivian vice president, Alvaro Garcia, said overnight that Evo Morales had been "kidnapped by imperialiam".)

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) July 3, 2013

Bolivia's UN Amb.: "We're talking about the president on an official trip after an official summit being kidnapped" http://t.co/weqLOi1VAP

2 hours ago
Summary

• A jet carrying the Bolivian president is on its way home after being forced to land at Vienna airport because of the refusal of some European countries to let it pass through their airspace. Eva Morales was returning from a visit to Moscow. He called it "an excuse to scare, intimidate and punish me".

• Morales was stranded at the airport for 14 hours amidst suspicions that the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was onboard. Both the Bolivian and Austrian authorities insisted he was not on the plane, although the extent to which the Austrian police officers searched the jet was unclear.

• An Austrian official told AP that Morales' aircraft asked controllers at Vienna airport to land because there was "no clear indication" that the plane had enough fuel to continue on its journey. This tallies with audio posted online purporting to be of a conversation between the jet pilot and the control room at the airport.

• The Austrian government said it was given permission by Morales to search the plane but Bolivia's vice-president Alvaro Garcia denied this, saying the jet was entitled to immunity. He said Morales had been "kidnapped by imperialism", while the Bolivian foreign minister, David Choquehuanca, accused France and Portugal of putting the president's life at risk by cancelling authorisation for the plane.

• Bolivia's ambassador to the UN Sacha Llorenti Soliz France, said Portugal, Spain and Italy "violated international law" by blocking Morales's plane, adding that "the orders came from the United States". AP quoted French and Spanish officials denying that they had refused entry but Spanish officials did not comment on the Bolivian claim that they made searching the plane a condition of refuelling in the Canary Islands.

• A number of South American leaders voiced outrage at the incident, including the Argentinian president Cristina Kirchner and Rafael Correa, the president of Ecuador.

• Latin American presidents plan an emergency meeting today to discuss the diversion of the plane. The time of the meeting of Unasur (Union of South American Nations) has not been revealed.

• Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino says Ecuador has found a hidden microphone inside its London embassy, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is living, and it will disclose today who controls the device. He described it as "another instance of a loss of ethics at the international level in relations between governments".

2 hours ago

In a statement (in Spanish), the office of the Bolivian presidency says Morales is due to arrive in Bolivia at about 2.30pm (7.30pm BST).

It says his jet will stop in the Canary Islands for refuelling (Spain was previously denying the jet permission to land for refuelling unless the plane could be searched in Vienna, according to Bolivia) and Brazil.

The statement referred to the claims that Snowden was on board as "baseless".

2 hours ago

Index on Censorship has called on EU members to honour their commitments to freedom of expression, following the reports that some countries prevented the plane carrying Morales from entering their airspace.

Chief executive Kirsty Hughes said:

Members of the EU have a duty to protect freedom of expression and should not interfere in an individual’s rights to seek asylum. Edward Snowden is a whistleblower whose free speech rights should be protected not criminalised.

3 hours ago

Latin American presidents plan an emergency meeting today to discuss the diversion to Austria of a plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales, the Bolivian ambassador to the United Nations has said (via Reuters).

The Bolivian plane, which was taking Morales home from Moscow, was stranded and searched in Vienna on suspicion that it might be carrying fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden. A search determined that Snowden was not onboard and the plane eventually left Vienna about noon on Wednesday.

"We have been told that an emergency meeting of Unasur (Union of South American Nations) is going to be held today," Sacha Llorenti Soliz told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday. No time for the meeting was mentioned.

"What's at stake here is ... the dignity of Bolivia and the dignity of Latin America," he said, adding that the presidents of Peru, Ecuador and Argentina had all spoken with Morales about the incident.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told a news conference in Geneva that he had not received any request for such a meeting.

3 hours ago

In not totally unrelated news, Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino says Ecuador has found a hidden microphone inside its London embassy, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is living, and it will disclose on Wednesday who controls the device. He described it as "another instance of a loss of ethics at the international level in relations between governments".

Wikileaks linked the bugging to the blockading of Morales's jet, describing it as another instance of "imperial arrogance".

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 3, 2013

Sieging/bugging of Ecuador's London embassy and the blockading of Morales jet shows that imperial arrogance is the gift that keeps on giving

3 hours ago

My colleague Angelique Chrisafis sent this update from Paris - it seems France is keen to draw a line under the matter.

In a briefing, the French foreign office spokesman was asked why France had closed its airspace to Morales's flight, and was asked to detail exactly when requests had been made by Bolivia for the flight to cross French airspace. The spokesman said only: “Authorisation to fly over [French] national territory has been given to the Bolivian president's flight. We don't want to stoke any controversy on this subject via the press.”

[tangent4ronpaul]

10 min ago

Edward Snowden misused his right to digital access and has created problems that outweigh the benefits of public disclosure, the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has said.

Ban said that in his personal opinion "the Snowden case is something I consider to be misuse." The UN chief added that the opening up of digital communications should not be "misused in such a way as Snowden did".

31 min ago

James Brokenshire, Britain's security minister, has claimed that leaks of "highly sensitive information" can undermine national security, although he said he was not commenting specifically on the Guardian's Edward Snowden revelations. The Conservative minister told Reuters:

Disclosure of highly sensitive information can be damaging. It can certainly undermine our security, certainly it can put lives at risk. It provides a partial view and it can undermine the very security and actions our intelligence and other agencies are engaged in to keep us all safe.

Asked if the disclosures would damage intelligence sharing in the future, Brokenshire said countries recognised they had to work together to combat threats. "I have every confidence that will continue to be the case," he said.

He said balancing civil liberties and spies' attempts to protect national security was a "quandary" but added:

This isn't about trying to read everybody's emails, trying to spy and pry into everyone's day to day activities. We must always be focused on ensuring our agencies are able to conduct their activities at times in secret because the threats that we face are prepared in secret.

44 min ago

The secretary general of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) has confirmed that Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa has asked for an urgent meeting over the Morales incident.

50 min ago

My colleague Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro has filed this story on the furious Latin American reaction to the Morales aeroplane incident.

He quotes the foreign minister of Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño Aroca, as saying:

We will not allow this affront against a Latin American leader.

And José Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the Organisation of American States, said:

Nothing justifies an action as disrespectful to the highest authority of a country.

The US has remained silent on whether it did indeed put pressure on France, Spain, Portugal and Italy not to allow Morales's plane to fly through their airspace.