Venezuela Says No Contact yet With Snowden Venezuela's foreign minister says his country has not yet been in contact with NSA leaker Edward Snowden, despite its offer of asylum. Elias Jaua says he expects to consult on Monday with Russian officials. Snowden is believed to be in the transit area of a Moscow airport. Jaua's comments came Saturday during a Caribbean summit in Trinidad and Tobago. They were distributed by his office. President Nicolas Maduro announced Friday that he would grant asylum to Snowden, and he repeated the offer by Twitter Saturday, saying Venezuela is ready to protect Snowden "from the global persecution of the empire." Bolivia and Nicaragua have also offered asylum. But it is not clear if any of them have provided him the documents he would need to travel.