Bolivia's president gets sworn in for new term

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia — South America’s leftist leaders rallied to support Bolivian President Evo Morales after his plane was rerouted amid suspicions that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was on board and demanded an apology from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, Suriname, Venezuela and Uruguay joined Morales in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba late Thursday to address the diplomatic row. Morales used the gathering to warn that he would close the U.S. Embassy in Bolivia if necessary.

Bolivia's leftist president Evo Morales on Saturday accused US intelligence of hacking into the email accounts of top Bolivian officials, saying he had shut his own account down. Latin American leaders have lashed out at Washington over recent revelations of vast surveillance programs, some of which allegedly targeted regional allies and adversaries alike.

La Paz (AFP) - Evo Morales grew up in poverty on Bolivia's high plains and was a llama herder, musician, footballer and coca grower before winning election as the country's first indigenous president.

Reactions to the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were as mixed, polemical and outsized as the leader was in life, with some saying his passing was a tragic loss and others calling it an opportunity for Venezuela to escape his long shadow. Seen as a hero by some for his anti-U.S. rhetoric and gifts of cut-rate oil, others considered him a bully.

Venezuelan officials boasted that up to 55 world leaders will attend the state funeral of President Hugo Chavez on Friday, including US bugbears Cuba, Iran and Belarus.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced a day of mourning and compared deceased Venezuelian President Chavez to a saint, saying he will “return on resurrection day.” Chavez died this past week at the age of 58 after succumbing to cancer. Ahmadinejad said he has “no doubt Chavez will return to Earth together with Jesus and the perfect” Imam Mahdi, the most revered figure of Shiite Muslims, and help “establish peace, justice and kindness” in the world. The Iranian leader said he believes something “suspicious” caused the cancer that killed Chavez.

PARIS (AP) — French officials denied Wednesday that France refused to let the Bolivian president's plane cross over its airspace amid suspicions that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was aboard. Spain, too, said the plane was free to cross its territory.

Today's press conference by Venezuelan Vice President Nicolás Manduro gave the impression that Hugo Chavez is on the brink of death.