[image: Hands Off Venezuela]*Hands Off Venezuela* @HOVcampaign<https://twitter.com/HOVcampaign> 4m <https://twitter.com/HOVcampaign/status/352417390874726400>
Hands Off Venezuela in solidarity with Evo Morales and the revolutionary workers and peasants of Bolivia http://www. handsoffvenezuela.org/hov_evo_morales.htm <http://t.co/fNgqEVovEG> Hands Off Venezuela in solidarity with Evo Morales<http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org/hov_evo_morales.htm> 03 July 2013 Hands Off Venezuela - <http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org/hov_evo_morales/print.htm> - <http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org/component/com_mailto/link,99a28a13bbc6ab3e448e31d89bac064d66bd5542/template,rt_camber/tmpl,component/> Hands Off Venezuela would like to express our solidarity with the Bolivian president Evo Morales, with the revolutionary workers and peasants of Bolivia, in the face of the blatant imperialist aggression which held the president against his will in Vienna for over 14 hours. [image: 353px-Evo Morales]In the evening of July 2nd, Bolivian president Evo Morales was flying back to his country after having attended a summit of gas exporting countries in Moscow. His plane was denied air space passage and landing rights by France, Portugal and Italy which put the personal safety of all those on board at risk. The plane was therefore forced to make an emergency landing at Vienna airport. The Bolivian Foreign Affairs Ministry declared that the reason for this unprecedented violation of international law was the unfounded rumour that Edward Snowden was on board the plane. By 4 am local time, both France and Portugal had changed their position, only after strong protests by the Bolivian authorities and a stern denial that Snowden was on board. Then it was the Spanish government which refused Morales the right to use its airspace. By 6 am the Spanish authorities offered to open their airspace only if they were allowed to search and inspect the plane. Evo Morales rejected the demand which was clearly illegal. It was only after 9.30 am that the Spanish authorities finally gave permission for president Morales plane to fly over Spain. The Austrian police then conducted a passport check on all passengers of the plane. It was not until 11.30 am that the Bolivian Air Force 1 plane finally left Vienna airport. The democratically elected president of Bolivia had been held against his will for over 14 hours. The Hands Off Venezuela campaign declares: - Our outrage at this flagrant violation of international law, regardless of who was or not on board, a presidential plane has immunity and should be allowed safe passage. Clearly there is a law for the big powers and another for small countries. - We note that some of the countries which denied president Morales the use of their airspace (Italy, Portugal and Spain), had no problem collaborating with the CIAs illegal rendition flights. - We note that amongst the revelations made public by Snowden is the fact that the US authorities spied on the European Union and European countries. Despite this, these same countries are prepared to follow the instructions of the US in illegally grounding Evo Morales plane. - We express our solidarity with the Bolivian president Evo Morales, with the revolutionary workers and peasants of Bolivia, in the face of this blatant imperialist aggression. Ecuador Foreign Minister: hidden microphone found at London embassy where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is living. WikiLeaks attacks Obama's 'thin-skinned vindictiveness' in Snowden row Philip Dorling Published: July 3, 2013 - 2:34PM Advertisement WikiLeaks has accused US President Barack Obama of thin-skinned vindictiveness after European governments denied airspace to an aircraft carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales because of suspicions it might be carrying US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden. Julian Assange has also condemned the bugging of Ecuador's London embassy, where he is living, after Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino announced that a listening device had been found in the ambassador's office. In an extraordinary move, France and Portugal revoked flight clearances for the Bolivian President's plane on Tuesday after representations were reportedly made by the US State Department. Mr Morales was flying home from an energy conference in Moscow and his aircraft was hastily rerouted to Vienna, Austria. Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca angrily denied that Mr Snowden was on the President's aircraft, a fact later confirmed by Austrian authorities, and said France and Portugal would have to explain why they abruptly cancelled authorisation for the flight. "We want to express our displeasure because this has put the President's life at risk, he said. Bolivian Defence Minister Ruben Saavedra, who was also on the flight, said the airspace denial was a hostile act by the United States State Department, which has used various European governments." Mr Morales had said he would consider granting asylum to Mr Snowden if his government received an application. Countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America have spurned asylum requests by Mr Snowden, despite a call by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for the world to protect the former US intelligence contractor. The 30-year-old American is in legal limbo in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, unable to fly out because he has no legal travel documents and also has no Russian visa to leave the airport. He has reportedly withdrawn his request for asylum in Russia after President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said Russia would insist that he stop "harming our American partners". WikiLeaks, which has been assisting Mr Snowden's requests for asylum after he leaked top secret information about the US National Security Agency's global surveillance programs, described the whistleblower's case as a geopolitical bellwether. Noting Mr Obama's observation last week that he was not going to scramble jets for some 29-year-old hacker," WikiLeaks accused the US President of lying, and added that he may have alienated an entire continent as a result of your thin-skinned vindictiveness. Mr Assange, who plans to run for the Senate in the Australian federal election, called on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to denounce both the airspace denial and the bugging of the Ecuadorean embassy in London, which he said violated the integrity of the embassy and his own rights as a publisher. Australians want to know whether Prime Minister Rudd is principled enough to denounce this conduct. Let us see, Mr Assange told Fairfax Media. Mr Snowden's request for safety in Ecuador, which has sheltered Mr Assange in its London embassy for more than a year, appears to have run into a major obstacle after President Rafael Correa said his government would only consider an asylum request when the applicant reached his country's territory or one of its embassies. Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Mr Patino on Tuesday announced that his ministry had found a listening device in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. "We are infiltrated everywhere," he told a press conference in Quito, adding that he would "request explanations" from the country that had installed the microphone. Mr Patino said the listening device had been found in the office of newly appointed ambassador Juan Falconi Puig during the Foreign Minister's visit to London last month. Published photos show the office was used for discussions between Mr Patino and Mr Assange. Mr Patino said the Ecuadorean government's internal communications, such as emails, were being obtained by various means and handed to the media, including a letter from Mr Snowden to President Correa that was published in the media before it was received by the President. He said he would reveal further details on Wednesday. *This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/world/wikileaks-attacks-obamas-thinskinned-vindictiveness-in-snowden-row-20130703-2pbd9.html * [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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