According to Reuters, the Cuban government made its first official comment on NSA leaker Ed Snowden, a statement from the Cuban foreign ministry that denounced American efforts to pressure other countries not to offer Snowden asylum.
“Cuba calls on the international community to mobilize against these violations of international law and human rights,” said the statement, which was issued Tuesday night and aired on state media Wednesday.
The statement said it was “inadmissible, unfounded, and arbitrary” for European countries to allegedly revoke permission for Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane to fly through their airspace on its way back from an official trip to Russia, allegedly due to rumors Snowden was on board the plane. Cuba’s foreign ministry also said it was “intolerable” for the U.S. to pressure Ecuador not to grant Snowden asylum.
“The foreign ministry of the Republic of Cuba is following with serious preoccupation the events of recent weeks in relation to the significant denunciations of U.S. citizen Edward Snowden, which confirmed the existence of a global system of espionage carried out by the United States that trampled on the sovereignty of states and rights of individuals,” the statement said.
According to the organization Wikileaks, which has said it’s advising Snowden as he seeks asylum, he has asked Cuba and 20 other countries to grant him asylum. Cuba has not officially responded to that request.
