Spanish ambassador to Bolivia offers apology over July 2 plane incident

Spain’s ambassador to Bolivia, Angel Vazquez, has presented a letter both explaining and apologizing for the incident in which a Bolivian aircraft carrying President Evo Morales was denied entry into his country’s airspace on July 2. Vazquez presented the letter to Bolivia’s vice chancellor, Juan Carlos Alurralde, during remarks to the press, saying “we regret this incident, we offered our reasoning, which was inadequate and which upset the president [Morales] and placed him in a difficult and inappropriate situation as a head of state.” The small jet was on its way back to Bolivia after the head of state attended an energy summit in Moscow, but was forced to make an emergency landing in Austria after being denied permission to enter France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. That incident was evidently sparked by claims circulated by the American ambassador to Austria, William Eacho, that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was aboard the aircraft. In an emergency meeting of Mercosur nations last week, Latin American leaders condemned the actions by European countries, demanding apologies.