Snowden agrees to asylum in Venezuela: Russian lawmaker

[mania]

Read everything I have written with cites. Ask an Russian living in Russia right now. They pretty much snicker at comments such as yours.

Putin controls everything. Russians laugh at how Bama gets smacked around in media because Russian TV and media says nothing but how great Putin is, Putin did this, Putin did that.

If you defy and speak out against Putin publicly, very good chance you will be arrested, regardless who you are.

In car last night, my wife had conference with one of her large BofA clients in Moscow regarding macro or political implications of last 48 events for her BofA clients with huge global investments at stake.

My Russian is poor, but they did laugh at US media reports and say US seemingly has no clue.

If you understood Putin, you would not have to ask so a question.

With all due respect your just some keyboard on an anonymous internet forum

If half of what you said was true you would be more concerned about your wife's well being & employment while talking as much smack about Putin as you do. If as you claim she is Russian working in Russia

Besides my wife's sister use to date Putin & said he is a stand up guy

[F430murci]

Read everything I have written with cites. Ask an Russian living in Russia right now. They pretty much snicker at comments such as yours.

Putin controls everything. Russians laugh at how Bama gets smacked around in media because Russian TV and media says nothing but how great Putin is, Putin did this, Putin did that.

If you defy and speak out against Putin publicly, very good chance you will be arrested, regardless who you are.

In car last night, my wife had conference with one of her large BofA clients in Moscow regarding macro or political implications of last 48 events for her BofA clients with huge global investments at stake.

My Russian is poor, but they did laugh at US media reports and say US seemingly has no clue.

If you understood Putin, you would not have to ask so a question.

With all due respect your just some keyboard on an anonymous internet forum

If half of what you said was true you would be more concerned about your wife's well being & employment while talking as much smack about Putin as you do. If as you claim she is Russian working in Russia

Besides my wife's sister use to date Putin & said he is a stand up guy

Cool, no harm if you don't believe me.

I speak very generically about Putin and everything I say is common knowledge among Russians. As stated before, wife lives in US with me, works in Global Corporate & Investment Bank and Global Markets for BofA Merrill Lynch. This is a US position, but most of her clients are Russian and in Moscow She helps keep the money pipeline flowing based on her assessments of the dynamics at play.

I know what to say and not to say, but we sincerely thank you for your concern about my wife's safety and well being . . .

[VegasVic]

You miss the point.

Obama and Putin were never friends.

Oh I don't miss much

This is childish plain & simple a tantrum

That is all this is a tantrum & unbefitting America. Sadly once elected we do not seem to have much input of how we are represented or perceived by the free world.

Snowden may be wanted by the US but he applied for & was granted asylum by Russia for reasons period.

It is not befitting the USA to throw this tantrum & act like there is nothing left in the world to discuss between two major super powers.

Rather embarrassing for America/Americans IMO actually & sorry our elected representative cannot be more adult about it.

Putin has utter disdain for Obama as do many other world leaders since they have found out that he is basically an empty suit! This latest tantrum by the Obama administration is indeed a very childish one and potentially a dangerous one at this juncture, as virtually all of the world hot spots right now have the U.S. on one side and Russia on the other. If there was ever a time where serious diplomacy was needed between these two countries it is now.

[VegasVic]

I'm curious about this.

If U.S. agents in Russia were able to seize Snowden and escort him to the U.S. embassy, would that be seen as an act of war?

Putin (the dictator) has already poisoned Russia-USA relations. Shouldn't there be a tit for tat?

If not that, I'd like to see all the U.S. athletes at the Sochi Olympics wear Pussy Riot logos on rainbow flag motif uniforms ...

Would the Russians dare arrest all the members of the USA Olympics team?

Yes, conflict has been inflamed.

Maybe not the cold war, but at least the Pussy Riot war.

Any sympathy Snowden may have among some Americans will be overcome by reaction against Putin's massive insult to America.

Even liberal MSNBC describes Putin's rude move as a massive MIDDLE FINGER to the USA. Will Obama take this sitting down? I doubt it and I doubt most Americans want him to.

No the Russians would not need to arrest members of an Olympic team that wore Pussy Riot tshirts etc.

The Olympic committee would kick them out and the athletes would suffer severe sanctions because any form or political protest etc is banned by the Olympic committee.

So Putin (the Leader) need not worry or get involved.

Putin has done nothing to the US, it is the US that has inflamed the situation. Do you think Snowden is a Russian spy? If Snowden hadn't been forced to flee the 'free' US of A then he wouldn't have ended up in Russia.

None of this is of Putin's doing.

Actually, everything that has happened to Snowden since being allowed to board that plane in Hong Kong destined for Moscow has been Putin's doing.

Everything up until that time was Snowden and US doing. US needs to go after its own people and revamp systems that allowed Snowden to happen.

Oops, even more security and surveillance will happen now thanks to Snowden. Funny how such actions when done the wrong way lead to an unintended result of making the situation to be addressed much worse than it was before.

F430, You give Putin far too much credit. The truth is that it was Julian Assange and his organization that orchestrated Snowdens move from Hong Kong to Russia, and Russia was just a temporary stopover at the time. With that said, I have no doubt that Putin has had control of everything since Snowden deplaned at the Moscow airport and has reilshed giving the finger to the Obama administration If anyone in the Obama administration had a clue they would have just played all this whole situation down and made some sort of statement to the effect that "the information that Mr. Snowden has had access to is already common knoweledge among most world leaders" and deny anything beyond that they see as damaging. After all, denial is the major river that flows trhough this White House

[FDog]

F430murci

What you are saying about Putin is just speculation as you have nothing to back it up. Your cites are just opinions, not facts.

Obama caused all this when his govt decided to bully the nations Snowden requested asylum in. If they didn't do that he would not now be in Russia.

So none of this was Putin's doing at all. Blame is fair and square on Obama.

PS: You should not assume you are the only person on this thread that 'knows' people living in Russia.

[F430murci]

F430murci

What you are saying about Putin is just speculation as you have nothing to back it up. Your cites are just opinions, not facts.

Obama caused all this when his govt decided to bully the nations Snowden requested asylum in. If they didn't do that he would not now be in Russia.

So none of this was Putin's doing at all. Blame is fair and square on Obama.

PS: You should not assume you are the only person on this thread that 'knows' people living in Russia.

Snowden could have been on a plane to Cuba the day he arrived to Moscow, but Putin was not letting him and his treasure trove of information leave so soon.

US created Snowden, but Putin is now running the show. Obviously, Putin is not personally doing it, but his lawyer, oops I mean Snowden's lawyer, along with those other nice guys hanging around 24/7 for "protection" are exerting that level of control Putin dictates.

I don't know why you chose words like blame. I don't see anything negative here.

I respect both Russia and the US. Putin is Putin and Russia is Russia. I am very intrigued by the country and its people.

- Every Russian I have spoken to or heard since this has been going on laughed at the notion of Snowden being in the airport.

- Our "reputable" US new sources reported how Durov was giving Snowden a job at vk . . ., but not one of these "reputable" sources acknowledge that Durov is in hiding, has not been seen since April and that Putin initiated a hostile takeover of vk leaving Durov with something like 12 % or 18% of the voting power in vk.

- Show me some source (not lawyer whom I showed the Putin connection several pages back) that says Snowden is out frolicking in the fields, banging hot Russians, slamming Russian Imperia vodka, hanging out at Starbucks, surfing the net on the wi-fi and eating nothing but the finest cavier and Ribeyes.

Snowden sightings would be reported if has was not holed up somewhere drinking "Standard" and eating "marinated meat" . . .

[Publicus]

F430murci

What you are saying about Putin is just speculation as you have nothing to back it up. Your cites are just opinions, not facts.

Obama caused all this when his govt decided to bully the nations Snowden requested asylum in. If they didn't do that he would not now be in Russia.

So none of this was Putin's doing at all. Blame is fair and square on Obama.

PS: You should not assume you are the only person on this thread that 'knows' people living in Russia.

The U.S. Government has Snowden trapped in Moscow, in Russia. Snowden sets foot out of Russia it's into a bear trap. So Snowden has to remain in Russia.

Putin had no choice in the matter other than to give Snowden asylum. So Putin limited the asylum to one year, which sounds like a good period of time to Putin and to Putin's pal Julian Assange. Who knows what things will be like a year from now? It's worth the try.

Meanwhile, irony or ironies, Snowden has already begun to serve his due punishment by being stuck, trapped, in Putin's Russia. Moreover, Russia is a place where Nature gets busy each October to spend the next six months trying to freeze your McDonalds nuggets off.

[F430murci]

F430murci

What you are saying about Putin is just speculation as you have nothing to back it up. Your cites are just opinions, not facts.

Obama caused all this when his govt decided to bully the nations Snowden requested asylum in. If they didn't do that he would not now be in Russia.

So none of this was Putin's doing at all. Blame is fair and square on Obama.

PS: You should not assume you are the only person on this thread that 'knows' people living in Russia.

The U.S. Government has Snowden trapped in Moscow, in Russia. Snowden sets foot out of Russia it's into a bear trap. So Snowden has to remain in Russia.

Putin had no choice in the matter other than to give Snowden asylum. So Putin limited the asylum to one year, which sounds like a good period of time to Putin and to Putin's pal Julian Assange. Who knows what things will be like a year from now? It's worth the try.

Meanwhile, irony or ironies, Snowden has already begun to serve his due punishment in Putin's Russia. Russia is a place where Nature gets busy each October to try to freeze your McDonalds nuggets off.

Haha, I don't think Putin quiet knows what to do with him and I find this very interesting.

I don't blame Putin at all. If a Russian Snowden end up in US for whatever reason, US would be all over that person and would never send them back to Russia. I would not blame US in that scenario.

I think Putin's dilemma is that Putin took this hard line stance by stating unequivocally that he had no interest in and did not take any of Snowden's information.

Let's assume hypothetically, that Putin jacked all of Snodwen's stuff contrary to what Putin has been telling the world press. Putin is not going to send Snowden packing to Ecuador or wherever and risk having Snowden rat him out and make appear as a liar on the world stage.

The one year thing provides Putin time to figure this out or perhaps time for Snowden to experience how bad Russian roads and Russian drivers really are . . . Oh my god they are both bad and my poor wife still cannot drive after being here for 10 years . . . It must be genetic.

[SinglePot]

F430murci

What you are saying about Putin is just speculation as you have nothing to back it up. Your cites are just opinions, not facts.

Obama caused all this when his govt decided to bully the nations Snowden requested asylum in. If they didn't do that he would not now be in Russia.

So none of this was Putin's doing at all. Blame is fair and square on Obama.

PS: You should not assume you are the only person on this thread that 'knows' people living in Russia.

So what are Your friends and acquaintances in Russia saying about this matter?

Give us a clue.

Are they laughing at the predicament that Snowden has given the US?

Would love to know their truth.

[SinglePot]

Read everything I have written with cites. Ask an Russian living in Russia right now. They pretty much snicker at comments such as yours.

Putin controls everything. Russians laugh at how Bama gets smacked around in media because Russian TV and media says nothing but how great Putin is, Putin did this, Putin did that.

If you defy and speak out against Putin publicly, very good chance you will be arrested, regardless who you are.

In car last night, my wife had conference with one of her large BofA clients in Moscow regarding macro or political implications of last 48 events for her BofA clients with huge global investments at stake.

My Russian is poor, but they did laugh at US media reports and say US seemingly has no clue.

If you understood Putin, you would not have to ask so a question.

With all due respect your just some keyboard on an anonymous internet forum

If half of what you said was true you would be more concerned about your wife's well being & employment while talking as much smack about Putin as you do. If as you claim she is Russian working in Russia

Besides my wife's sister use to date Putin & said he is a stand up guy

Is she as complimentary about Mrs Putin?

[SinglePot]

And all the time the US gets its knickers in a twist the enemies of the US in The Middle East, China and Russia, are rubbing their hands and laughing.

[FDog]

F430murci

What you are saying about Putin is just speculation as you have nothing to back it up. Your cites are just opinions, not facts.

Obama caused all this when his govt decided to bully the nations Snowden requested asylum in. If they didn't do that he would not now be in Russia.

So none of this was Putin's doing at all. Blame is fair and square on Obama.

PS: You should not assume you are the only person on this thread that 'knows' people living in Russia.

So what are Your friends and acquaintances in Russia saying about this matter?

Give us a clue.

Are they laughing at the predicament that Snowden has given the US?

Would love to know their truth.

They know the same as everyone else, just guesswork. Just because someone lives there doesn't mean they know more.

[Publicus]

Prez Obama has managed to corner Edward Snowden in Russia, where, ironically, Snowden has effectively begun to serve his punishment for stealing and publishing highly classified and sensitive national security information about the United States.

Putin was boxed in and had to give Snowden asylum. Putin decided on one year, see what happens after that.

Meanwhile, Vlad the Impaler remains ever so popular in Russia. Russia is a country that just can't manage to get past its 1000 year history of tsars and their brutal dictatorship. Putin seems to satisfy this in most Russians today.

Vlad the Impaler Obama may have canceled a summit, but when it comes to power politics there's only one master

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/08/07/vlad_the_impaler_putin_obama_russia_reset?page=full

Liberals are ignoring an important reality about Putin's Russia, which is that he has the consent of the majority of Russian people. According to a Pew poll, 56 percent of Russians report themselves satisfied with the outcome of the presidential election that swapped Medvedev and Putin. Seventy-two percent of Russians support Putin and his policies, a level of public endorsement Obama can only dream of. Fifty-seven percent of Russians consider a strong leader more important than democracy; a 25 percent margin over those who believe democracy is essential. And by a margin of 75 percent to 19 percent, Russians consider a strong economy more important than democracy.

Much as we might hope Russian reformers force progress, American policies need to acknowledge that Russians are mostly satisfied with the governance they have (and thus get the one they deserve). The Pew polling indicates that economic growth and social mobility are the bases of Putin's public support. And unless Washington can craft policies that affect those variables, it ought not expect the Putin government to be responsive to our appeals.

[Publicus]

That's an interesting question.

My present analysis is that because Putin gave Snowden a one year asylum, Putin is keeping his options open. It's not an open and shut case either way, at least not presently.

If anything, the one year asylum could suggest Putin might well be happy to rid himself of Snowden. Having Snowden will do nothing to improve relations with the United States. I don't believe Putin would want long term ice cold relations between Prez Obama and himself over any single issue or person.

Will Putin Ever Let Snowden Leave? The dirty secret is that Russia doesn't care about Edward anymore. It's all about luring the next turncoat

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/08/05/snowden_russia_putin_turncoat_spy?utm_medium=Widgets&utm_source=fp&utm_campaign=TopicPWForeignPolicyStandardLarge&_monetaClick=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-

American intelligence must have known and advised the White House, the Justice Department, and the Congress that the Russians would ultimately provide Snowden some form of safe harbor. Handing him back to the United States was never a serious option. Russian intelligence, and that would include former KGB officer and now President Putin, understands the chilling effect turning Snowden back would have on whatever prospective U.S. turncoat might be waiting in the wings, ready to hand over American secrets to Moscow's spymasters. And yes, let us assume these prospective turncoats are out there.

In the long history of the spy game between these two adversaries, the intelligence volunteer -- the willing turncoat -- motivated by money, revenge, lust, or simply boredom has always been the central character. And the Russian and U.S. intelligence services have built their crafts around the handling of the next volunteer, the next intelligence goldmine, whether it is an Aldrich Ames or a Robert Hanssen crossing over from our side, or an Adolf Tolkachev coming to us from theirs.

[Exsexyman]

You miss the point.

Obama and Putin were never friends.

Oh I don't miss much

This is childish plain & simple a tantrum

That is all this is a tantrum & unbefitting America. Sadly once elected we do not seem to have much input of how we are represented or perceived by the free world.

Snowden may be wanted by the US but he applied for & was granted asylum by Russia for reasons period.

It is not befitting the USA to throw this tantrum & act like there is nothing left in the world to discuss between two major super powers.

Rather embarrassing for America/Americans IMO actually & sorry our elected representative cannot be more adult about it.

The thing is, Obama would have more of a leg to stand on if there wasn't such hypocrisy involved. The USA regularly refuses to extradite people accused of serious crimes, even when the country requesting it has an extradition treaty.

Feb 28th 2007: US refuses Italian request for extradition of CIA agents.

Sept 9th 2012: Us refuses to extradite Bolivias's ex - President to face genocide charges.

Dec 30th 2012: US refuses to allow extradition of Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela to answer charges of bombing a jet airliner,(Which he admitted and boasted about), which killed 77 people.

Russia does not have an extradition treaty with the USA so President Obama can pout and sulk all he likes. True to his motto. 'The audacity of hype'.

[manarak]

Prez Obama has managed to corner Edward Snowden in Russia, where, ironically, Snowden has effectively begun to serve his punishment for stealing and publishing highly classified and sensitive national security information about the United States.

Hey, why wouldn't the US just reinstate his passport? Me seems you would agree with me that Snowden would already be punished enough by not being able to set foot in the great country that the USA are, or would that count as being in denial?

[chuckd]

Prez Obama has managed to corner Edward Snowden in Russia,

[SinglePot]

And while we bicker, some news.

"Barack Obama pledges greater surveillance transparency"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23642880

Video of pres Obama is worth looking at.

(If this is covered on another thread I have missed it.

Likewise if it needs moving elsewhere.)

[Scott]

Please feel free to post about the NSA in the NSA thread here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/645661-nsa-contractor-identifies-himself-as-source/page-51#entry6700213

Let's confine this one to the Snowden affair.

[SinglePot]

cheers.

BBC article above also contains reference to Snowden's asylum in Russia and the US-Russia diplomacy issues.

[Publicus]

The United States persuaded the Cuban Government not to allow NSA espionage fugitive Edward Snowden to transit through Cuba en route to Venezuela where he had been offered asylum.

Edward Snowden could not fly from Moscow to Venezuela because the Cuban government decided not to allow Snowden to stopover in Havana to change flights to Caracas, Venezuela. There are no direct flights between Moscow and Caracas.

After diplomatic contacts by Washington to the Cuban Government in Havana, Cuba ordered its embassy officials in Moscow to request Russia to prevent Snowden boarding the scheduled Russian Aeorflot flight to Havana. Cuba and the United States do not have diplomatic relations. It's believed the Canadian embassy in Havana acted in behalf of the United States with the Cuban Government.

Aeroflot had booked Snowden and a Wikileaks staff member on the scheduled Aeroflot flight to Havana from Moscow. Snowden had spent several days in the Russian Consulate offices in Hong Kong to arrange his flight from Hong Kong to Moscow and on to Caracas.

Snowden got stuck in Russia after Cuba blocked entry, says Russian newspaper

Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden got stuck in the transit zone of a Moscow airport because Havana said it would not let him fly from Russia to Cuba, a Russian newspaper reported on Monday.

Citing several sources, including one close to the U.S. State Department, Kommersant newspaper said the reason was that at the last minute Cuba told officials to stop Snowden from boarding the Aeroflot flight.

It said Cuba had changed its mind after pressure by the United States, which wants to try Snowden on espionage charges.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/snowden-got-stuck-russia-cuba-blocked-entry-newspaper-072031213.html

[Credo]

Wow, I don't know what is more surprising, the fact that the US could put pressure on Cuba or that Cuba would get between Venezuela and the US.

The US must have one heck of a hard-on for Snowden to negotiate with Cuba.

I wonder why Cuba would agree?

[Publicus]

Wow, I don't know what is more surprising, the fact that the US could put pressure on Cuba or that Cuba would get between Venezuela and the US.

The US must have one heck of a hard-on for Snowden to negotiate with Cuba.

I wonder why Cuba would agree?

Well, its been a long and slow mutual process, but since Clinton was president Cuba and the United States have been trying to improve relations.

They haven't had diplomatic relations since Castro came to power and nationalized U.S. companies, but there is a "Cuban Mission" office in Washington.

The large Cuban exile community, mainly in south Florida, supports improved relations between the U.S. and Cuba. Cuban exiles in the U.S. have no sympathy for Snowden, or for the CCP-PRC to where Snowden initially fled, and certainly have no sympathy for Russia and Putin's antagonism against the United States.

Pres Raul Castro had nothing to gain by rejecting Washington's overtures to prevent Snowden transiting Cuba.

Had Chavez still been president of Venezuela, Cuba probably would have felt more pressure to allow Snowden to transit Cuba. However, with Chavez gone, dead from cancer, Cuba's improving relations with Washington are more important than the ties it has with Venezuela. Reestablishing working relations with the U.S. will do much more for the Cuban economy than will having close ties with another enemy of Washington in Caracas.

After things in the Middle East get settled down, however long that may take, the leftist governments of Latin America are going to get the serious attention of the United States, so there's really no future in standing by those.