Venezuela Accepts Edward Snowden's Asylum Request

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro confirmed today that his country has received a formal asylum request from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has been at the transit area of the Moscow airport since June 23.

"We got a letter from Snowden in which he petions Venezuela for asylum," Maduro told reporters after meeting with the President of Panama Ricardo Martinelli. "Snowden will have to decide when to fly here," he added.

Maduro announced last Friday its offer to grant "humanitarian asylum" to Snowden and at the same time he accused the United States of "unleashing global madness" and of "unrestrained persecution," pointing to the incident that involved the President of Bolivia Evo Morales on his trip back to his country from Europe.

"Latin America is saying to this young man: you are being persecuted by the Empire, come with us," Maduro said, in direct reference to similar asylum offers extended by Bolivia and Nicaragua, countries that make up the informal coalision of left-wing governments in Latin America. The Venezuelan president said that he hasn't spoken to Snowden yet, but that he would as soon as possible.

Asked about possible retaliations from Washington if Snowden was welcome in Venezuela, Maduro said that it was something he did not worry about because according to the Venezuelan president, "America does not rule the world, we are a free and sovereign country and we can make our own decisions about who comes here."

Snowden also sent a formal asylum request to Nicaragua, which was received by that country's embassy in Moscow.

The White House said today that Snowden would not be allowed to travel to any other country than the United States, in response to the asylum offers the intelligence leaker has received from Latin American nations. According to Wikileaks, Snowden has sought refuge in over 20 different countries, after uncovering a massive telephone and internet espionage program conducted by the National Security Agency, a U.S. intellligence department.

Snowden is still detained at Moscow without a passport, which was revoked by U.S. authorities to limit his travel possibilities, but he would only need a temporary travel document to reach Venezuela.