Nicaragua, Venezuela willing to grant Snowden asylum

China.org.cn, July 6, 2013

The former CIA employer Edward Snowden. [File photo]

The presidents of Nicaragua and Venezuela said Friday their governments would be willing to grant "humanitarian asylum" to Edward Snowden, the U.S. intelligence whistleblower. [Related report: Who is Edward Snowden?]

Their offers came one day after South American leaders gathered to denounce the diversion of Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane flying out of Europe amid reports that Snowden was aboard.

Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela made their offers during separate speeches in their home countries Friday afternoon.

Ortega said he would make the offer “if circumstances allow it,” but he didn’t elaborate on his announcement during the speech in Managua.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made the same offer during his speech shortly after Nicaraguan President's announcement.

“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,” said Maduro, referring to the United States.

Snowden made asylum requests to dozens of countries, including Venezuela and Nicaragua. Some countries who have received his requests for asylum, including India, Norway,France and Italy, have turned down his application.

Another diplomatic incident was that the plane carrying Bolivian president Morales from Moscow, where he was attending a meeting of natural gas-producing nations, was forced to reroute, since France and Portugal prevented the plane from overflying their airspace over the suspicions that Snowden was on the plane.

Bolivian President and other South America nations' leaders expressed outrage at the plane rerouting which was called by the president of Ecuador Rafael Correa as "an affront" to South America.

Bolivia threatened Friday to close the U.S. embassy in the country, a move considered to denounce the U.S. role in urging some EU nations to bar its president's plane.

Snowden has been holed up at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport since June 23, when he arrived from Hong Kong.