Edward Snowden might finally get what he's been looking for: a safe haven to avoid facing justice in the United States. On Friday, the Presidents of both Venezuela and Nicaragua said they could offer the NSA whistleblower asylum.
After fleeing Hong Kong, Snowden is believed to be holed up in Moscow's Sheremyetevo airport. Since arriving on June 23, and with the help of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, Snowden has applied for asylum in 27 countries with no success. Now, Venezuela and Nicaragua seem to be warming up to the idea, according to multiple news reports.
"In the name of America's dignity [...] I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to Edward Snowden," Venezuela's President Maduro said during a televised military parade for the country's independence day on Friday.
Before Maduro's announcement â€" which is still far from a definite offer of asylum â€" Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega expressed sympathy for the former intelligence contractor who exposed top secret NSA surveillance programs in early June.
"We are open, respectful of the right to asylum, and it is clear that if circumstances permit it, we would receive Snowden with pleasure and give him asylum here in Nicaragua," Ortega said, according to Agence France-Press.
Snowden, who's been charged with espionage and theft of government property, was initially reported to have applied for asylum in 15 countries. Later, as announced by WikiLeaks, the countries applied to for refuge reached 21. Most of them responded by saying they couldn't even consider his application unless he was in their territory, while others flat out refused to cooperate.
Earlier on Friday, Wikileaks announced that Snowden had applied to six other countries, but opted not to name them to avoid U.S. pressure.
President Obama, who earlier said wouldn't “scramble jets†to apprehend the 30-year-old "hacker," has reportedly flexed his power. While it's unconfirmed at this point, it appears that the U.S. government pressured France, Spain, Italy and Portugal into denying Evo Morales' plane permission to fly above their territories because of concerns that the Bolivian President would smuggle Snowden to Bolivia.
Meanwhile, a group of members of the Icelandic Pirate Party, tried to enter a bill in Iceland's parliament to make Snoden a citizen, but the speaker of the House froze out their initiative.
Image via Kay Nietfeld/AFP/Getty Images
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