BOGOTA, Colombia — Edward Snowden was reportedly being hustled Sunday across the Atlantic, perhaps through Cuba, as he tried to make his way to Ecuador where he hoped to fight extradition to the United States on espionage charges.
Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, said his country had received Snowden’s asylum request. The anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks said Snowden had left Hong Kong and was bound for Ecuador “via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks.”
A U.S. State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said countries in the Western Hemisphere were being advised that Snowden is wanted on felony charges, “and as such should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the United States.”
If Snowden makes it to Ecuador, there’s little doubt he’ll be granted asylum, said Berta Garcia, a social science professor at Ecuador’s Catholic University in Quito. The country set a precedent last year by granting refuge to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, she said. And President Rafael Correa – a charismatic populist who easily won re-election in February – has often clashed with the United States in the name of Latin American sovereignty.
“When it comes to international issues, Correa has wrapped himself in the flag of being a defender of human rights,” Garcia said. “I think the United States will have to handle this issue delicately so it doesn’t turn into a regional issue.”
Patino, who was traveling in Vietnam, is expected to hold a news conference on the issue Monday.