The Uncomfortable Edward Snowden

When I hear or read about ex-CIA agent Edward Snowden’s troubles, I remember a Tom Hanks movie called “The Terminal” — only in reverse, since Snowden in real life is in the Moscow airport and in the film, Hanks experiences his adventure in a New York airport. Hanks works, makes friends and has a girlfriend until, finally, the circumstances that detained him in the terminal come to an end and he enters the city and the country.

But Snowden is in real trouble. He made the tremendous mistake of choosing Russia to get stranded in; he didn’t consider that from Moscow to America there are 11 or more hours of flying time and that there is no airplane on earth capable of making that flight without having to stop for fuel.

I believe that the Latin American leaders who offered Snowden asylum are aware of these circumstances and technical difficulties and did it just to “show off.” Russia isn’t going to upset the United States by giving Snowden free passage to Latin America; that’s the problem of the country that grants him asylum. Perhaps La Paz, Caracas or Managua would give him asylum if the poor guy was in a country whose distance and travel time could be made without inconveniences. The United States’ sanction warnings must not go unheeded. In Nicaragua, COSEP* is already crying.

The American has been like this for almost a month. Moscow has to supply him with toilet paper, razor blades, food, clothing supplies, a bed, everything a human being needs for an unexpected indefinite vacation.

The worst of all is the diplomatic trouble that Snowden has caused Russia and the United States. Being aware of this, Putin has warned the still-transient one that if he requests asylum it would be granted on the condition that, once he is living in Moscow, he cease all information leaks against the United States. Supposedly, the Cold War is over now. His revelations about American spying on Latin American ally nations has caused a diplomatic mess; since this spying has infringed upon the political rights of all those governments, it proves that the United States has no friends, only interests.

The United States has lost this round for having been exposed for spying; I wonder what would have happened if a KGB agent would have denounced Moscow for spying on Washington. Perhaps then the Cold War would restart.

There must be some way out for the uncomfortable and stranded Snowden. There have been spy exchanges before, and surely that option hasn’t been discarded, but Washington must capture a Russian spy, if there is one in the United States. I thought that Havana would offer him asylum, since Snowden is so much in favor of countries that are adverse to and against the United States, but these current times are different from the past Havana-Washington times.

Stranded without a passport and without a nationality since Washington stripped him of his citizenship, Snowden knows what awaits him if he exposes himself; his skills should let him know that he had best forget about seeking asylum in Latin America. Supposedly without any support, unable to speak the language and still without his family, perhaps Snowden intends to accept winter clothing in face of the imminent and harsh Moscow cold. In life, everything requires planning, including audacity. If he remains in Moscow his name will be forgotten, but perhaps one day we’ll hear from him again.

*Editor’s note: COSEP refers to the Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada, a private enterprise council.