Guadalajara -
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is safely back home in Caracas today, after his trip to Moscow earlier this week. He's probably thankful to have made it in less time than it took Bolivia's Evo Morales to land in La Paz.
This morning Maduro formally rejected a U.S. request to hand over former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, should the latter somehow manage to teleport himself from self-imposed confinement in the Russian capital to the Bolivarian Socialist Republic.
Last week Maduro said he was open to consideration of a Snowden political asylum request, which Venezuela says it has yet to receive from the fugitive's team of Wikileaks legal advisers. Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro is ready to accept Edward Snowden, even if Ecuador's Rafael Correa isn't.
There was speculation that Maduro might return to Caracas with Snowden in tow, hopefully avoiding any unscheduled stops in Vienna. But that didn't happen, and now some are saying that the Man with Many Secrets may have to spend months in Moscow. Edward Snowden will learn, as did a French emperor and a German corporal, that winter comes early to the Russian steppes.
In remarks this morning Maduro asked why, if the U.S. is so interested in procuring justice, it doesn't extradite "the terrorist Posada Carriles" back to Venezuela. Carriles has lived in Miami for decades.
Maduro also said that he holds "the U.S. and the CIA responsible" for Evo Morales' treatment at the hands of several European countries, which he described as a "virtual kidnapping." "They're afraid of what additional things Snowden may reveal," said Maduro.
The Venezuelan president said his government would carefully review its relationship with Madrid, which he suggested was involved in the incident. Echoing comments yesterday by Morales, Maduro queried, "What do those guys think - that this is still the colonial world?"
"The forces of imperialism still have their hands in many of our affairs," Maduro lamented.
Ecuador and Bolivia both also confirmed today that they have received formal extradition requests form the U.S. State Dept., in the event that Snowden makes it to either country. Neither has yet officially responded.
July 5 - Evo Morales: "We will close the U.S. embassy in La Paz"
July 3 - Maduro da otro paso en incipiente acercamiento a EEUU
June 23 - Edward Snowden likely headed to Venezuela or Eucador
June 5 - Venezuela deports American Timothy Hallet Tracy
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
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment