Ecuador president says no offer to WikiLeaks chief

[Bacchus39]

Source: AP


QUITO, Ecuador – Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Tuesday dismissed an offer of residency that a lower level official made to the embattled founder of the online whistle-blower WikiLeaks.

The offer by Deputy Foreign Minister Kintto Lucas on Monday "has not been approved by Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino — or the president," Correa told reporters.

Patino already had indicated earlier in the day that the leftist government was backing away from providing refuge for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying it "will have to be studied from the legal and diplomatic perspective."

Lucas had said Monday that Ecuador was open to giving Assange residence "without any kind of trouble and without any kind of conditions."



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101201/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_ecuador_wikileaks_founder

[Pavulon]

1. That was fast, running out of friends quickly(nt)

[Imajika]

3. Funny thing about this...

...is, I think in an odd way it is beginning to backfire in a certain way.

Even many nations whom are somewhat adversarial towards the US don't seem particularly pleased with what Assange has done. Hell, I think even countries like Iran and North Korea aren't happy with these releases. Iran may have known full well that virtually the entire Arab would was conspiring with the US (and Israel) to stop their nuclear weapons program, but now the Iranian people know it too. North Korea may have known China was tiring of their antics, but I imagine it is a bit disconcerting for them to discover that several high level Chinese diplomats are already planning for a unified Korean Peninsula under Seoul's flag.

Those chortling and giggling that "the empire" got its nose bloodied a bit may be increasingly finding they are more alone in their joy than they may have expected.

I think many people have the mistaken belief that the world could do without the United States and the diplomacy it conducts. In a way, this is proving just the opposite. Not only does much of the world value US diplomacy, it actually depends on it.

If US influence wanes, someone else will rise to fill the void. It doesn't appear to me that most countries want to rock the boat and are content with the US acting as the stabilizing force in the world. Most countries seem to understand the important role of US diplomacy, and anything that makes it more difficult appears to be largely frowned upon.

Only idiots want all the worlds dirty laundry aired, and only fools want to make diplomacy and discussion amongst nations harder than it already is.

The real world isn't Fight Club.

[Bacchus39]

4. agreed n/t

s

[Historic NY]

10. ditto.

[Pavulon]

5. The real world is a far away place to many here

no concept of reality so no real intellectual way to oppose it. Amerikka and the empire are just a shortcut to saying something. What that is, they dont really know.

They never think about what will replace the system they dislike.

[Imajika]

8. Yes, there are many with no stake in society at all..

They cheer to overturn the current order, mostly because they have built nothing within it.

"They never think about what will replace the system they dislike."

These are dreamers, people living in a fantasy world. Those that refuse to see reality and instead exist in lalaland. They think they hate the "system" but know little of history and have no clue that what follows could be even worse. There are many of these types here. Just this year, people who will refuse to believe the GOP was about to win a crushing victory even when all polling evidence pointed to such an outcome. The very same people who yak about revolution and fail to understand that if the economy seriously deteriorates, and considering we have a Democratic President, that revolution may in fact come from the right and be a nightmare beyond all our wildest imaginations.

Hell, there are people here who think Cuba is a democracy, that marxism is a great economic system if only we "did it right", and that the "Amerikkan empire" is the greatest evil in the world.

You can't intellectually argue with these people and hope to change their minds, but many people mostly just read the comments and arguments and may never hardly post at all - or even have an account. It is still worth making rational points as more people read them than you may think.

[Hissyspit]

15. More infantilizing talking points?

Some of us are actually much more well informed and much more intelligent than you give credit for.

[EFerrari]

14. LOL. The United States is not a stablizing force in the world. That's a myth.

and frankly, it sounds akin to what wife beaters say to justify their violence.

[Bacchus39]

17. I've enjoyed some of the leaks so far. did you see this one???

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101201/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_wikileaks

The latest documents posted online by El Pais reveal meticulous reporting by American diplomats on subjects from Venezuela's health care system to the government seizure of several banks.

They also describe U.S. officials' concerns that embassy staff were being spied on.

A secret memo dated Jan. 28, 2010, discussed a biannual counterintelligence meeting "to review current threat levels and countermeasures." It says that the embassy faced a high espionage threat and that officials discussed the need for strict security policies, including in the use of BlackBerry phones.

The memo said U.S. officials believed tht Venezuelan intelligence agencies "are controlled by the Cuban Intelligence Service" and that they "have the capability, means and desire to monitor and target Embassy staff."

In other released documents, U.S. diplomats said they believed there are leftist rebels in Cuba belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. And they said that in one private conversation in November 2009, Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim "all but acknowledged presence of the FARC in Venezuela."

According to an earlier memo from the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia in February 2008, Jobim told then U.S. Ambassador Clifford Sobel "that the Brazilian government shared the Ambassador's concern about the possibility of Venezuela exporting instability."

It added that Jobim "believed that President Chavez has been saber rattling to distract from internal problems," but he also advised the U.S. diplomat "that isolating Venezuela would lead to further posturing from Chavez and a greater risk of spreading instability among neighboring countries."

[EFerrari]

18. LOL. Yeah, right,

The United States is afraid Venezuela will export instability!

:rofl:

[quakerboy]

16. In short

Ain't no-one likes the ugly truth.

[leftynyc]

23. Well put

Why would any government offer him santuary - he has no allegiences.

[Earth_First]

2. I'm sure that took all of about one telephone call to retract. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

7. No kidding

Something along the lines of "Hey, nice <insert foreign aid program here>. A SHAME if anything happened to it."

[davidinalameda]

6. someone is going to lose his job

[Historic NY]

9. If he keeps up he will be that "man w/o a country"..well maybe Antarctica.

[Zorro]

11. Say it ain't so, Rafa!

Your leftist credentials are at stake if you rescind the invitation!

[SnakeEyes]

12. I think another reason is that...

No country wants to be hosting him when espionage charges are filed against him.

[COLGATE4]

13. Typical. The Ecuadorean government can reverse course faster

than an Olympic athlete.

[FinGovi]

19. Hey Rafael,

when you were in trouble, the world came to your defense. Y ahora estas diciendo que eso era una falta! Support Mr. Assange and give him asylum. Si no, entonces eres igual a los otros que maltratan el mundo.

[Javaman]

20. Simply put, the US threatened to cut off banana imports.

Ecuador is the worlds largest exporter of bananas. The US is one of it's largest markets.

The state dept probably said, "okay, you want to give him a home, well, I think we can explain away a cut in bananas as a price saving measure, what do you think?"

[Bacchus39]

21. is that what happened? n/t

s

[Javaman]

22. More than likely, because, I believe, Ecuador doesn't have an

extradition policy with the US.

So something behind the scenes went on to squeeze them where it hurts.

Bananas was just the first and obvious thing that came to mind.

[Imajika]

24. Your really just making this up aren't you?

I mean, isn't it just as likely that Deputy Foreign Minister Kintto Lucas shot off at the mouth and said something utterly stupid, and then Correa stepped in, slapped said official down and corrected the record?

[Javaman]

25. we are all making this up on our best assumptions.

just like you making it up that you think the foriegn minister shot his mouth off.

no one really knows.