Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro (L), and his Nicaraguan counterpart, Daniel Ortega, who have offered asylum to Edward Snowden. Photograph: Inti Ocon/AFP/Getty Images
guardian.co.uk / By Jonathan Watts / Saturday 6 July 2013 16.38 BST
Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua have offered asylum to Edward Snowden, the US whistleblower who is believed to have spent the past two weeks at a Moscow airport evading US attempts to extradite him.
The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, and his Nicaraguan counterpart, Daniel Ortega, made the asylum offers on Friday, shortly after they and other Latin American leaders met to denounce the diversion of a plane carrying the Bolivian president, Evo Morales, due to suspicions that Snowden might have been on board.
Shortly after, Morales also said Bolivia would grant asylum to Snowden, if asked. On Saturday, Venezuela’s offer was given a warm reception by an influential member of the Russian parliament.
In a tweet, Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the Duma foreign affairs committee, said: “Asylum for Snowden in Venezuela would be the best solution.”
The invitations from South America came as Snowden sent out new requests for asylum to six countries, in addition to the 20 he has already contacted, according to WikiLeaks, which claims to be in regular contact with the former National Security Agency contractor.
Most of the countries have refused or given technical reasons why an application is not valid, but several Latin American leaders have rallied together with expressions of solidarity and welcome.
“As head of state of the Bolivarian republic of Venezuela, I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young Snowden … to protect this young man from persecution by the empire,” said Maduro who, along with his predecessor Hugo Chávez, often refers to the US as “the empire”.
