Snowden offered asylum

SUBHEAD: President Nicolás Maduro offers Edward Snowden asylum in Venezuela. US paranoia backfires.

By Daniel Wallis & Deisy Biutrago on 5 July 2013 for Reuters -
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/05/snowden-asylum-venezuela_n_3552730.html)


Image above: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in indigenous motif. From (http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2013/04/chavez-protege-wins-elections.html).

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday he had decided to offer asylum to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who has petitioned several countries to avoid capture by Washington.

"I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young American, Edward Snowden, so that in the fatherland of (Simon) Bolivar and (Hugo) Chavez, he can come and live away from the imperial North American persecution," Maduro told a televised parade marking Venezuela's independence day.

Snowden is believed to be holed up in the transit area of a Moscow international airport



Bolivian President plane diverted

SUBHEAD:Bolivia looking at legal options after President Evo Morales' jet forced to divert.

By Staff on 3 July 2013 for the Telegraph -
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/bolivia/10157204/Bolivia-looking-at-legal-options-after-President-Evo-Morales-jet-forced-to-divert.html)



Video above: Evo Morales explains his ordeal.  (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/bolivia/10157204/Bolivia-looking-at-legal-options-after-President-Evo-Morales-jet-forced-to-divert.html) .

A plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria after various European countries refused to let it cross their airspace because of suspicions that Edward Snowden - who is wanted for revealing US intelligence data - was on board, Bolivian officials said on Tuesday.

Speaking in Vienna, where he was waiting in VIP terminal of the airport for clearance for his flight to leave, Mr Morales said "international rules" should have been respected and that there was a "legal issue" to be examined.

He said other South American leaders had expressed concern over the events.

Meanwhile, protesters gathered outside the French embassy in La Paz late on Tuesday to demonstrate against France's refusal to allow Morales' plane to pass through its airspace.

Bolivian Senate President Gabriela Montano, present at the protest, said Morales being refused permission to cross France's airspace "dealt a blow to Bolivia's sovereignty and the sovereignty of the Bolivian people".

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