Maduro puts out the welcome mat for Edward Snowden, unconditionally

Check out time in Moscow may be approaching, as both sides appear to be on the same page

Guadalajara -
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro appeared Monday to leave the door wide open for an immediate journey by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who remains trapped in a Moscow airport under increasing pressure to decide which country he will select as his new home.

Snowden, who has not been seen since his arrival in the Russian capital on June 23, could make a move at any moment. Putin administration officials have made no secret of the fact that they are anxious to see him go.

During July 5 independence day festivities in Caracas, Maduro publicly offered Snowden "humanitarian asylum." Today he confirmed that Venezuela's embassy in Russia has received a formal solicitation from the American fugitive, probably identical in content to this one.

Unlike Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, who actively solicited an asylum application from Snowden in June but then unexpectedly modified the conditions by noting that "nothing can be done until he arrives in our territory," Maduro imposed no conditions whatever. He told the Carcacas press today, "Snowden will have to decide when to fly here, if this is where he finally decides to fly."

Despite U.S. insistence that Snowden be immediately detained and extradited by any country he may travel to, Maduro has made it clear he will do no such thing. "We're an independent, sovereign nation, and this young man is being persecuted by an imperialist power," the Venezuelan president has repeatedly said. Nicolás Maduro rejects U.S. request on Edward Snowden.

Nicaragua is also considering a Snowden asylum petition. Last week president Daniel Ortega said his country would be disposed to such an application, "if circumstances permit." He did not specify what those circumstances might be.

Bolivia is yet another country which has offered asylum to Snowden, but president Evo Morales has not said whether his government has received a letter from the contractor. In the capital of La Paz on Monday there were noisy street protests, where demonstrators burned American and European flags in protest over Morales' forced grounding in Vienna last week, as he returned from a Moscow summit. Morales has said he will close the U.S. embassy, but he threatened the same in 2012.

If Maduro really wants Snowden in Venezuela he'll have to authorize interim travel documents or negotiate a safe passage guarantee, without which the passport-less American probably won't be unable to depart Moscow. The second challenge will be to decide upon an aircraft route which circumvents the air space of U.S. allies. Some analysts have suggested that route may be eastbound, away from Europe and across the Siberian plains, ultimately passing over the Pacific Ocean and on to South America. That course, while far out of the way, has the advantage of avoiding unfriendly skies.

There is no indication that any other country outside of Latin America is seriously considering Edward Snowden's reported 27 requests for political asylum.

July 10 - A world passport for Edward Snowden
July 7 - Edward Snowden: Washington's massive miscalculation
July 10 - Advierten sobre riesgos para Venezuela por ofrecer asilo a Snowden

"This is perhaps the first collective humanitarian asylum in history, as different countries tell this hounded young man, 'Come to us!' " - Nicolás Maduro

Timothy Hallett Tracy case
June 5 - "The gringo has been expelled"
May 6 - Timothy Hallett Tracy is "neither a photographer nor a film maker"
Apr. 27 - Timothy Hallett Tracy makes first appearance in Venezuelan court
Apr. 25 - Venezuela arrests U.S. national Timothy Hallett Tracy

The name notwithstanding, things are far from peaceful in La Paz these days

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