On the heels of Nicaragua's offer of asylum to National Security Agency leak source Edward Snowden, the president of Venezuela also offered to grant Snowden's request while denouncing the United States in a scathing speech.
Reuters reports that Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro made his offer during a televised military parade marking Venezuela's independence day. In his speech, he denounced the Obama administration for moving to support the opposition forces fighting "legitimate" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"He has told the truth, in the spirit of rebellion, about the U.S. spying on the whole world," Maduro said of Snowden.
"Who is the guilty one? A young man ... who denounces war plans, or the U.S. government which launches bombs and arms the terrorist Syrian opposition against the people and legitimate President Bashar al-Assad?
"Who is the terrorist? Who is the global delinquent?"
Nicaragua and Venezuela serve as the first positive developments in the asylum search for Snowden, who had requested it in more than 25 countries without any luck before Friday.
On Friday, another possible country — Iceland — voted to table a proposal to grant Snowden citizenship in the country, according to Reuters. Iceland's parliament voted not to debate the measure before its summer recess.
Snowden, who has revealed a slew of secret information about the NSA's surveillance programs, is believed to be holed up in a Moscow airport.
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