Fear of Vladivostok Escape for Snowden Drives U.S. Threats Against Venezuela
(ABC, Spain)
"The fear in Washington is that Snowden could take
advantage of his temporary asylum in Russia to leave the airport in Moscow and find
refuge in the Venezuela Embassy in the Russian capital, or travel to another part
of Russia from which his flight to Caracas would be much more feasible. If
Snowden left from Vladivostok, a Russian city on the Pacific coast, he could
make just one stopover in Nicaragua, therefore avoiding having to overfly other
countries."
Bolivia President Evo Morales after his plane, outbound from Russia, was forced to land in Vienna. A number of countries refused to allow it to fly through their air space when suspicions arouse that Edward Snowden might be on board. Now, Secretary of State John Kerry has told Venezuela President Nicolas Madure that if he personally collected Snowden, such events might not be repeated - but that the consequences for Venezuela would be dire.
WASHINGTON: The United States
has already begun to implement measures to pressure Venezuela to prevent it
from sheltering former U.S. intelligence employee Edward Snowden. Last week,
Washington proceeded to revoke U.S. entry visas of Venezuelan government
officials and businessmen associated with deceased President Hugo Chavez.
Furthermore, in a telephone conversation, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
advised Venezuela Foreign Minister Elias Jaua of
other measures the U.S. could impose if Venezuelan asylum for Snowden goes
ahead, such as the suspension of gasoline and oil derivative sales to the
Caribbean country, which are vital to maintain the day-to-day life of the
country.
Kerry
phoned Jaua on July 18, just hours after Snowden issued
a public statement announcing that he had accepted the asylum offer from Venezuela,
although he alluded to his incapacity at the moment to travel to there. According
to sources familiar with the conversation, using tough language, Kerry pressed Jaua about the extreme importance the U.S. places on the
matter and warned that any Venezuelan aircraft suspected of carrying Snowden
would be prevented from flying over American airspace or the airspace of any
NATO country.
After
the diplomatic crisis generated by the events involving Bolivia President Evo Morales' aircraft, Kerry let it be understood that the
same course of events would not be repeated if Snowden traveled on the presidential
plane of Nicolas Maduro, but that Maduro
would have to collect Snowden personally. "Immunity is not for the plane,
but for the president," Kerry said, according to sources.
The
tone of the conversation was very different to the jovial June meeting that
took place between the two politicians at the General Assembly of the Organization
of American States in Guatemala, when it appeared that relations between the
two countries were thawing and might move toward an exchange of ambassadors. An
open conflict between Washington and Caracas would freeze eventual U.S. recognition
of Maduro's election victory.
Pressure Methods
The
U.S. government began revoking the visas for senior Venezuela government
officials and businessmen who conduct business with the executive since at
least last Thursday, as some began receiving notices from the U.S. Embassy in
Caracas. The measure, which does not affect short term visas that are most
commonly used by Venezuelan tourists, seeks to ensure that businessmen and
politicians affected pressure President Maduro to drop his offer to assist the U.S.
fugitive.
The
United States has also threatened to stop shipments of gasoline and refined
petroleum products to Venezuela. Although the country is a major producer and
exporter of petroleum products to the U.S., it requires them to be refined or
manufactured elsewhere. Therefore, on a monthly basis, Venezuela buys 500,000
barrels of gasoline from the United States and another half a million barrels
of "bunker fuel" destined for power plants. It also requires a
further 350,000 barrels of MTBE [Methyl Tertiary
Butyl Ether], an additive needed to boost the octane of gasoline, which is
required for fueling the Venezuela fleet.
As
further measures that could be taken, our sources also mentioned the realization
of indictments against certain pro-Chavez leaders that Washington has been
preparing for some time, for involvement in drug trafficking, money laundering,
and other criminal behavior. In his conversation with Jaua,
Kerry would have mentioned specific names.
The
fear in Washington is that Snowden could take advantage of his temporary asylum
in Russia to leave the airport in Moscow and find refuge in the Venezuela
Embassy in the Russian capital, or travel to another part of Russia from which his
flight to Caracas would be much more feasible. For example, if Snowden left
from Vladivostok, a Russian city on the Pacific coast, he could make just one
stopover in Nicaragua, therefore avoiding having to overfly other countries.
However,
such an itinerary would only be possible in Maduro's
presidential plane, given that the fleet of aircraft owned by PDVA, the
country's state-owned oil company, are smaller (DC Falcon 9000s, similar to the
presidential plane of Evo Morales). Only an aircraft with
a tank the size of Venezuela's Air Force One, a Boeing 707, could cover such a distance
without having to refuel. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the military would
be willing to enter into such a direct confrontation with Washington.
