Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, has confirmed that the South American nation has received an official request for asylum from US fugitive Edward Snowden. After announcing last week that he would offer asylum to Snowden, Maduro told reporters in Caracas, the former security contractor would have to arrange the details of his flight from Moscow to Venezuela.
"We received an application letter for asylum from Snowden. He will need to decide when to fly here, if he definitely wants to fly here. Latin America is probably the only region as a collective of several countries, to offer humanitarian asylum or collective political asylum." "The United States does not govern the world nor does it govern us. We are a free and sovereign country and no one else but the Venezuelan people, the legitimate government elected by the people, governs us." said Nicolas Maduro.
Snowden was charged by the US government with three counts of felony after he disclosed a highly-classified surveillance program, which intercepts the e-mails and phone conversations of millions of people.
The administration of US President Barack Obama has advised foreign governments that allowing Snowden to land on their territory could seriously damage their relations with the US. Snowden arrived at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport on June 23rd and has been holed up in the airport’s transit zone since his US passport was revoked by Washington.
According to a WikiLeaks report, the US fugitive has applied for political asylum with 21 countries. In recent days, Bolivia and Nicaragua have also come forward to offer Snowden asylum.