The Informant Gets Asylum

Do you remember that informant, the one who divulged the CIA’s sophisticated system used to spy on governments, missions and diplomatic seats, including its allies? After spending the night in the Moscow airport for five weeks, from where he could not continue his trip because the U.S. Department of State had cancelled his passport and demanded his extradition for the grave crimes he committed against national security, Putin granted him temporary asylum for one year, drawing the ire of the U.S. government. The incident, as you will recall, also angered Evo [Morales], because several European governments, believing that the informant was on board Evo’s return flight from a Moscow summit, bound for Brazil, refused to allow the plane to fly over their skies.

Even the Organization of American States came out condemning the violation of the president’s diplomatic investiture, stating that it was not only disrespectful of the Bolivian government’s sovereignty, but it also offended all of Latin America. It is strange that, if the disrespect of one government offends an entire continent, the Honduran president has not received equal treatment when various governments of the southern hemisphere, angry with Honduras — even though the country had been through busy elections — have created several humiliations for the country. They prevented him from flying over their territory and prohibited his presence at regional summits, under threat of boycott, in spite of the fact that the hosts had previously invited him. These unpleasant moments that we recall have no other purpose than to show proof of the double standard with which these things are measured, such as the hypocrisy of diplomacy.

Getting back the American informant has become an annoying headache for the U.S. government. The Russians’ decision to grant asylum has provoked “profound disappointment” from the White House. Obama has personally communicated with Putin by telephone. Obama requested that Russia not grant asylum and instead hand Snowden over to the U.S. justice system, despite the fact that neither country has an extradition treaty. But as the Russians, with Putin at the head, are strengthening their hegemonic positions with a view of recuperating the power that they have yearned for since the old Soviet Union fell, the influence of the Americans is very limited.

“We are evaluating the utility of a summit, in light of this and other issues,” a White House spokesman continued, alluding to a bilateral meeting between Obama and Putin in Russia before the end of the year. The informant not only escaped from the Americans but also the hoard of journalists who were stalking the Moscow airport to interview him, since he left the premises in a clandestine operation to a secret and secure place. The other great informant, Julian Assange, the Australian WikiLeaks hacker who has had asylum for over a year in the Ecuadorian embassy in London while trying to avoid his extradition to Sweden, celebrated the decision of the Russians. We will continue to follow the plot to see if Obama decides to go to Moscow or not for the scheduled meeting with his friend Putin.