Bugged Europe accepts US demands and blocks Morales plane

The Bolivian President Juan Evo Morales Ayma (first from right) visited the European Parliament in May 2005 and had an exchange of views with the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, in a meeting presided by Elmar Brok, Chair of AFET Committee at the time (second from right). (EU Parliament photographic library, 15/05/2006).

The Bolivian President Juan Evo Morales Ayma (first from right) visited the European Parliament in May 2006 and had an exchange of views with the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, in a meeting presided by Elmar Brok, Chair of AFET Committee at the time (second from right). (EU Parliament photographic library, 15/05/2006).

If the plane of a European Union head of state or government, while passing over a Latin American country, had been forced to land by the country’s military and civil authorities, and then searched for 15 hours, say by the Bolivian police and secret agencies, the entire EU political establishment would have climbed at the rooftops shouting ‘thieves’. If this Latin American country was not so much liked by western financial giants, the repercussions could have reached a real economic embargo. In real life however it was the plane of the Bolivian President Evo Morales this week that was forced to land in the Vienna airport and its passenger held in Austria for almost one day. During that time his plane was searched by Austrian police, possibly in collaboration with ally ‘experts’ who probably came for this purpose from Washington. During the search of the plane the western officials could have stolen the content of top-secret documents of President Morales and of course the documents related to his Moscow visit. Intercepting Morales Possibly the Europeans and their US allies had decided to force the Morales plane to land with or without Snowden aboard. Four EU countries, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal formed an impenetrable wall in their air space, not allowing Morales to go home as he planned. Later on four Latin American countries Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina and Uruguay joined Bolivia in asking explanations about the actual hijacking of Morales’s plane. At the beginning the Europeans denied that this was a politically forced landing. The South Americans insisted however that the Europeans bowed to American demands and blocked the Morales plane. The reason was that the Bolivian leader a few hours before leaving Moscow, where he was on official business trip, had stated that his country may accord political asylum to Edward Snowden, if he applied for it. Snowden is the hero of a modern time espionage story. He gives information to the Press about the US secret services surveillance and monitoring of half the earth’s population. The European Sting writer Elias Lacon wrote on 2 July: “The new chapter of this espionage story opened when the US National Security Agency ex-adviser, Edward Snowden, gave more information to the Press about an American operation designed to steal top-secret documents from the EU mission in the US. The NSA not only had managed to systematically monitor the internal electronic communications of the EU mission but they had filled the building with bugs”. Bugged and obedient The Bolivian leader stated the obvious, that the European countries obeyed the Americans and forced his plane to land in Vienna. The accusation was even more embarrassing because only days ago two major European media, Der Spiegel and The Guardian, revealed that the Americans had bugged the entire EU mission’s building in the US. It was not only that. There are more media reports that the Americans monitor every month hundreds of millions of telephone calls, SMSs, e-mails and every other type of communications in Europe. The first to break the silence was the Spanish minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García-Margallo. Speaking in a radio interview in Madrid he revealed that the Europeans “were told that Snowden was aboard the plane of Morales”. He didn’t clarify who ‘told the Europeans’ but you don’t need a crystal ball to understand where the demand came from. Incidentally Snowden was not found in the Morales plane by the Austrian and the American agents who searched it meticulously. It is then true that the Europeans, despite the fact that the Americans bugged the entire EU mission’s building in the US and monitored all their electronic communications, they still bowed unconditionally to the American demand to block the Morales plane.

Discover more from The European Sting - Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology - europeansting.com

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Interesting reads

This article is published in association with United Nations.

UN agencies step up Ebola response in eastern DR Congo

This article is published in association with United Nations. United Nations agencies have moved swiftly to support efforts to contain the latest Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), delivering emergency medical supplies, protective equipment and logistics support. As health authorities in both the DRC and Uganda respond to the deadly resurgence, the […]
© UNICEF/Josue Mulala Emergency aid is prepared for delivery to Kasaï province in response to the recently declared Ebola virus disease outbreak in DR Congo.

Ebola risk is high inside DR Congo but it’s no pandemic emergency: WHO

This article is published in association with United Nations. The deadly Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda does not represent a global pandemic emergency, although the risk is high at a regional and national level, the UN health agency chief said on Wednesday. In an update on the fast-developing situation in […]
This article is published in association with United Nations.

How the Hormuz crisis keeps disrupting kitchens, ports and paychecks

This article is published in association with United Nations. The fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran may have eased fears of a wider regional war, but persistent instability around the Strait of Hormuz continues to disrupt global trade, drive up energy costs and fuel a growing jobs and cost-of-living crisis. The fallout is being […]
© UNFPA Ukraine In March 2026, a maternity hospital in Odesa, Ukraine was attacked by Russian forces.

World News in Brief: More attacks in Ukraine, violence against children in Haiti, refugee IDs in Africa

This article is published in association with United Nations. Civilians, including humanitarians, continue to face great danger across war-torn Ukraine amid ongoing hostilities, according to the UN humanitarian relief coordination office there, OCHA. Over the past three days, frontline attacks killed at least 11 civilians and injured nearly 200 others, including five children, as reported by […]
UN Photo/Milton Grant Sculpture depicting St. George slaying the dragon. The dragon is created from fragments of Soviet SS-20 andUnited States Pershing nuclear missiles.

Nuclear terror threat ‘has never been so high’

This article is published in association with United Nations. The widespread availability of new technology, such as militarised drones and artificial intelligence, means that the current threat of nuclear terrorism is higher than it has ever been. The humanitarian, environmental, and economic consequences of a radiological or nuclear terrorist attack would be global, undermining international peace […]
© UNICEF/Nyan Zay Htet Recent disruptions to energy supplies and global supply chains have reverberated across development and humanitarian sectors, including relief efforts in Myanmar, where millions remain in need of assistance.

Global energy and trade disruption pushing millions towards poverty

This article is published in association with United Nations. Disruptions to global energy supplies and trade corridors are driving up the cost of food, transport and essential goods worldwide, slowing economic growth and increasing pressure on vulnerable households and debt-strapped developing countries. The warnings came during a special meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council […]
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher (centre) along with Ambassador Mike Waltz (right) and Jeremy P. Lewin of the United States hold a joint press briefing on funding to the humanitarian system.

UN welcomes $1.8 billion US boost for humanitarian operations

This article is published in association with United Nations. An additional $1.8 billion in US humanitarian funding will allow the United Nations and its partners to expand emergency relief operations reaching millions of people worldwide, as rising global needs and funding shortfalls force aid agencies to scale back assistance. The funding announcement, made on Wednesday by […]
© WHO/Hanan Balkhy Displaced families are living in overcrowded tents and makeshift shelters, surrounded by waste and debris, with limited access to safe water and sanitation services.

World News in Brief: Mounting waste in Gaza, drone attacks in Sudan, aid truck struck in Ukraine

This article is published in association with United Nations. Mounting waste and limited access to sanitation sites are deepening health risks for families across Gaza, as humanitarian workers warn that overcrowded dumping areas and worsening living conditions threaten vulnerable communities. Ramiz Alakbarov, UN’s top aid official in Occupied Palestinian Territory visited a dumping site in Gaza […]
This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Mr. Franco Miguel Nodado, a 4th-year medical student from the Philippines. He is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

Autism Spectrum Disorders in Global Health: Bridging the Gap in  Awareness, Early Diagnosis, and Inclusive Care 

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Georgia Maria Vardalachaki, a medical student from the Medical University of Crete, Greece. She is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s […]
© WHO/Hedinn Halldorsson WHO Director-General Tedros and a health expert during operations involving the MV Hondius off Tenerife amid the hantavirus response.

Hantavirus-hit ship evacuation completed as quarantines begin

This article is published in association with United Nations. The passengers and crew have disembarked from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius in Tenerife and many have returned to their home countries, as the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said the operation demonstrated a “triumph of solidarity”. The repatriation effort, coordinated by Spanish authorities with support […]
© NASA The Strait of Hormuz which separates the United Arab Emirates and Iran is a strategically important shipping route

Strait of Hormuz de-escalation is urgent, says UN chief

This article is published in association with United Nations. As the Strait of Hormuz crisis deepens and tensions between Iran and the United States remain unresolved, oil prices rose again early Monday, prompting the UN Secretary-General to call for a peaceful resolution and warn of the widening fallout across Africa and beyond. “My strong appeal is […]
This article is published in association with United Nations.

Ukraine: Over 3,000 attacks on healthcare since full-scale Russian invasion

This article is published in association with United Nations. The World Health Organization (WHO) has verified more than 3,000 attacks on healthcare in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the UN agency reported on Friday. “During 1,534 days of war, Ukraine’s healthcare system has experienced repeated attacks,” it said.  Every aspect of the system has been […]
WHO Passengers from MV Hondius assisted by Spanish and WHO health teams after disembarking.

Passengers leave hantavirus-hit cruise ship in Tenerife as WHO says outbreak ‘not another COVID’

This article is published in association with United Nations. Passengers and crew from the cruise ship MV Hondius began disembarking in Tenerife on Sunday under a tightly coordinated international health operation led by Spanish authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO), as officials sought to reassure the public that the outbreak “is not another COVID.” The […]
Nuclear energy in the Middle East: A realistic choice or a risk?

Nuclear energy in the Middle East: A realistic choice or a risk?

This article is published in association with United Nations. As global electricity demand grows, so does the popularity of nuclear energy. In the Middle East, several countries are evaluating or advancing nuclear power projects, balancing weighty issues such as regional security, climatic conditions and international cooperation. “Nuclear energy is at the intersection of energy demands, technological […]
© NASA The Strait of Hormuz which separates the United Arab Emirates and Iran is a strategically important shipping route

Bahrain and US float Security Council resolution on the Strait of Hormuz

This article is published in association with United Nations. Bahrain and the United States have circulated a draft Security Council resolution calling for Iran to cease attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, their ambassadors outlined to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday. The text is supported by Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the […]
© CDC An enhanced microscopic image shows the Hantavirus.

Hantavirus outbreak: Another passenger contracts disease

This article is published in association with United Nations. It’s been confirmed that another passenger from the cruise liner linked to the outbreak of hantavirus has contracted the disease, which has claimed the lives of three people on board and sparked an international alert coordinated by the UN World Health Organization (WHO). The individual, who is […]
This article is published in association with United Nations.

UN warns of worsening human rights crisis in Mali after deadly attacks

This article is published in association with United Nations. The human rights situation in Mali is rapidly deteriorating following coordinated attacks by armed groups across the country, with civilians killed, displaced and cut off from food and aid, UN rights office OHCHR said on Tuesday. The violence, which erupted on 25 and 26 April, saw large-scale […]
© UNICEF A damaged ambulance in Tebnine in southern Lebanon.

In Lebanon, the same fears and dangers persist despite ceasefire: UNHCR

This article is published in association with United Nations. Death and destruction have continued unabated in Lebanon while communities are still unable to return to their homes despite a ceasefire that began on 17 April, humanitarians said on Tuesday. “Civilians in the south of Lebanon and parts of the Bekaa [Valley] are really living with the […]
© Unsplash/Planet Volumes A computer-generated image shows the Strait of Hormuz.

Uncertainty continues over safety in the Strait of Hormuz

This article is published in association with United Nations. Amid claims and counter-claims of strikes and confrontations in the crucial Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the United States, UN maritime officials continue to urge vessels to exercise “maximum caution”. “We are aware of the reports but do not have further details. We continue to urge […]

Why don't you drop your comment here?

Go back up

Discover more from The European Sting - Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology - europeansting.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Discover more from The European Sting - Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology - europeansting.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

The European Sting – Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology – europeansting.com