

Correa: U.S. asked Ecuador not to give Snowden asylum - wheels
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/29/us-usa-security-ecuador-idUSBRE95S0CC20130629

======
fixxer
If this is accurate, Snowden might have to start shopping for a new country.

As an aside, I didn't know Correa was a U of I grad. His adviser was Werner
Baer.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Baer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Baer)

------
mpyne
I read this on BBC earlier and had gotten the impression that Pres. Correa was
saying that the first opinion he'd have checked should Snowden apply was from
the people of the U.S.

The rest of the article jives with the BBC article though, I'm glad to see
that _someone_ in the U.S. government is trying to de-escalate the diplomatic
situation. And I'm glad to see Ecuador's government seems to willing to back
away a bit as well.

I wonder who the bankers that Correa refers to are, I wasn't aware the U.S.
was guarding that many people from Ecuadorean justice? And I wonder what will
happen to the London consul?

~~~
beloch
There was a banking crisis in 1998 in Ecuador that was so severe it caused the
country to abandon their own currency and adopt the U.S. dollar. Equador has
accused some of the bankers of embezzling funds including funds from a
government bailout. This article is about two brothers who fled to the U.S..

[http://www.voxxi.com/government-of-ecuador-power-far-
reachin...](http://www.voxxi.com/government-of-ecuador-power-far-reaching/)

"While granting the Isaias Dassum brothers their motion for summary judgement,
the judge added that even though the defendants may have indeed committed the
“wrongs” claimed, the way the government of Ecuador has handled the situation
back in their country is, again, “inconsistent with U.S. law and policy.”

Am I nuts in thinking there is no logical reason to apply U.S. law and policy
to a crime committed by Equadorian citizens in Equador?

Quite frankly, Correa has a point. The Dassum brothers picked one of the
safest countries in the world for corrupt bankers to flee to, but if anything
would get them extradited it would be a swap for Snowden. If I were them, I'd
be heading for another nation friendly to corrupt bankers, such as the U.K..

~~~
mpyne
Yeah, and that would almost be a win-win for Obama politically. Help mend ties
with Ecuador, _and_ stick it to some bankers, __and __get Snowden back in the
U.S.?

------
znowi
Apparently, he's got an offer he couldn't refuse. Makes you think if his loud
withdrawal from the investment treaty was part of the game.

In any case, if such a hardliner backpedals, I'm afraid there's no safe
country for Snowden. He's good in Moscow transit zone as anywhere.

But then, in a good conspiracy spirit, it might as well be the plot played out
by the Russians :)

~~~
ansgri
Yea, for Russians to hire him as an expert to help implement PRISM-like system
in Russia. </s

------
stfu
How how much would I have given to be a fly on the wall for that conversation
and in the meetings leading up to that call.

~~~
WildUtah
If you were an NSA contractor, you could just punch it up and listen whenever
it struck your fancy.

Maybe that's why Biden has to take a hard line; he can't afford to offend the
NSA.

------
sigzero
Who expected anything different? Any country he potentially can go to will be
asked not to give him asylum.

~~~
fixxer
Do you believe the safe passage papers were given without Correa's consent, as
he claims? I don't.

~~~
mpyne
It wouldn't _really_ surprise me too much. It's not like President Obama would
approve each and every asylum request centrally from the White House, so the
London consul may have assumed a safe pass would be acceptable and then Quito
had to negate it because they weren't ready to go that route.

After all Snowden managed to leave the Hong Kong airport somehow, presumably
the HK authorities (not to mention the airline) would have wanted to see
_some_ documentation of permission to travel?

Edit: On the other hand, maybe you're right. This ABC News article seems to
say that Univision has confirmed that the safe pass had been generated under
the direction of Pres. Correa. [http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/ecuador-
issues-denials-s...](http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/ecuador-issues-
denials-snowdens-safe-pass-linked-nations/story?id=19526121) and only after
Univision got wind of it was it disavowed.

Still a mystery is why they bothered to disavow the safe pass at all. Perhaps
the problems with Assange?

------
iradik
[https://twitter.com/MashiRafael](https://twitter.com/MashiRafael)

Rafael Correa @ MashiRafael June 28

No more time to demonstrate "spying" of Ecuador. It is shown that it was just
another farce as "punishment" for "rebellious".

Rafael Correa @ MashiRafael June 26

Things ... denounced against the American people and the world. "The world
order is not only unjust, it is immoral." Expand

Rafael Correa @ MashiRafael June 26

International ...? They have managed to focus on Snowden and the "evil"
countries that "support", making us forget the terrible ..

~~~
cwp
Just to clarify, these are tweets from Correa's official twitter account. They
read something like this.

June 26: Hypocrisy of the century: The Washington Post "accuses" Ecuador of
double standards. See the power of the international press? They've managed to
focus attention on Snowden and on the "evil" countries that "support" him,
making us forget about the terrible things he reported against the American
public and the whole world.

------
mistercow
>"There's a clear double standard here. If the United States is pursuing
someone, other countries have to hand them over," Correa said. "But there are
so many fugitives from our justice system (in the United States) ... and they
don't return them."

Fascinating. Suddenly this grandiose talk we've heard regarding Ecuador's
"principals" is gone, and now it's about what the US can do for Ecuador. It's
almost as if Ecuador doesn't really give a shit about human rights.

------
verroq
Can he live in limbo?

