From Wikipedia Commons

Edward Snowden is the 30-year old former CIA and NSA contractor who went public with damning evidence of sophisticated spying and monitoring by United States government agencies. He has been charged with a series of criminal offenses related to theft of government secrets and leaking of classified information, but his Orwellian revelations have placed him in a Kafkaesque situation that not even Joseph Heller could envision: He could get asylum in Ecuador, but only if he at least makes it to that country’s embassy in Russia; however, he does not have a passport to exit the airport terminal in Moscow and step into the city. In the meantime, he remains in a strange Groundhog Day-like state of diplomatic and legal limbo.

Ecuador is not the only country that has suggested granting political asylum to the embattled former technical contractor. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, who was elected in a controversial runoff election after President Hugo Chavez passed away from cancer complications back in March, has mentioned to the press that his country could extend an asylum offer to Snowden. In fact, President Maduro is set to visit Russia tomorrow; speculation has already began with regard to this visit.

It is interesting to note that two Latin American nations have emerged as possible safe havens for Snowden, a man many people think is standing up for human rights -namely the right to feel safe and not monitored by spies and spooks foreign and domestic. Both Presidents Maduro of Venezuela and Correa of Ecuador have issued strong statements of support for Snowden and dressed-down warnings from the U.S. regarding reprisal on tariffs and trade agreements. These country leaders have explained that their countries welcome the politically oppressed and those whose freedoms are threatened by governmental and prosecutorial forces.

Is Costa Rica in a position to extend a political asylum offer to Snowden? After all, this is a country with strong democratic roots; a country that does not need an army to keep the peace in this powder-keg region we call Central America; a country where freedom of the press and free expression are a matter of daily life… Surely Costa Rica could keep Snowden safe from those who seek to persecute him, right?

Probably not. Everything certainly looks good for Snowden when we take into account the legal framework. Let’s take a look at our Constitution; we may not be attorneys but we think we are free to discuss these matters:

Article 31

The territory of Costa Rica will grant asylum for all persons prosecuted for political reasons. If due to a legal imperative an expulsion is determined, the person will never be sent to the prosecuting country.

Good so far, right? There’s more:

Article 33

All persons are equal under the law and human dignity cannot be discriminated.

The problems for Snowden in Costa Rica would begin with the second part of Article 31 above, which deals with extraditions:

Extradition will be regulated by law and international treaties and will never proceed in cases linked to political offenses per the criteria of Costa Rica.

The fact is that Costa Rica does have an extradition treaty with the United States that affects citizens of that country such as Snowden. What if he becomes naturalized as a Tico? Could he be protected then?

Article 32

No Costa Rican can be compelled to abandon the national territory.

The problem with Article 32 is that in light of the takedown of the money transmitter Liberty Reserve and the arrest of its principals in Spain, there has been talk of introducing Constitutional amendments that could favor the U.S. when it comes to extraditing a citizen of Costa Rica to that country. If Snowden sticks around in Costa Rica long enough for such an amendment to take place, Articles 31 and 33 of the Constitution may cease to protect him.