Cuban President Raul Castro Supports Latin American Asylum Offers to Edward Snowden

Cuban President Raul Castro lent his support to fellow Latin American countries that had offered NSA leaker Eric Snowden asylum during a speech to Cuba's national assembly on Sunday.

While Castro gave his support, he did not say whether Cuba would extend an invitation of asylum to Snowden, the Associated Press reported.

Castro's speech comes on the heels of Venezuela and Bolivia's offer to Snowden over the weekend and Nicaragua's announcement that it was considering his request. Snowden has been holed up in a transit area of Moscow's main airport for the past two weeks after abruptly leaving Hong Kong.

In a pre-recorded speech to the national assembly, Castro said, "We support the sovereign right...of Venezuela and all states in the region to grant asylum to those persecuted for their ideals or their struggles for democratic rights." According to the AP, the session was closed off to foreign media and later broadcast on state-run television.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro offered the sought-after leaker asylum, but the country's Foreign Minister Elias Jaua confirmed on Saturday to reporters that his country hasn't yet been in contact with Snowden. Meanwhile, Bolivia's offer comes after President Evo Morales was denied entry to several European airspaces last week. Morales' plane was diverted to Austria after France and Portugal refused entry into their airspace fearing he was taking Snowden to Latin America.

According to the AP, a top Russian parliament member, Alexei Pushkov, took to Twitter to encourage Snowden to take up Venezuela's asylum offer. "Venezuela is waiting for an answer from Snowden. This, perhaps, is his last chance to receive political asylum," Pushkov wrote.

Despite offers from several Latin American countries, Snowden may have a hard time getting from Russia to any country in the Western Hemisphere. According to the AP, Snowden would not only need Venezuela to issue him travel documents and find a way to get there, he would need to make sure his flight didn't enter U.S. airspace.

WikiLeaks reported that Snowden applied to asylum in over two dozen countries, including Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.