14 DAY TRIAL // Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower, has been offered asylum in Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The announcement from the Venezuelan officials was made during a parade that marks the country’s Independence day, which was celebrated this Friday, El Comercio reports.
Nicolas Maduro has said his country will shield the whistleblower from prosecution by the United States, after spending several weeks criticizing the actions of the US government and intelligence agencies.
“I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young American, Edward Snowden, so that in the fatherland of Bolivar and Chavez, he can come and live away from imperial North American persecution,” said the Venezuela president.
As for Nicaragua, its officials have stated that they would be happy to offer Snowden asylum if legal conditions are respected.
The two offers from the Central and South America come right after an emergency meeting of UNASUR members which was held the previous day, on Thursday, in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where presidents of several states discussed the “great offense” brought to the Bolivian head of state earlier this week.
Evo Morales was denied entry into the airspace of several European countries on the suspicion that Edward Snowden was on board of the plane. The aircraft had departed from Moscow, the same city where Snowden is holed up.
Following the emergency summit, the nations issued an official statement voicing support for Morales and blaming France, Portugal, Italy and Spain for obstructing his free passage.
The Ecuadorean president went as far as to say that if the same thing happened in South America to the president of the US or one of the heads of state from the European Union, it would have been reason for war.
Edward Snowden is now left to make a decision about where he wants to go, as other countries are almost certainly going to follow in the steps of Venezuela and Nicaragua.
However, it remains to be seen how Snowden will reach Venezuela since the American government has already taken several measures to make sure he is detained by sending extradition requests to countries where his plane could land for fuel. If he lands in Ireland and France, he could be arrested, authorities have said.