WASHINGTON — After seeing country after country denying him political asylum, NSA leaker Edward Snowden is now applying for temporary asylum in Russia.
Reuters reports that Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena , said his client will be in Russia for a brief time before hopefully settling in Latin America.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at one point he was considering giving Snowden asylum if he requested it, while U.S. President Barack Obama said he shouldn’t have to talk to Putin or Chinese officials to request Snowden be handed over to U.S. custody.
Snowden had been holed up in a terminal in the Moscow airport waiting for a country to approve his asylum application, but none did so. Countries like Ecuador considered it before backing down and other countries flatly denied Snowden entry.
After leaking his story of extensive NSA surveillance on U.S. civilians and internationals to leftist British reporter Glenn Greenwald, Snowden left his job at the NSA and fled to Hong Kong before heading to Russia, where he has been there since late May.
Socialist Latin American countries like Nicaragua, Bolivia and Venezuela are considering Snowden’s situation and are banding together to ensure he lands in one of their countries in due time.
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