The
presidents of Venezuela and Nicaragua offered Friday to grant asylum to
NSA leaker Edward Snowden, one day after leftist South American leaders
gathered to denounce the rerouting of Bolivian President Evo Morales'
plane over Europe amid reports that the American was aboard.
Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua made their
offers during separate speeches in their home countries Friday
afternoon. Snowden has asked for asylum in numerous countries, including
Nicaragua and Venezuela.
"As head of state, the government of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young American
Edward Snowden so that he can live (without) ... persecution from the
empire," Maduro said, referring to the United States. He made the offer
during a speech marking the anniversary of Venezuela's independence. It
was not immediately clear if there were any conditions to Venezuela's
offer.
In Nicaragua, Ortega said he was willing to make the same offer "if
circumstances allow it." Ortega didn't say what the right circumstances
would be when he spoke during a speech in Managua.
"We have the sovereign right to help a person who felt remorse after
finding out how the United States was using technology to spy on the
whole world, and especially its European allies," Ortega said.
The offers came following a flap about the rerouting of Bolivian
President Evo Morales' plane in Europe earlier this week amid reports
that Snowden might have been aboard.
Spain on Friday said it had been warned along with other European
countries that Snowden, a former U.S. intelligence worker, was aboard
the Bolivian presidential plane, an acknowledgement that the manhunt for
the fugitive leaker had something to do with the plane's unexpected
diversion to Austria.
It is unclear whether the United States, which has told its European
allies that it wants Snowden back, warned Madrid about the Bolivian
president's plane. U.S. officials will not detail their conversations
with European countries, except to say that they have stated the U.S.'s
general position that it wants Snowden back.
President Barack Obama has publicly displayed a relaxed attitude
toward Snowden's movements, saying last month that he wouldn't be
"scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker."
But the drama surrounding the flight of Morales, whose plane was
abruptly rerouted to Vienna after apparently being denied permission to
fly over France, suggests that pressure is being applied behind the
scenes.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo told Spanish
National Television that "they told us that the information was clear,
that he was inside."
He did not identify who "they" were and declined to say whether he
had been in contact with the U.S. But he said that European countries'
decisions were based on the tip. France has since sent a letter of
apology to the Bolivian government.
Meanwhile, secret-spilling website WikiLeaks said that Snowden, who
is still believed to be stuck in a Moscow airport's transit area, had
put in asylum applications to six new countries. He had already sought
asylum from more than 20 countries, many of which turned him down.
Wikileaks said in a message posted to Twitter on Friday that it
wouldn't be identifying the countries involved "due to attempted U.S.
interference."
Icelandic lawmakers introduced a proposal in Parliament on Thursday
to grant immediate citizenship to Snowden, but the idea received minimal
support.
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