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Snowden Offered Asylum By Venezuelan President

Posted by Unknown on from the zombie-hugo-chavez-wants-american-brains dept.

First time accepted submitter aBaldrich writes "Edward Snowden was offered 'humanitarian asylum' by Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela. The country's official news agency reports (original Spanish, Google translation) that the decision was taken after a meeting of the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. Maduro denounced an attempt to 'colonize' several European countries, and that he is acting 'on behalf of the dignity of the Americas.'" The Guardian confirms.

14 of 380 comments (clear)

  1. How Will He Get There by Google+Fanboys · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Now the question is how will he get there? There is no direct flights from Moscow. Hell, some countries even denied Bolivian presidents airspace when they thought Snowden was on the plane.

    1. Re:How Will He Get There by AuMatar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If nothing else, how about a boat? Russia has a coastline, so does Venezuela. All he has to do is get Russia's permission to enter for a few hours. Or a helicopter to a boat. Or a seaplane. Or a special flight taking the long way flying around Europe, then down the Atlantic. The question is more about how much Russia is willing to help him- given that they haven't just handed him over, my guess is they'll be happy to help him leave.

      --
      I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
    2. Re:How Will He Get There by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Correction: Bolivia claimed that some countries denied the Bolivian president permission to enter their airspace. Those countries have denied doing so. At this point I have seen no information which allows me to reach a conclusion as to which side is lying. I have greater distrust of the Bolivian government than I do of the other government's involved, but I cannot see a clear enough motivation for them to make this up to overcome my distrust of the other governments. Which leaves me to the conclusion I already stated: I don't know who is lying.

      Conclusive evidence it is not, but it would be an incredible stunt to turn a plane and head to a Viennese airport and then shout from the hills that the plane is grounded and attempting to be searched.

      I mean maybe the Bolivian president has too much time on his hands and is shooting the latest Jackass movie, or maybe the other countries are attempting to back-peddle after causing the most stupid international relations snafu in the past few years. I mean it could all be a big lost in translation moment, but one thing is known for certain, Morales was not scheduled to land or refuel at Vienna, and a routine refuelling stop should not have taken 12 hours.

    3. Re:How Will He Get There by Cwix · · Score: 5, Insightful

      US pushing other countries to do its bidding, is more believable then the alternative that the president of Bolivia, and all of those on board were lying.

      If you asked me if any government in the world was lying compared to the word of an individual, especially when that individual is supported by witnesses and flight logs, I would most certainly believe that the government was lying.

      --
      You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
    4. Re:How Will He Get There by Znork · · Score: 4, Insightful

      One would wonder about the nature of that "conflicting information". Did they think it was a CIA rendition flight? No, right, kidnapping and torture is ok, it's transportation of asylum seekers that must be prevented.

      The fall of western civilization into vile barbarism is painful to behold. These stains cannot be washed away.

    5. Re: How Will He Get There by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, kill the person that exposed the illegal violations of your 4th Amendment rights. Quickly, go cower in your corner with yur gunz. The terrorists are after you right now! They are everywhere!

    6. Re:How Will He Get There by johanw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It was a test to see how they would react if they want to get Snowden to safety. Leak false information and see if the plane would get into trouble. Now thy know how the US and its poodles will respond they can think of something better.

    7. Re:How Will He Get There by bonehead · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The US holds one of the six "unspankable" seats in the UN.

      While there are technically things they could do, in the real world there is very little they can do against any of the 6 permanent members of the security council that would have any teeth.

    8. Re:How Will He Get There by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No one has seen him there, so who knows where he is? Even the USA lost track of him if they erroneously tipped off European countries that Snowden was on Boliva's presidential plane.

      You are assuming the US erroneously tipped of European countries. It could also have been a calculated action to signal to Bolivia of things to come if they mess with the US. If so, the US should rework the math, because it doesn't seem to have worked out as planned and raised the ire of many neutral allies and countries.

  2. Re:Luis Posada Carriles by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    but blowing up an airplane, that's like, totally political! releasing files on state wide surveillance system is totally different, that's a common street crime!

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  3. Re:A solution for prison overcrowding ... by causality · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Little tip to Obama: this could be a solution for your prison overcrowding problems. Dump them on these third rate socialist shit holes. Just make sure you tag each criminal as enemy of the USA, and they will lap up anything you throw at them. Even if you pay for air fare you win. Try it.

    The real solution to that is ending the War on Drugs and finally recognizing that anything consenting adults want to do is NOT a crime. Nice joke, though.

    --
    It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
  4. Edward Snowden must be gnashing his teeth. by arielCo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    After exposing massive metadata-based surveillance by his government, he might have to take asylum in a repressive country that routinely has conversations between opposition politicians recorded, edited, manipulated and shown on state-owned TV. That is, excluding the ones that had to flee or were jailed on bogus charges. The bitter irony cannot be missed.

    --
    This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
  5. Re:Luis Posada Carriles by Phrogman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No, its not a piece of shit country, its got piece of shit people running the place and they have created a system that ensures they stay in power. The country itself is very decent overall. In a sense you have put a lot of people in jail who shouldn't be there as part of the "War on Drugs" fiasco, and a lot of politicians, corporate CEOs and Intelligence types who should be put in jail but haven't.

    --
    "The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
  6. emigration used to be a viable safety valve by stenvar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You say that as if it were some sort of horrible solution or unprecedented. Historically, emigration has been a major safety valve, both for the unjustly accused and persecuted to save themselves, and for nations to rid themselves of people that didn't fit in. All European nations got through the last few hundred years that way.

    Regardless of what you may think of Snowden, the fact that a non-violent, educated, and skilled guy has no place to go in the world really is a profound change in how the world works, and I don't think it's a good one.