My hope was Snowden would pick a neutral or slightly decent place for asylum and exile, and it would maybe turn into the new US (i.e. "free place where people go to avoid oppression"), and maybe a startup hub for security (Berlin would be a top choice for that...) A protracted court case for extradition in Hong Kong would have been awesome for that, except for the high cost of housing.

But Venezuela is really not a place I'd consider. It's not Equatorial Guinea, but isn't even Argentina.