Snowden expected to fly to Cuba, U.S. urges his detention

[Douglas Carpenter]

Source: Reuters


By Lidia Kelly and James Pomfret

MOSCOW/HONG KONG | Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:45am EDT

(Reuters) - Fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden is expected to try to fly to Cuba on Monday while he waits to hear if Ecuador will grant him asylum, so far eluding Washington's efforts to extradite him on espionage charges.

In a major embarrassment for U.S. President Barack Obama, an aircraft carrying Snowden landed in Moscow on Sunday from Hong Kong after the Chinese territory allowed him to leave despite requests from Washington that he be arrested.

The White House said it expected the Russian government to send Snowden back to the United States. It had also lodged "strong objections" to Hong Kong and China over the decision to allow Snowden, who exposed secret U.S. government surveillance programs, to flee.

Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, on a trip to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, said Snowden had sought asylum in his country. He declined to say what the Ecuadorean government would do, but added the request would be analyzed with a "lot of responsibility". An aide said the minister would hold a news conference around 7.00 p.m. local time (8 a.m. EDT) in Hanoi.

A source at Russian airline Aeroflot said Snowden was booked on a flight scheduled to depart for Havana on Monday at 2:05 p.m. (6.05 a.m. EDT). Snowden is believed to be in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. Cuba said it had no information on the issue.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/24/us-usa-security-flight-idUSBRE95M02H20130624

[Narkos]

1. What a hero!

[okaawhatever]

2. I wouldn't be suprised if Cuba kept him and used him to try and get their guys back. Cuba is

a strong ally of Ecuador, but I noticed the Ecuadorean gov't rep didn't say Snowden's asylum had been approved so that gives them an out if they want to deny it. It may just be a connecting flight, but it does seem odd that Ecuador hasn't approved asylum or spoken publicly about it. I'm surprised Correa didn't jump on the opportunity the way he did Manning.

[Downwinder]

3. The pardons for the Cuban five signed yet?

Might throw in Carriles for good measure.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Any country with honor would have returned that mass murdering airliner bomber

long ago, instead of looking the other way while he lives it up in Miami, being treated as a hero by the radical reactionary TRUE terrorists and supporters of the Miami Cuban "exile" mafia.

[Iliyah]

4. Dropping off intel, nothing to see here

he's an American hero.

[99th_Monkey]

5. What happened to Venezuela?

An earlier story said he was going ultimately to Venezuela, via Russia and Cuba (in that order).

Here's my OP, with a story from Raw Story.
http://upload.democraticunderground.com/10023076234

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/23/edward-snowden-flees-hong-kong-for-venezuela-via-russia-and-cuba/


My guess is that Snowden and supporters are deliberately starting false rumors about his destination(s), so as to
better confuse his wannabe captors & elude them until he's safely settled somewhere.

[bemildred]

9. Just assume that any public information you get about Snowden's plans is bullshit.

If something does prove to be true, it will be coincidental.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Wise words - this is starting to get funny

My colleague Miriam Elder didn’t manage to get on that plane to Cuba – but she’s very glad, since it seems Edward Snowden never got on it either. I just spoke to her.

She said Aeroflot officials had told her “with a little smirk” that they had been expecting Snowden too.

But Miriam pointed out that Snowden had never actually been sighted in Moscow, and there was actually no real evidence that he had ever been in Russia at all.

Meanwhile a planeload of journalists are now off to spend the day in Cuba …

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/24/edward-snowden-booked-on-plane-from-moscow-to-havana-live-coverage#block-51c81e59e4b01d7a82138e84

And - there's no alcohol on the plane!!!

Apparently those poor journalists on the plane to Cuba can't even drown their sorrows ...

Bad day for journalists RT @mattholehouse: Unlucky. No drink served on Aeroflot flights to Havana.http://t.co/i9GsqrQSxT #Snowden
— Claire Phipps (@Claire_Phipps) June 24, 2013

The Aeroflot website reveals:

Starting from Feb 10, 2010, the sale of alcohol is suspended on flights to/from Havana, Bangkok, Shanghai, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Yuzhno-Sahalinsk, and Khabarovsk.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/24/edward-snowden-booked-on-plane-from-moscow-to-havana-live-coverage#block-51c82222e4b0c1d5e990ab42

[bemildred]

12. Yes, it is, the narrative is breaking down.

I was watching Morning Joe this morning, something I usually cannot stomach, and it was quite funny in a boring way because pretty much everything they said was already irrelevant in one way or another, about Snowden in Hong Kong, Snowden in Moscow, and Snowden please come home and face the music or we will think less of you.

Edit: they keep trying to shape the narrative, but Snowden keeps disrupting that. They are used to feeling in control, to being the wise guy, that's why you are hearing that whiney arrogant tone, Daddy is afraid of losing control, and that makes Daddy MAD. This has the potential to cause a big mess, all that construction in Utah is useless now, for example.

AND they had Kathleen Parker on.

You know the US gov't wants three things here:

1.) Silence Snowden
2.) Punish Snowden
3.) Discredit Snowden

The problem is Snowden knows that too, and he knows their habits, and they are very predictable, and don't even seem to know it.

If they were half as smart as they think they are they would know it's too late, he's gone, and they aren't going to find him, and all their snooping is going to come to an end. The pigeons know the score now.

[99th_Monkey]

13. Like I said

I kind of assume they are starting rumors in every-which direction, to
confound and confuse the CIA hounds.

[bemildred]

14. Yes, you did.

[FarPoint]

7. Where were the whistle blowers/Wikileaks etc...

when we needed them during the *bush/ cheney reign? This is when it all started and became embedded in stone style policy.

I don't see any of these fellas as heroes.... Opportunist? Yea..more like it.

[John2]

8. Why is the

U.S. Government going ballistic over this one man, when they have granted numerous persons from other countries political asylum for revealing the state secrets of other countries? What his crime amounts to is breaking a contract to keep state secrets, which has caused embarrassment for the U.S. Government. No one has lost their life over what he did. Can the U.S. Government make that claim about the many defectors it gave asylum to? His real crime, is embarrassing the sanctimonius politicians in Washington that get in front of the cameras and lie all the time. Lies are bound to be exposed sometimes. Would God call this man a criminal in his Court?

[GliderGuider]

10. I don't know about God, but I sure wouldn't.

There's nothing the Benighted States of America hates quite as much as being made a laughingstock on the international stage...