Days after four European countries denied Bolivian President Evo Morales access to their airspace as he returned home from Russia after it was suspected that Edward Snowden was aboard his plane, Morales and two other Latin American presidents have made offers of asylum to the NSA whistleblower. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said on Friday he had decided to offer "humanitarian asylum" to Snowden "to protect this young man from persecution by the empire". Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega chimed in that same day from Managua, saying he would make the same offer "if circumstances allow it", though he did not elaborate. On Saturday, Morales joined them in saying he would offer asylum in protest of his treatment at the hands of European authorities.
In a speech on Saturday, Morales said his offer constituted a humanitarian act for a "political dissident".
"As a just protest, if he asks us, we're going to give asylum to the North American who is persecuted by his countrymen. We're not afraid, because they accused me of carrying that ex-CIA agent who has uncovered how the governments of the United States were illegally controlling us," Morales said, according to La Razón.
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The day before, Maduro announced his decision at the start of a military parade for a Venezuelan Independence Day celebration. "He has told the truth, in the spirit of rebellion, about the US spying on the whole world," Maduro said. "Who is the guilty one? A young man ... who denounces war plans, or the US government which launches bombs and arms the terrorist Syrian opposition against the people and legitimate president, Bashar al-Assad?" Watch a clip from his speech below.
Nicaragua's Ortega announced he would welcome Snowden as well, though his acceptance of the asylum request was a bit less enthusiastic than that of his peers. "We are an open country, respectful of the right of asylum, and it's clear that if circumstances permit, we would gladly receive Snowden and give him asylum", he said.
RELATED: Snowden Submits Asylum Request To 21 Countries
The announcements come after Evo Morales' plane had to make an emergency layover in Vienna after France, Italy, Spain and Portugal suddenly revoked access to their airspace. Initially the four European countries denied that they had done so, but on Friday Spain's foreign minister José Manuel García-Margallo acknowledged that his country's decision was based on a tip that Edward Snowden was on board Morales' plane. The Bolivian president says that in Vienna, Spanish embassy personnel asked to search the plane, which he refused. It is widely assumed that pressure from the United States on the four European countries was responsible for their move.
RELATED: Evo Morales Says He Felt 'Kidnapped' After Plane Searched For NSA Leaker
In response, the Latin American regional bloc Unasur called an emergency meeting. Presidents from across the region condemned the action.
"We are not colonies anymore," said Uruguay's president, José Mujica, at the meeting. "We deserve respect, and when one of our governments is insulted we feel the insult throughout Latin America."
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