Snowden, Seeking Asylum, Offers to Help Brazil

Dec. 17, 2013 9:47 a.m. ETBRASILIA—Brazil’s biggest newspaper published an open letter from Edward Snowden in which the former National Security Agency contractor offers to assist Brazil in uncovering potential U.S. espionage crimes against Brazilians and makes another plea for asylum.
“Until a country grants permanent political asylum, the U.S. government will continue to interfere with my ability to speak,” Mr. Snowden wrote in the letter, published Tuesday on the website of Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.

An image taken from a video released by Wikileaks on Oct. 12 shows Edward Snowden speaking during a ceremony in Moscow on Oct. 9. AFP/Getty Images

Mr. Snowden is wanted by U.S. authorities for leaking a trove of secret documents related to NSA programs that capture Internet and other communications around the globe. Mr. Snowden fled the U.S. and was eventually granted temporary asylum in Russia, allowing him to live, work and travel in the country.
The White House waved off suggestions of possible asylum for Mr. Snowden in Brazil, saying he should be prosecuted in the U.S. on felony charges. “He will receive full due process and protections,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
Some of the documents leaked by Mr. Snowden suggest the U.S. spied on the communications of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
In the letter, Mr. Snowden said he wants to help Brazilian senators who are investigating the alleged spying on Brazilian citizens but said U.S. attempts to have him arrested get in the way.
“I have expressed my willingness to assist wherever appropriate and lawful, but unfortunately the United States government has worked very hard to limit my ability to do so,” Mr. Snowden wrote.
Mr. Carney said Washington and Brasilia are dealing with the fallout from the earlier revelations, which led Ms. Rousseff to call off a state visit to Washington in September. “These disclosures are ones that we discuss directly with those nations through diplomatic channels,” Mr. Carney said. “But when it comes to Mr. Snowden, our views certainly haven’t changed.”
Folha de S. Paulo didn’t disclose how it got the letter, and declined to comment on its decision to publish it.
Mr. Snowden made a request for asylum in Brazil and several other countries shortly after arriving at a Russian airport this year. Brazil didn’t respond to the request at the time. A Brazilian Foreign Ministry representative said no new official request has been made.
One of the journalists who received the documents leaked by Mr. Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, is an American who lives in Rio de Janeiro with his husband, David Miranda.
Mr. Miranda said in a telephone interview that he had asked Mr. Snowden to write the letter as part of an effort to persuade the Brazilian government to grant him asylum.
“Brazil has been one of the biggest beneficiaries” of Mr. Snowden’s revelations, he said.
Mr. Miranda, who said he is now in charge of marketing and communications strategies for Mr. Snowden, started an online petition on Nov. 21 on the activist website Avaaz.org calling for Brazil to grant Mr. Snowden asylum.
By late Tuesday, more than 10,300 people had signed the petition, which Mr. Miranda said will eventually be delivered to President Rousseff.
The Snowden affair could continue to haunt Ms. Rousseff as she prepares to run for re-election next year. Officials have said the administration is keen to rebuild relations with the U.S. but is concerned that Mr. Snowden may publish more damaging details about NSA spying on Brazilians at any point.
“Will Brazil, which has a great deal of equity with the U.S., provide him asylum? I doubt the Brazilians are prepared to do so,” said Joseph Wippl, director of graduate studies at Boston University’s Department of International Relations and a 30-year CIA operations officer.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “should but doesn’t care” about antagonizing the U.S., he said. “More would be at stake for Brazil where relations with the U.S. are both extensive and intense.”
—Colleen McCain Nelson in Washington contributed to this article.
Write to Paulo Trevisani at paulo.trevisani@wsj.com

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