Obama Has No Plans to Meet Morales: White House Source

There is no President Obama-President Morales meeting planned, according to a senior US administration official.

WASHINGTON, December 30 (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama and Bolivian President Evo Morales have no meetings planned currently, a senior US administration official told Sputnik late Monday.

"There is no President Obama-President Morales meeting planned at this time," the official said.

Last Wednesday, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca stated that arrangements were being made for a meeting between Presidents Morales and Obama to improve diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Relations between the United States and Bolivia have been strained since 2008, when the Bolivian government claimed that Washington was supporting the opposition's secessionist plans. Morales then expelled representatives from the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

Both countries subsequently withdrew their ambassadors and in 2013, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was expelled from Bolivia, accused of interfering in the country's internal affairs.

On July 1, 2013, an aircraft carrying Morales from Russia back to Bolivia was forced to land in Austria after France, Spain, Portugal and Italy denied the use of their airspace under pressure from the US, who suspected that Edward Snowden was on board. At the time, Snowden was still in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.

France and Spain later apologized, and Italy and Portugal sent official explanations.

Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, disclosed the illegal surveillance practices of US government intelligence services in June 2013. He is wanted in the United States on several charges, including espionage and theft of government property, and faces up to 30 years in prison. Snowden currently lives in Moscow.