Hope for Snowden in Venezuela

Edward Snowden, erstwhile leaker of U.S. intelligence reports to WikiLeaks, has been offered asylum by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, pictured below. After a lukewarm welcome from Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Snowden’s Hail Mary plea for citizenship went unheard by the Icelandic government, leaving him few options until now.

Ortega claimed an “open and respectful to the right of asylum,” but said that only “if the circumstances permit it we will gladly receive Snowden and will grant him asylum here in Nicaragua,” according to CNN.com. Icelandic lawmaker Birgitta Jonsdottir wrote in a blog that “it is with great grief I have to announce that Snowden will not be getting any form of shelter in Iceland because the current government doesn't even have enough spine for the Parliament to discuss Snowden's request.”

With asylum requests to 20 countries, with 11 denied, Snowden apparently remains in Moscow’s transit area, where he has been for almost 2 weeks. The 30-year-old ex-National Security Agency Contractor is under pressure to move, writes the Guardian.co.uk, as Russia has indicated growing discomfort with the international diplomatic situation. In fact, President Putin recently ordered Snowden to “cease anti-American activity,” RT.com reports.

Photo Courtesy of Tumblr

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