Snowden should come home and stand trial like any other American
Em setembro de 2022, Vladimir Putin concedeu cidadania russa a Edward Snowden, o ex-contratado da NSA que vive em Moscou desde 2013, quando expôs ao mundo os programas massivos de vigilância americana. Horas depois, o Departamento de Estado reafirmou que Snowden deve retornar aos Estados Unidos para responder por crimes de espionagem — uma posição que permanece inalterada há quase uma década. O gesto de Putin, carregado de simbolismo geopolítico em meio à guerra na Ucrânia, consolida o que já era evidente: Snowden encontrou um novo país, e Washington encontrou um impasse permanente.
- Putin assinou a cidadania russa de Snowden num momento de ruptura máxima entre Moscou e Washington, transformando um refugiado em cidadão de um Estado adversário.
- O porta-voz do Departamento de Estado, Ned Price, respondeu sem hesitar: a lei americana não reconhece passaportes como escudos, e Snowden continua sendo um acusado em fuga.
- A família de Snowden está se integrando ao sistema russo — sua esposa pedindo cidadania, sua filha nascida em Moscou já a tendo recebido — sinalizando que a ruptura com os EUA é definitiva e familiar, não apenas individual.
- O verdadeiro impasse não é jurídico, mas geopolítico: Snowden está protegido por um governo que tem razões próprias para mantê-lo em Moscou, e os EUA não têm meios realistas de forçar seu retorno.
- O que resta é uma batalha de princípios: Washington insiste que ninguém está acima da lei, enquanto a realidade há anos demonstra que alguns escapam do seu alcance.
Na segunda-feira, 26 de setembro de 2022, Vladimir Putin assinou um decreto concedendo cidadania russa a Edward Snowden, formalizando o que já era uma realidade vivida: o ex-contratado da NSA havia encontrado em Moscou não apenas refúgio, mas uma nova identidade nacional. Poucas horas depois, o Departamento de Estado americano reafirmou sua posição de sempre — Snowden deve voltar e enfrentar a justiça como qualquer cidadão acusado de crime.
A história de Snowden começou a se desenrolar em 2013, quando ele baixou e divulgou centenas de milhares de documentos classificados da Agência de Segurança Nacional. As revelações foram devastadoras: a NSA monitorava cidadãos comuns, interceptava comunicações de líderes estrangeiros como Angela Merkel e Dilma Rousseff, e operava uma máquina de vigilância de escala sem precedentes. O mundo ficou em choque, e Snowden virou fugitivo.
Ele parou em Hong Kong tentando desaparecer, mas os americanos o perseguiam com pedidos de extradição. Chegou a Moscou e ficou preso por mais de um mês no terminal do aeroporto, em limbo jurídico. Em 2014, a Rússia concedeu asilo e, ao longo dos anos, residência permanente. Por quase uma década, ele viveu como apátrida protegido — sem país, mas com teto.
A decisão de Putin chegou num contexto de tensão máxima: a guerra na Ucrânia havia começado semanas antes, as sanções ocidentais apertavam a economia russa, e os EUA eram o principal arquiteto da pressão sobre Moscou. Dar um passaporte russo a Snowden era, ao mesmo tempo, um ato prático — sua família estava se integrando ao sistema russo — e uma mensagem política clara: este homem é nosso.
O que nenhum dos lados disse em voz alta é o que todos sabem: Snowden jamais voltará voluntariamente, e Washington não tem como forçá-lo. O princípio americano de que ninguém escapa da lei permanece intacto no discurso. Na prática, a realidade e o princípio se separaram há muito tempo.
Vladimir Putin signed off on Russian citizenship for Edward Snowden on Monday, September 26, 2022—a symbolic gesture that underscored the former NSA contractor's permanent break from the United States. Hours later, the State Department's spokesman Ned Price made clear that Washington's position had not budged: Snowden should come home and stand trial like any other American citizen accused of a crime.
Snowden had been living under Russian asylum since 2013, when he fled the country after downloading and releasing hundreds of thousands of classified documents from the National Security Agency. Those files exposed the machinery of American surveillance in ways that shocked the world. They showed that the NSA was listening to the phone calls and reading the emails of ordinary citizens at home. They revealed that the agency was tapping the communications of foreign leaders—Angela Merkel, the German chancellor; Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's president. The scale of it was staggering, and Snowden's disclosures forced a reckoning with what the government had been doing in the name of national security.
Before landing in Moscow, Snowden had stopped in Hong Kong, hoping to disappear into a city where the U.S. might not find him. But the Americans were hunting. They wanted him extradited to face espionage charges. He made it to Russia and spent more than a month in a Moscow airport terminal, in legal limbo, while diplomats negotiated his fate. In 2014, Russia granted him asylum and a three-year residency permit. That permit was renewed, then converted to permanent residency status. For nearly a decade, he lived in Moscow as a stateless person with a roof over his head but no country to call his own.
Now Putin had changed that calculus. The Russian president's decision to grant Snowden citizenship came at a moment of deepening tension between Moscow and Washington—the war in Ukraine was weeks old, sanctions were crushing the Russian economy, and the U.S. was the architect of both. Giving Snowden a Russian passport was partly a practical matter: his family was following him into the Russian system. His wife was preparing to apply for citizenship. His daughter, born in Russia, had already received it. But it was also a message. Russia was saying: this man is ours now.
Price, speaking to reporters, acknowledged the move without flinching. The State Department's stance remained unchanged. Snowden had broken American law. He had disclosed classified information. He had fled rather than face the consequences. The fact that he now held a Russian passport did not alter the legal reality, from Washington's perspective. He was still an American citizen who owed a debt to American justice.
What neither side acknowledged in those statements was the deeper stalemate: Snowden would almost certainly never return to the United States voluntarily, and the U.S. had no realistic means of forcing him to. He was safe in Moscow, protected by a government that had its own reasons to keep him there. The American position was a matter of principle, a refusal to accept that some people slip beyond the reach of the law. But principle and reality had parted ways years ago.
Citações Notáveis
Our position has not changed. Snowden should return to the United States, where he should face justice as any other American citizen would.— Ned Price, State Department spokesman
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does the U.S. care so much about bringing him back now, when he's been in Russia for nearly a decade?
Because the law doesn't have an expiration date. From Washington's perspective, Snowden committed espionage. That crime doesn't disappear just because he's lived abroad long enough. It's about maintaining the principle that no one is beyond accountability.
But Putin just made him a Russian citizen. Doesn't that complicate things legally?
It does, but only in practice. Technically, Snowden is still an American citizen too—the U.S. doesn't recognize his renunciation. So from Washington's view, he's still subject to American law. The citizenship is more symbolic than it is a legal shield.
Symbolic of what, exactly?
Of Russia saying: he belongs to us now. It's a geopolitical statement as much as a legal one. At a moment when the U.S. and Russia are at odds over Ukraine, Putin is essentially thumbing his nose at American demands.
What about Snowden himself? Does he want to go back?
There's no indication he does. He's built a life in Russia. His family is there. Going back would mean prison. The citizenship is probably a relief to him—it means he can't be deported, and it gives his family legal standing in the country where they've chosen to live.
So this is a stalemate that will never resolve?
Almost certainly. Unless there's a dramatic shift in U.S.-Russia relations or a change in administrations with a different view of Snowden's actions, he'll remain in Moscow. The American position is about principle. The Russian position is about keeping him. Neither side has reason to move.