Morales gets hero's welcome after US forced plane down in Snowden hunt
Supporters hail president after America's 'open provocation towards a continent' over Snowden
Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived home to a hero's welcome, saying some European countries' refusal to let his plane enter their airspace because of suspicion it carried fugitive US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was a provocation aimed at all of South America.
Morales was greeted late on Wednesday by his cabinet and cheering, fist-pumping crowds at La Paz's airport after a dramatic journey from Moscow that ignited a diplomatic row when his plane was forced to make a stop in Vienna on Tuesday evening.
"This was an open provocation towards a continent, not just a president. North American imperialism uses its people to terrify and intimidate us," he said. "I just want to say they will never frighten us because we are a people of dignity and sovereignty."
Other Latin American leaders were also fuming over the incident, with heads of state in the 12-nation South American bloc Unasur denouncing the "unfriendly and unjustifiable acts".
The bloc said a group of leaders from member countries scheduled an emergency summit in Bolivia yesterday to discuss the matter. Unasur includes the close leftist allies of Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Argentina as well as centrist governments like those in Chile and Brazil.