The US is prying into emails of top Bolivian officials, said Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, who admitted he has terminated his email account in light of the revelations.
Morales said he learned about the alleged US email spying at the
Mercosur regional summit in Montevideo that was held earlier this
week, AFP reported.
"Those US intelligence agents have accessed the emails of our
most senior authorities in Bolivia, Morales said in a speech.
"It was recommended to me that I not use email, and I've
followed suit and shut it down," he added.
Morales’ accusation of US email spying is just the latest scandal
to emerge between US and Latin American officials in the wake of
the Snowden affair.
Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman told the same summit
that more than 100 of his country's officials were also under
electronic surveillance. He did not say what country he believed
was responsible for the spying.
The accusations come just one week after Morales’ presidential
plane, which was returning from Russia, was banned from European
airspace and forced to land in Austria in the belief that NSA
leaker Edward Snowden, who is presently in Moscow, was on board.
Bolivia asserts that it was US officials who were behind the
decision to ground Morales’ aircraft.
During the Mercosur summit, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and
Uruguay showed allegiance with Bolivia, saying the incident
violated international law.
As a result, ambassadors from the five major Latin American
countries will be recalled from France, Spain, Portugal and
Italy, the four EU countries that closed their airspace to
Morales’ plane.
Bolivia has joined Venezuela and Nicaragua in offering asylum to
Edward Snowden, 30, the former systems analyst for the US
National Security Agency (NSA) who released top-secret
information on a ‘data-mining’ global surveillance system, called
PRISM, which reportedly collects and stores communications on
friends and enemies alike.
Snowden, who has been in Moscow since June 23, recently expressed
his desire to receive asylum in Russia, pledging to adhere
to Moscow’s condition that he not attempt to further
“damage” the United States.
Washington says the leaks threatened national security, insisting
the secret programs are legal and have helped prevent a number of
terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, Morales renewed his offer of asylum to Snowden on
Saturday, saying his country would follow all "diplomatic
norms and international accords" in the case.