London ( CNN ) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange urged the world Saturday to `` stand with '' Edward Snowden , the man who admitted leaking top-secret details about U.S. surveillance programs , according to the text of a speech posted on Twitter . As he appealed for a `` brave country '' to step forward and offer Snowden asylum , Assange also accused U.S. President Barack Obama of betraying a generation of `` young , technically minded people . '' Assange was scheduled to speak from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on Saturday , but the appearance was postponed at short notice `` due to a security situation , '' WikiLeaks said on Twitter . Wednesday marked a year since Assange sought refuge in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden , where he is wanted for questioning over allegations that he raped one woman and sexually molested another . Assange has repeatedly said the allegations in Sweden are politically motivated and tied to the work of his website . Ecuador 's government granted him asylum in August , but British authorities have said they will arrest him if he leaves the premises . As a result of his decision to seek refuge in the embassy , `` I have been able to work in relative safety from a U.S. espionage investigation , '' said Assange , according to the text of the speech . `` But today , Edward Snowden 's ordeal is just beginning . '' Assange to Snowden : 'Go to Latin America ' Assange 's words came hours after Snowden was charged by U.S. federal prosecutors with espionage and theft of government property , according to a criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in Virginia on Friday . Snowden , 30 , has admitted in interviews that he was the source behind the leak of classified documents about the NSA 's surveillance programs . Those leaks were the basis of reports this month in Britain 's Guardian newspaper and The Washington Post . He is believed to be in hiding in Hong Kong . The United States has asked authorities there to detain the former National Security Agency contract analyst on a provisional arrest warrant , The Washington Post reported , citing unnamed U.S. officials . Assange , in his published speech , said the espionage charge had come `` like clockwork , '' making Snowden the eighth `` leaker '' to be charged with that count by the Obama administration . `` Two dangerous runaway processes have taken root in the last decade , with fatal consequences for democracy , '' he said . `` Government secrecy has been expanding on a terrific scale . Simultaneously , human privacy has been secretly eradicated ... The U.S. government is spying on each and every one of us , but it is Edward Snowden who is charged with espionage for tipping us off . '' Also among the eight `` leakers '' is WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning , Assange said . Manning is being court-martialed on charges he aided U.S. enemies by leaking documents he obtained as an Army intelligence analyst . Prosecutors : Bradley Manning 'craved ' notoriety . He named the others as Barrett Brown , Jeremy Hammond , Aaron Swartz , Gottfrid Svartholm and Jacob Appelbaum . Assange suggested Obama was the real `` traitor '' for his failure to live up to his promises of hope , change and transparency in government . And he warned that the U.S. government will lose the battle if it tries to take on the tech-savvy people now calling its actions into question . `` Edward Snowden is one of us . Bradley Manning is one of us . They are young , technically minded people from the generation that Barack Obama betrayed . They are the generation that grew up on the Internet , and were shaped by it , '' he said . `` The U.S. government is always going to need intelligence analysts and systems administrators , and they are going to have to hire them from this generation and the ones that follow it . `` One day , they will run the CIA and the FBI . This is n't a phenomenon that is going away . '' Assange added that charging Snowden `` is intended to intimidate any country that might be considering standing up for his rights '' and appealed for efforts to find asylum for him to be intensified . Guardian newspaper : UK security agency has spy program , shares data with NSA . CNN 's Susannah Palk contributed to this report .
Assange says President Obama has betrayed a generation , according to the text of a speech . `` Edward Snowden 's ordeal is just beginning , '' Assange says of the NSA leaker . Snowden is charged by federal prosecutors with espionage and theft of government property . `` This is n't a phenomenon that is going away , '' says Assange of young , tech-savvy leakers .