Gazeta Wyborcza: Snowden can go to Latin America via Belarus

The Belarusian authorities may help a fugitive ex-CIA employee.

Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland) writes about a possible scenario for Edward Snowden.

The ex-CIA employee, whose passport was annulled by the US, is in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport waiting for the Russian authorities to consider his application for temporary asylum in Russia. Kremlin-friendly lawyer Anatoly Kucherena says the formalities could be completed on Monday. Temporary asylum can be granted for Snowden for a period of one year and can then be extended, according to him.

According to law, the Snowden can wait three months for the final decision of the Russian authorities. He can receive an official document allowing him to leave the transit zone in the nearest time.

“He can then go to Belarus, because the country has no formal border with Russia. The local authorities will carry him on a military transport airplane to an African country and then to Latin America, where several states are ready to grant him permanent political asylum,” the Polish newspaper writes.

Moscow-based expert Andrei Soldatov finds this scenario the most probable. He notes that Russia apparently doesn't want to get deeply involved in the situation of the fugitive whistleblower in order not to provoke a conflict with Washington.

Russian experts earlier supposed that Edward Snowden can apply to Lukashenka for asylum.

“Belarus is the most suitable variant for Snowden, because Lukashenka will hardly find arguments to reject [his application for asylum]. Nicaragua and Venezuela are too close to the US. Washington will put pressure on Daniel Ortega and Nicaragua as soon as the hacker is found in this country. Nicolás Maduro in the same situation will face pressure a little bit later,” says Georgy Trofimchuk, a politologist and first vice president of the Strategic Development Modeling Center.

The same opinion was expressed by Leonid Kalashnikov, the first deputy chair of the Russian Duma Committee on International Affairs. The official said it was possible that the ex-CIA whistleblower would go to Minsk.

The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Snowden hadn't applied to the Belarusian MFA for political asylum.

Heads of Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua have said they are ready to give asylum for the fugitive whistleblower.