Stefan Mileschin

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has safely landed in Caracas, Venezuela after flying from Russia to Cuba.

Al Jazeera reported that Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro had offered asylum to the former US intelligence contractor on Friday and it was just a matter of getting him out of Russia with no one noticing.

Guillermo Thomas who is a spokesperson for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, told aljazeera.com that Snowden is currently in the country.

He said that the country was "very blessed" to have Mr. Snowden in the country, and it is a "pleasure",

Apparently there were no direct flights across the Atlantic from Moscow to Venezuela so the only way to do it was to travel through Cuba.

Thomas said that Snowden is a hero and should be treated as one and "we are pleased to provide this hero a home where he can live and be safe".

The timing of the announcement coincided with Venezuelan independence day celebrations. Nothing says "independence" better than offering humanitarian asylum to someone who needs to escape "persecution of American imperialism".

On 14 June, 2013, US federal prosecutors charged Snowden with espionage and theft of government property. Snowden is believed to have asked 27 countries for asylum, most of whom had turned down his request since he outed himself as the NSA whistleblower responsible for leaking information about US government spy programmes.

http://news.techeye.net/security/sno...s-to-venezuela