Well, this was a big, big, big mistake.
It's clear now that the President of Bolivia is not free to move around the world without permission -- implicit or explicit -- from the U.S.
We might, at any time, cause our tributary states to deny him the ability to cross their territory without conditions we specify being met. This is absolutely extraordinary and an astounding violation of precedent.
This calls into question our entire view on the national sovereignty of Latin American states. Are their leaders legitimate, elected or not? Do they serve only at the pleasure of the U.S. government?
Maybe I'm just being naive here.
I know that we have a long, complicated and mostly awful history of interfering in Latin American politics. El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, Cuba, Grenada ... the list just goes on and on.
But I hoped we had left those dark years behind and were cultivating relationships with our southern neighbors as partners for a peaceful, stable and prosperous region. Looks like those efforts just took a major step backwards.
I'm a bit grateful that we didn't find Snowden on that plane.
Can you imagine the international outcry if we pulled him off the plane with the Bolivian president on board and then "allowed" Mr. Morales to return to his own country. How gracious of us!
Alert, South American leaders:
Clear your flight plans with the White House before attempting to travel anywhere.