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What it boils down to is a host country’s needs to be sympathetic to your concerns and you need to have something they can use.


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The 10 Best Places To Seek Asylum From The US Government
Brian Jones Jun 11, 2013, 2:08 PM EDT

https://www.businessinsider.com/best...us-2013-6?op=1

If you are Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old who leaked Top Secret information about the NSA, the answer is yes. And you need a sympathetic country to offer you political asylum. Soon.

But where do you turn? Which countries could be willing to flout American interests and take you in?

This list is a careful balance between those countries with strained diplomatic relations with the U.S., or those with a history of welcoming American dissidents, and those places that are most livable (Apologies to North Korea).


10. Hong Kong

Although Snowden’s decision to seek refuge in Hong Kong, a country with a longstanding extradition treaty with the U.S., has been widely criticized, it may be a shrewd attempt to take advantage of a loophole. Hong Kong’s High Court recently ordered a review of the nation’s extradition policy. Until that happens, asylum seekers are allowed to stay in the region indefinitely.

9. Switzerland

With a long history of neutrality and beautiful views of the Alps, Switzerland is a great place to camp out if you’re hiding from the U.S. government. Though the Swiss have an extradition treaty with the U.S., it has a few loopholes and the country has a bit of an independent streak. Just ask Marc Rich, who successfully dodged a federal indictment for tax evasion for years under the protection of the Swiss government.

8. Brazil

While Brazil has an extradition treaty with the U.S., it has bucked American requests for extradition before. One recent example is the case of Claudia Hoerig, who is believed to have murdered her husband in Ohio before fleeing to Brazil. And oh, those beaches.

7. Iran

Iran has not had diplomatic relations with the United States for 30 years, let alone an extradition treaty, and you have to think they’d love to have a high-profile fugitive to taunt their American foes. Accused murderer David Belfield — who converted to Islam and changed his name — has been hiding in plain sight in Iran for decades. The Iranians won’t let anyone touch him.

6. Cape Verde Islands

If Iran was too ... authoritarian regime, the government of the Cape Verde Islands also has no extradition treaty with the United States.The popular European vacation destination off of the coast of West Africa could serve as a beautiful place to hide from the U.S. intelligence network.

5. France

With food, wine, art, France sounds more like a vacation than a hideout. And though it has an extradition treaty with the United States, there are a couple of cases that make France a compelling place to seek asylum. Filmmaker Roman Polanski fled to France rather than face charges of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old in 1977. A French citizen, he was never turned over to American authorities. It even took France years to extradite Ira Einhorn, an American accused murderer, because they feared his rights may have been violated.

4. Venezuela

Though the political situation is subject to change with the death of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela remains a political foe of the United States. The socialist state has a largely cash based economy, so it’s harder to track people. And though the country has an extradition treaty dated back to 1922, it’s hardly actively in effect today, and the U.S. has refused to extradite criminals at the behest of the Venezuelan government in the past.

3. Ecuador

Ecuador has offered safe haven to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for months, and he remains holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Given that the country offered Assange asylum when the United Kingdom sought to extradite him to Sweden in a case they had nothing to do with, it’s a safe bet they would consider doing it again.

2. Iceland

Iceland has a long history of embracing dissidents. They offered asylum to U.S. chess champion Bobby Fischer when he was wanted by U.S. authorities for violating sanctions against Yugoslavia. The country also offered to help Julian Assange, though for now he is with the Ecuadorians.

1. Cuba

Cuba is the clear number one choice. A tropical country with beautiful beaches and great food, it is already home to one of the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted: Assata Shakur, who is suspected of shooting a police officer and escaping prison in the 70s. Diplomatic relations between the Cubans and Americans have been ice cold for the past 50 years, and there’s little chance they would ever extradite someone to the U.S.