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Ron Paul See other Ron Paul Articles Title: Ecuador, Assange and the Empire: Anatomy of a Neoliberal Sellout Under Ecuador’s new government, the gagging of Assange has long been a matter of when, not if. It’s only the latest sign of a once-defiant nation’s newfound subservience to Washington and Europe. LONDON — You can call the Ecuadorian government’s disconnection of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s internet connection and ban on contact with the outside world a lot of things: unfair, treacherous, a signal of surrender to the West. Such was the reaction of internet users and journalists throughout the world following an announcement by Ecuador that it had suspended Assange’s ability to accept visitors or communicate with the outside world. Watch | Wikileaks source: Assange’s internet was cut by Ecuador over Catalonia tweet In effect, Assange — an Ecuadorian citizen — is now being held in incommunicado detention without any legal basis in spite of his constitutional rights and the diplomatic immunity his residency at the embassy grants him. Journalist Glenn Greenwald, who’s had no shortage of public disagreements with Assange, tweeted: It’s bizarre for a country to grant someone political asylum, then condition it on being barred from communicating with the outside world. Makes a mockery of asylum. Once proudly defiant, Ecuador is now depicting itself as rather subservient to the west.” The move to place Assange under virtual solitary confinement is hardly a surprise for those who have observed Ecuador’s policy reversals since Lenin Moreno assumed the Andean republic’s presidency last May. The regional significance of the gesture can’t be understated, given the importance South America’s once-dominant Left attached to the libertarian WikiLeaks founder for having brought the U.S. empire “to its knees,” as late Cuban leader Fidel Castro wrote. Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa — whose government granted Assange asylum in 2012 as an act of sovereign “duty,” in defiance of Anglo-American threats — angrily tweeted Thursday: Moreno delivers Ecuador to the United States, another betrayal of our people and the Patria Grande [the Latin American nation]. Assange’s days in the Embassy of Ecuador in London are numbered.” The “useful and strategic” Moreno Happier times: Ecuador's then-President Rafael Correa, left; President-elect Lenin Moreno, center; and then-Vice President elect Jorge Glas pose for a photo at the end of Election Day in Quito, Ecuador, April 2, 2017. (AP/Dolores Ochoa) Happier times: Ecuador’s then-President Rafael Correa, left; President-elect Lenin Moreno, center; and then-Vice President elect Jorge Glas pose for a photo at the end of Election Day in Quito, Ecuador, April 2, 2017. (AP/Dolores Ochoa) Since Correa departed office after leading the country’s Citizens’ Revolution for 10 years, the charismatic leftist has engaged in a brutal running battle with Moreno over Ecuador’s fate as one of the last remaining standard bearers of pan-Latin American “21st-century socialism.” Beginning his decade in power as a young economics professor with a fresh face and little background in politics, Correa set Ecuador on a course that rejected neoliberalism. He instead sought to achieve social and development gains in a country paralyzed by successive dysfunctional governments that served the regional interests of the political class or partidocracia. He earned the ire of Washington and the U.S.-loyal security establishment after forging an alliance with Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela and expelling the U.S. Air Force from its base in Manta, which also served as a major hub for CIA operations in the region. However, when Correa’s time in office ended, his legacy was dampened by clashes with social movements, a reliance on Chinese development finance, and an economic downturn toward the end of his tenure brought on by a collapse in oil prices and a devastating earthquake. A rather uncharismatic and bland figure in comparison, Moreno began his stint in office with a narrow mandate after winning the presidential election by a mere 2 percent. From the start, he had the support of Correa’s popular base, but raucous opposition protests confirmed that he was weighted down by the baggage from his predecessor’s decade in office. Watch | Moreno hopes Correa’s legacy will carry him to victory in Ecuador Moreno promised to uphold the Citizens’ Revolution, praising Correa as “our great leader” and “our eternal president.” Yet, during the transition, rumors swirled of angry clashes between the two figures at the Carondelet presidential palace. Meanwhile, gringos connected to the U.S. Embassy whispered that diplomats there were rubbing their hands with glee over the inevitability of a breakthrough in relations with Ecuador. Despite being named after Russia’s Bolshevik revolutionary leader, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Moreno wasn’t a fiery Chavista or Correista, let alone a communist; here was a “pragmatic” man, friendly toward the business community and eager to escape his predecessor’s shadow. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
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Editorial: We need to save him
Stinks to high heaven, doesn't it? LENIN Moreno -- Dr. Cobin has condemned Ecuador as an expat mirage, too left-socialist for words. Moreno is likely a jew because he's a commie named Lenin and his surname is shared with a whorish entertainer -- whose descendants incidentally bear the totally 100% jew surname Fisher. _____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
Communism does have sympathy among a minority of Latin American people. I suspect it's based on generally higher levels of poverity, which is related to a lack of manufacturing based middle class. It's just natural for people who don't have as high a living standard as others they see and hear about to think of wealth redistribution as the answer. But the situation is not all black and white. Correa was aligned with Chavez and Maduro of Venezuela, which has been an absolute disaster economically. Venezuelans are fleeing their home country in desperation. Correa was a severe sociallist who imposed very high taxes on home sales and inheritances with an eye to get even with weathier people. It resulted instead in older widowed people who live alone in large family houses after kids move out not bothering to sell it for a smaller home because there would no point. Moreno has rolled back a lot of nonsense and sought to overturn constitutional edicts that support corruption. While I disagree the Assange decision, and only learned from the above he can't even get visitors which is terrible, and may be indicative of Moreno being successfully pressured by western interests, I do not think Moreno has been all bad. In many ways, quite the contrary.
Thanks so much for this briefing, Ping. I do want to know who the good and bad guys are. No doubt you're right about the pressuring -- it comes at the exact same time as this sickening across-the-board crunch.
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
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