South American Saviours

Joy unabounded! On Friday and Saturday, Venezuela and Bolivia announced, in no uncertain terms, they would both accept Edward Snowden, scourge of America and hero to the masses, into their respective countries and grant him asylum. Nicaragua joined her South American Counterparts as the President announced said he too would be willing to grant Snowden political asylum if circumstances permit. Which does sound a bit like hedging their bets... still it's a heck of a lot more than a lot of other countries have offered.

Venezuela seems to be the most likely option for the former Intelligence Contractor, as Alexei Pushkov of the Russian Parliament (the Duma) has today tweeted the Latin American country would be the 'last chance' to avoid extradition to the US as he cannot 'live' in the airport. Of course he can't, think of how expensive that would be. It's a good thing Snowden had a $200k a year job before all this, airports are extortionate!

Venezuela has already received an extradition request on the grounds that Snowden "unlawfully released classified information and documents to international media outlets". Whilst the country have an extradition treaty, it does not extend to political crimes and so, thankfully President Nicolas Maduro has been able to reject this request and grant asylum. Quite a sharp contrast to previous Snowden advocate Ecuador... After receiving a "friendly and very cordial phone call" from Vice President Joe Biden, President Rafael Correa rubbed his hands with glee and told everybody that actually he wasn't so sure the whistleblower had done the right thing and he respected the laws of every country. Hmmm.... 

As well as all this happy news, it transpires that Ireland have rejected a US arrest warrant if Snowden passes through the country in transit. Snowden attempted to obtain asylum for the Emerald Isle but unfortunately his request was rejected on the grounds that he had to be on Irish territory (Oh well, I'm from Ireland and as nice as it is, I know I would rather go to Latin America. Our coffee is terrible for starters). 

Raul Castro, President of Cuba, has also publicly condemned the US over their actions involving Snowden and their snooping, and has backed the NSA leaker. However, Castro was somewhat tentative in his support, praising his South American counterparts whilst making no reference to their own asylum request from Snowden and no reference also to whether they would allow him safe transit through the country. Although, my guess is they will let his plane through and whilst they won't outright reject asylum, they will leave it to Snowden to decide between the three offers already on the table.

After Bolivian President Evo Morales' plane was grounded, it is unsurprising the country have offered their aid and with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega giving a positive, if somewhat guarded response, along with Venezuela, it seems our defiant hero has suddenly got a future again. 

The question is, where in the world will be Edward Snowden's new platform and who will give him the megaphone? More importantly, however, what new information are we going to find out when our champion of privacy is granted the safety to reveal more of his secrets...

Lora