Snowden agrees to asylum in Venezuela: Russian lawmaker

[webfact]

Snowden agrees to asylum in Venezuela: Russian lawmaker
English.news.cn

MOSCOW, July 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden has agreed to seek political asylum in Venezuela, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Tuesday.

"As was expected, Snowden agreed to (Venezuelan President Nicolas) Maduro's offer of political asylum," Alexei Pushkov, head of the international affairs committee in the Russian lower house of parliament, said on Twitter.

"Apparently, Snowden found this option the most reliable," he added.

But the tweet was later removed and Pushkov said in a new message that he had learnt of Snowden's decision from a news report on Russian state television channel Vesti 24.

Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia all offered political asylum to Snowden over the weekend.

Venezuelan President Maduro confirmed Monday his country received the asylum request letter. Snowden "will have to decide when he flies, if he finally wants to fly here," said the president.

Snowden, 30, was charged by the U.S. government with three felonies after he disclosed a highly classified surveillance project code-named PRISM, which can intercept e-mails and phone conversations of people around the world.

He arrived at Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport on June 23 and has since stayed in the transit zone after his U.S. passport was revoked. He has reportedly applied for asylum in 21 countries.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-07/09/c_132526682.htm

-- XINHUA 2013-07-10

[geriatrickid]

If the tweet is retracted, then it isn't valid is it?

Good luck on trying to get to Maduro land. The TPAC route is too dangerous which means having to try a European route. He'll have a difficult flight as the Daily Mail reported today; Snowden could avoid US-influenced airspace by flying north to the Barents Sea, through the Denmark Strait, head south while avoiding Canada's Newfoundland, until getting to the east of the Windward Islands, then squeezing through between islands.
Not likely. That airspace is tough to get through as both the UK and Canada would act to intercept and force the plane to land if Snowden got anywhere close. The USAF practically has free reign in the Carribean. He certainly can't take a flight to Havana on Aeroflot since the plane has to go through Canadian and then US airspace.

I have a feeling Putin is about to make trade with the Americans: Snowden in return for a player to be named later, most likely a favourable early release of Viktor Bout..

[TheShockMaster]

Snowden "will have to decide when he flies, if he finally wants to fly here," said the president.

Chances are he was already well on his way to Venezuela before any Tweets, "decisions" or media reported on it. They know what they are doing.

[Calach]

[lee b]

thats a nice place right

[qdinthailand]

thats a nice place right

much better than a jail cell.

[Credo]

thats a nice place right

much better than a jail cell.

That remains to be seen.

[blabla1]

Guess he will be dead soon, US may have to save face...

[MILT]

Actually Veneluzela is a very nice country.

[bermuda]

Snowden is welcome to stay in my sanctuary anytime he wants to come.

[CrisRMenumate]

He chose to make public a secret issue for which he had an avenue to express the illegality of what was happening thru correct channels including his own congressman. However, he chose to do it through public avenues and media, knowing full well that would then unleash the wrath of the USA and its allies, significantly shortening his life expectancy at worst or, ensuring his life long incarceration at least. What the USA and its allies are doing is illegal and a very real threat to all of our liberty and rights, the complete anti-thesis of what they say they are upholding on our behalf, they have been using 9/11 and terrorism as a reason to control too much of our lives for far too long. So its hard to not wish Mr Snowden a safe life somewhere for bringing this out, at his great personal expense and without much personal gain. Good luck to him.

[Pikeybkk]

Venezuelan girls are HOT

[manarak]

He chose to make public a secret issue for which he had an avenue to express the illegality of what was happening thru correct channels including his own congressman. However, he chose to do it through public avenues and media, knowing full well that would then unleash the wrath of the USA and its allies, significantly shortening his life expectancy at worst or, ensuring his life long incarceration at least. What the USA and its allies are doing is illegal and a very real threat to all of our liberty and rights, the complete anti-thesis of what they say they are upholding on our behalf, they have been using 9/11 and terrorism as a reason to control too much of our lives for far too long. So its hard to not wish Mr Snowden a safe life somewhere for bringing this out, at his great personal expense and without much personal gain. Good luck to him.

You mean "correct channels" that would have made sure that the information never became public...

He didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to alert the public about what is going on.

[Credo]

All he needed to do was get in contact with some members of congress and there are plenty of them that would have helped him and he would have had a great deal of protection.

Congress provides oversight for the NSA. Contacting any of a number of either senators or representatives would have been akin to talking to his boss.

[Langsuan Man]

No, what he should have done was get asylum FIRST, then leak all the material.

Somebody was giving this bozo some bad advice, and seem to be continuing to mislead him as to his options. You don't poke a stick at a bee hive and then express surprise when they start buzzing around you

[NeverSure]

Venezuela is expensive. I wonder who's going to fund him?

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been deleted. This topic is about his asylum claim. There is another thread that has a more general discussion of Snowden and the NSA: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/645661-nsa-contractor-identifies-himself-as-source/

(Off-topic posts of a sexual nature have been deleted. Don't repost them. What started out as a rather innocent observation had to be taken to extremes by a poster, so all posts now deleted).

Edited July 11, 2013 by Scott

[SinglePot]

No, what he should have done was get asylum FIRST, then leak all the material.

Somebody was giving this bozo some bad advice, and seem to be continuing to mislead him as to his options. You don't poke a stick at a bee hive and then express surprise when they start buzzing around you

He was hoping Hong Kong would be safe. Chinese thought otherwise:

“People who think I made a mistake in picking Hong Kong as a location misunderstand my intentions. I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality. I have had many opportunities to flee HK, but I would rather stay and fight the United States government in the courts, because I have faith in Hong Kong’s rule of law. My intention is to ask the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate.”

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/06/12/hong-kong-will-decide-my-fate-edward-snowden-tells-south-china-morning-post/#ixzz2YifuJRt8

[SinglePot]

Venezuela is expensive. I wonder who's going to fund him?

Maybe the newspapers and the book publishers?

He won't be getting another job with Booz Allen, that's for sure.

[simple1]

Venezuela is expensive. I wonder who's going to fund him?

Maybe the newspapers and the book publishers?

He won't be getting another job with Booz Allen, that's for sure.

So long as he manages to evade US authorities, some company will hire him as an IT security consultant

[SinglePot]

Venezuela is expensive. I wonder who's going to fund him?

Maybe the newspapers and the book publishers?

He won't be getting another job with Booz Allen, that's for sure.

So long as he manages to evade US authorities, some company will hire him as an IT security consultant

yep. Nothing like a bit of inside knowledge.

Meanwhile he has caused considerable damage to millions of people who don't live in Venezuela.

Nice bloke eh?

[Exsexyman]

Venezuela is expensive. I wonder who's going to fund him?

Maybe the newspapers and the book publishers?

He won't be getting another job with Booz Allen, that's for sure.

So long as he manages to evade US authorities, some company will hire him as an IT security consultant

yep. Nothing like a bit of inside knowledge.

Meanwhile he has caused considerable damage to millions of people who don't live in Venezuela.

Nice bloke eh?

'Considerable damage to millions of people'! A ridiculous statement to make. Care to justify it?

[SinglePot]

Venezuela is expensive. I wonder who's going to fund him?

Maybe the newspapers and the book publishers?

He won't be getting another job with Booz Allen, that's for sure.

So long as he manages to evade US authorities, some company will hire him as an IT security consultant

yep. Nothing like a bit of inside knowledge.

Meanwhile he has caused considerable damage to millions of people who don't live in Venezuela.

Nice bloke eh?

'Considerable damage to millions of people'! A ridiculous statement to make. Care to justify it?

Ask Obama.

[Exsexyman]

Venezuela is expensive. I wonder who's going to fund him?

Maybe the newspapers and the book publishers?

He won't be getting another job with Booz Allen, that's for sure.

So long as he manages to evade US authorities, some company will hire him as an IT security consultant

yep. Nothing like a bit of inside knowledge.

Meanwhile he has caused considerable damage to millions of people who don't live in Venezuela.

Nice bloke eh?

'Considerable damage to millions of people'! A ridiculous statement to make. Care to justify it?

Ask Obama.

Well i understand that he has done considerable damage to the reputation of Obama, exposing him as an illiberal, who conned his core constituency and got himself elected under false pretences. But as for anything else, if Obama told me it was raining i would pull the curtains back and double check.

[SinglePot]

And if the primer of China said it was raining.......

[Exsexyman]

And if the primer of China said it was raining.......

What is the primer of China? Prime Minister? I really know absolutely nothing about him i have to admit, so i cannot really answer that. But he is a politician so i would probably check before i got my umbrella out! I do find it amusing though, that as soon as anyone on here draws attention to, and criticizes Obama's hypocrisy and double standards regarding the spying on citizen's privacy, some on here immediately start talking about China. Are you trying to say, 'Well, OK, Obama may have behaved in an underhand and dishonest manner, but he's not as bad as the Chinese'? Talk about damning him with faint praise! What is this obsession with China on here, are you Publicus in disguise?

[SinglePot]

Xi Jinping visited Obama in Washington. Simultaneously, Snowdens revelations are all over the western press and the Chinese press.

Coincidence? Possibly.

Obama has a responsibility to protect American citizens from danger and is under extreme pressure to manage a difficult economy.

No I am not Publicus. I think he is on holiday.

[annabel]

All he needed to do was get in contact with some members of congress and there are plenty of them that would have helped him and he would have had a great deal of protection.

Congress provides oversight for the NSA. Contacting any of a number of either senators or representatives would have been akin to talking to his boss.

BS is all I can say !!

[jbrain]

No, what he should have done was get asylum FIRST, then leak all the material.

Somebody was giving this bozo some bad advice, and seem to be continuing to mislead him as to his options. You don't poke a stick at a bee hive and then express surprise when they start buzzing around you

But before he leaked the info nobody would have had a reason to grant him asylum.

[jamhar]

Interesting possible spin....

For NSA leaker Snowden, Venezuela or elsewhere?

As fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden weighs his asylum options, he should be familiar with the name Luis Posada Carriles.

Both Venezuela and Cuba want to get their hands on the 85-year-old Posada, accused of orchestrating the 1976 terrorist bombing of a Cuban airliner in which all 73 on board died.

The U.S. government has for years refused a Venezuelan extradition request for Posada, a Cuban-born Venezuelan citizen who lives in the supportive Cuban exile community of South Florida that applauds his longtime mission to kill former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

U.S. administrations back to the Nixon era have turned a blind eye to — and at times encouraged — Posada’s anti-communist militancy, partly to court the Cuban exile constituency that can sway swing-state Florida in presidential elections.

But faced with the prospect of bringing former NSA contractor Snowden to justice and putting an end to the embarrassing disclosures of U.S. government surveillance, President Obama could make the political calculus that delivering Posada to Caracas would be a fair exchange.

Link - LA TImes - snowden-venezuela-leaker-asylum story

I personally dont see Obama making such a trade. But who knows...... This is a post cold war world.