CARACAS: Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro offered asylum to former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden on Friday in defiance of Washington, which is demanding his arrest for divulging details of secret US spy programs.
Snowden, 30, is believed to be holed up in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo international airport and has been trying to find a country that would take him since he landed from Hong Kong on June 23.
“In the name of America’s dignity … I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to Edward Snowden,” Maduro told a military parade marking Venezuela’s independence day.
“He is a young man who has told the truth, in the spirit of rebellion, about the United States spying on the whole world.”
Russia has kept the former National Security Agency contractor at arm’s length, saying the transit area where passengers stay between flights is neutral territory and he will be on Russian soil only if he goes through passport control.
It was not immediately clear how Snowden would react to Maduro’s offer, nor reach Venezuela if he accepted. There are no direct commercial flights between Moscow and Caracas, and the usual route involves changing planes in Havana – to which there is a flight from Sheremetyevo at 3:35 IST. It is not clear if the Cuban authorities would let him transit.
Given the dramatic grounding in Vienna of the Bolivian president’s plane this week over suspicions that Snowden was onboard, using European airspace could prove problematic.
Russia has shown signs of growing impatience over Snowden’s stay in Moscow. Its deputy foreign minister said on Thursday that Snowden had not sought asylum in that country and needed to choose a place to go.
Moscow has made clear that the longer he stays, the greater the risk of the diplomatic standoff over his fate causing lasting damage to relations with Washington.
Both Russia’s foreign ministry and President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman declined to comment on Venezuela’s offer.
“This is not our affair,” Dmitry Peskov told Reuters.
The White House also declined to comment.
Raising the possibility of at least one other option, Nicaragua said it had received an asylum request from Snowden and could agree to it “if circumstances permit”.
WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization, said yesterday that Snowden had asked six more nations for asylum, bringing to about 20 the number of countries he has appealed to for protection from US espionage charges. (PTI)
