The South American government leaders blasted the ‘kidnapping’ of the Bolivian president as an act of brute power, revealing that the U.S. and European governments still view themselves as the colonial rulers of Latin America. Uruguay’s president Jose Mujica declared:
We are not colonies any more. We deserve respect, and when one of our governments is insulted we feel the insult throughout Latin America.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa pointed out:If this had happened to the president of the United States, it probably would have been grounds for war.
