U.S Admits To Discussing Flight-Blocking With Countries Over Snowden

Yesterday there was an incident that saw Bolivian President Evo Morales forced to land in Austria after suspicions that Edward Snowden was onboard. His plane was refused entry into airspace of Portugal, Spain and France on the way back to La Paz and this has left a bitter taste in the mouth of Latin American countries who are now taking the matter to the UN with an official complaint. Since that incident the U.S state department has come out and admitted that it has been actively speaking with countries about denying airspace and land access to any transport carrying Edward Snowden.

Speaking with the Guardian a U.S spokesperson stated that:

“We have been in contact with a range of countries that had a chance of having Snowden land or travel through their country but I am not going to outline which countries or when the contact happened”

This comes after the U.S president said last week that he would not bother to interfere in Snowden’s flights. Now that the USA is worried about the fact Snowden might actually get away and get political asylum and has made a complete u-turn on its previous statements. While the U.S didn’t admit to being responsible for the incident with Bolivia’s Evo Morales, nearly everyone suspects they were the culprits. Also given these talks with other countries about airspace blockades took place in the last ten days, it is highly likely the USA was responsible.

Image courtesy of AFP Photo/Patrick Domingo