Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia have said that they could offer US whistleblower Edward Snowden asylum.
Snowden had sent asylum applications to 21 countries, most of which rejected him.
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro said he had decided to give him asylum.
"As head of state and government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young US citizen Edward Snowden so he can come to the fatherland of Bolivar and Chavez to live away from the imperial North American persecution," President Maduro said.
Snowden has been a fugitive since leaking classified US intelligence documents, revealing a huge surveillance programme by the US.