What countries, and how rare is it, have in the recent past granted american citizens political asylum?

Question

Venezuela is offering political asylum for US troops who do not want to be sent to iraq. are there other countries? most countries in the EU have signed a treaty called the Dublin Convention, which says that a person who is travelling from any of a number of so called safe countries, should be denied asylum. The united states is on that list. but what if someone is seeking protection FROM one of those safe countries? could an american travel to mexico, first, as a loop hole? and what about other powerhouses, such as Russia and China, that are large enough not to need to bow to pressure from the U.S. state department. would it be easier to be granted asylum there? what could be offtered to refugees, such as education? is there a large expat community in those countries that would make it worth while for someone to want to go there without feeling alienated and alone? can you apply for asylum at an embassy worldwide or do you have to be inside russia etc when you apply?

Answer 1

You have some facts here wrong. The EU treaty singed in Dublin was about refugees.

1997 - The Dublin Convention

The convention applies to all EU countries and its underlying principal is that asylum claims should be examined just once in the EU and that the Member state responsible for the presence of the asylum seeker in the EU should be responsible for concluding that examination. . It addressed the problems of so-called "refugees in orbit" (refugees that fail to find a state willing to take responsibility for examining their asylum applications and are therefore shuffled from country to country in a constant quest for asylum) and "asylum shopping" (multiple asylum claims, simultaneously or successively lodged in different Member States by the same person).

Under the Dublin Convention, someone wishing to apply for asylum in an European Union Country does not actually have to apply in the first 'safe' country tht they get to as there may be very strong reasons why the person should apply in another EU country - they may have family members there or they may feel more secure because of strong community links

What this is about is non EU citizens. In plain English what its about is for example someone from Nigeria seeking political asylum in Italy then leaving Italy because their asylum was refuse so they go to the next EU country and try it again in that country. So the reason the treaty was created was to put a stop to this. That what it about. "multiple asylum claims"

Answer 2

It is rare that Americans are granted political asylum in other countries because most countries feel that there is no political persecution in the US.

Answer 3

The purpose of political asylum is to protect those whose lives would be in danger if they remained in their country of origin, due to their political beliefs and activities.  As this is not an issue in the U.S., I can't imagine any country offering it, unless they were simply out to score political points through a cheap gimmick (e.g. Chavez, who, per your narrative, technically is not offering political asylum but rather is offering soldiers a chance to evade their orders/deployment without penalty).