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Bolivian president offers asylum to Snowden

China.org.cn, July 7, 2013

• Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia offered Saturday to grant asylum to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, one day after the presidents Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela made their offers to the U.S. whistleblower.

  The former CIA employer Edward Snowden. [File photo]

  According to Evo Morales, the decision of granting Snowden asylum was made as a protest against the U.S. and European nations whom he accused of temporarily blocking his flight home from a Moscow summit on the suspicion that Snowden was on board.

  This incident also aroused anger among several other Latin American leaders, who joined Morales two days ago in a meeting to condemn the European countries for infringing on the rights of Bolivia and all the Latin-American people, saying it is a violation of international law.

  Declaring that Bolivia has "no fear" of the United States and its European allies, Morales said that he would be willing "to give asylum to the American, if he asks."

  The former NSA systems analyst, who is charged with violating U.S. espionage laws, is believed to be stuck in the transit area of Moscow's main international airport after arriving June 23 from Hong Kong.

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