On the Run

Snowden: ‘I Want the U.S. to Succeed’

At a meeting with human-rights groups.

Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden looks to be covering his bases. At a meeting with several human-rights groups today, Snowden discussed how he plans to get out of Russia and into one of the Latin American countries that have offered him asylum. According to Human Rights Watch’s Tanya Lokshina, Venezuela, Russia, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Ecuador have all invited the infamous leaker to come on over, and while he “accepts all offers,” he has to get out of the airport first. To do so safely, Lokshina told The New York Times that Snowden will be asking Russia for temporary asylum; he previously withdrew a request after refusing to agree to Putin’s condition that he stop publishing information that “brought harm” to the United States. Snowden now says the terms aren’t a problem because “No actions I take or plan are meant to harm the U.S. ... I want the U.S. to succeed.”