After collecting a pile of rejection slips, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has received an asylum offer–and a spare. Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, announced his offer of asylum at a military academy in Caracas on Friday, July5–Venezuela’s Day of Independence.
“As head of state and of government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the US youth Edward Snowden,“ Maduro announced. [NSNBC]
Let’s ask ourselves: who violated international law?”….A young man who decided, in an act of rebellion, to tell the truth of the espionage of the United States against the world? Or the government of the United States, the power of the imperialist elites, who spied on it?” [VenezeulanAnalysis.com]
On the same day Nicaragua’s president, Daniel Ortega, made a cautious offer of asylum to Snowden, who sent a petition for asylum to Nicaragua’s embassy in Moscow.
“You know our position: Nicaragua is an open country that respects the right to asylum,” Ortega said. “Certainly if circumstances permit, we would—with pleasure—receive Snowden and give him asylum in Nicaragua.” [Nicaragua Dispatch]
Nicaragua is currently celebrating the 34thanniversary of the Repliegue Táctico, a key event in the struggle to overthrow the government of Anastasio Somoza. Through a scheme known as “Iran Contra,” the Reagan administration provided U.S. military aid to opponents of the revolutionary government that replaced Samoza’s regime.
The Wall Street Journal quotes an unidentified “senior U.S. official” who said, “It’s not clear as a practical matter that will have any effect, because Snowden would still have to get to Venezuelan territory,” and that “largely depends” on the Russian government.