Top Dem threatens to block trade deal with Ecuador over Snowden

[Catherina]

Source: The Hill

Top Dem threatens to block trade deal with Ecuador over Snowden
By Julian Pecquet - 06/26/13 07:09 AM ET

Ecuador can kiss its trade preferences with the United States goodbye if it offers asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, a key lawmaker told The Hill.

“There's been issues about Ecuador all along,” said Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. “And if they do this, there's no basis for even discussing it.”

...

"Ecuador puts its principles above its economic interest," said Ricardo Patiño, his foreign minister, defending their decision to consider asylum for Snowden "We take care of the human rights of the people."

...

The clash over Snowden comes as the Andean trade pact was already in trouble.

Chevron has hired lobbyists to argue that Ecuador has violated the terms of the agreement with its $18 billion pollution lawsuit judgment against the American oil company. They say the government is ignoring the ruling of an international tribunal convened under the U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty that ordered Ecuador to prevent enforcement of the judgment against Chevron.

....

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/americas/307831-levin-no-way-congress-will-renew-trade-deal-with-ecuador-if-it-hosts-nsa-leaker-snowden

---

In important related news from FAIR.org

Jun 25 2013
Washington Post: Let's Punish Ecuador (Again)
By Peter Hart


President Rafael Correa

Today the Washington Post editorial page (6/25/13) slammed Ecuador for daring to consider an asylum request from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The Post declared:

When it comes to anti-American chutzpah, there's no beating Rafael Correa, the autocratic leader of tiny, impoverished Ecuador.

Correa is the overwhelmingly popular, democratically elected president of a country that has experienced remarkable growth over his time in office. The Post, clearly missing its old left-wing Latin American target, sneers that "replacing the deceased Hugo Chavez as the hemisphere's preeminent anti-U.S. demagogue" is Correa's mission.

The paper slams Correa's record on press freedom, and notes that there is a solution here for the United States:

Some might find it awkward to be granting sanctuary to one country's self-proclaimed whistleblower while stifling their own. Not Mr. Correa, who for years has been campaigning against the United States while depending on it to prop up his economy with trade preferences. Thanks to the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Protection Act, Ecuador–which uses the dollar as its currency–is able to export many goods to the United States duty-free, supporting roughly 400,000 jobs in a country of 14 million people.

As it happens, the preferences will expire next month unless renewed by Congress. If Mr. Correa welcomes Mr. Snowden, there will be an easy way to demonstrate that Yanqui-baiting has its price.

So do what the U.S. government wants, or we'll see to it that your economy suffers. Huh.

This had a familiar ring. Sure enough, the Post's editorial page made the very same recommendation back when Correa's government was considering granting asylum to Julian Assange of WikiLeaks. That led the Post (6/20/12) to blast Correa as "a small-time South American autocrat" looking to supplant Chavez as "chief Yanqui-baiter and friend-to-rogues." And, like today, the Post offers the U.S. government a solution:

There is one potential check on Mr. Correa's ambitions. The U.S. "empire" he professes to despise happens to grant Ecuador (which uses the dollar as its currency) special trade preferences that allow it to export many goods duty-free. A full third of Ecuadoran foreign sales ($10 billion in 2011) go to the United States, supporting some 400,000 jobs in a country of 14 million people. Those preferences come up for renewal by Congress early next year. If Mr. Correa seeks to appoint himself America's chief Latin American enemy and Julian Assange's protector between now and then, it’s not hard to imagine the outcome.

It's good that someone at the Post's editorial page knows how to copy and paste.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/06/25/washington-post-lets-punish-ecuador-again/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=washington-post-lets-punish-ecuador-again

[tomm2thumbs]

1. I'm sure the rest of the globe will pick up the slack

Probably will look better doing it, frankly

[Catherina]

3. Agreed. Especially with the entire ALBA bloc increasing trade with China and Russia

The US trade deal comes with so many strings attached, included the drug war which the ALBA bloc isn't interested in. Tone deaf lol.

[naaman fletcher]

12. ALBA bloc not interested in Drug war?

VZLA has been completely silent on ending the drug war as his Bolivia. In fact, both of those two countries have been upping the drug war.

It is Guatemala, Colombia, and Mexico that have been talking about ending the drug war. Neither of which is in Alba.

[Bacchus4.0]

22. name of the agreement Ecuador wants to retain: Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act n/t

s

[naaman fletcher]

23. Yep. Nt

[hack89]

8. Why would demand for Ecuadorian products go up in those other countries?

are they going to stop buying from someone else so they can buy Ecuadorian products?

We are their number one trading partner - I doubt the rest of the world is going to pick up the slack.

[Bacchus4.0]

18. no, US importers will purchase the same products from other countries

since Ecuadorian products will become more expensive. Ecuador exports alot of bananas and seafood. Peru, Chile, and Colombia are part of the free trade agreement with the US and I am sure will be more than happy to supply the US with more of those products.

[kiri]

21. contact to Ecuador embassy in DC

http://www.ecuador.org/nuevosite/
http://www.ecuador.org/

Important ambassadors have influence on their government, so show support.

[railsback]

2. Yeah, that's a gimme

Ecuador is posturing. That's what they (Latin leaders) do, and always have done against the 'evil capitalists'. Note that Ecuador now says granting asylum could take months, by which time Snowden will be apprehended. Then they'll posture some more, saying how unfair we are…all the while continuing their duty free trading with us.

Can't believe people take all this rhetoric seriously.

[blackspade]

31. I can't believe you made this statement:

That's what they (Latin leaders) do, and always have done against the 'evil capitalists'.

Wow, that is a broad brush to use.
Are you saying that standing up to evil capitalists is a problem?
Or are you saying that the US must be obeyed and anyone resisting is a posturing Latin leader?

Care to clarify?

[railsback]

32. ok

The world is not the same everywhere you go. Latin America has traditionally stood up against foreign capitalists, but they can no longer survive in this day and age unless they start trading. So the populist leaders bang the drum of traditions for popular support while trying to ease themselves into the modern world without much fanfare. Its just the way it is, a pure, unadulterated comment. Correa is popular because of his bravado, and he pours revenue into building up Ecuador and battling poverty. But he's not stupid. The trade deal with the U.S. is very lucrative to hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorians. Its not something you can just drop and replace with another country, because they're not going to be willing to pay as much. As he told Amy Goodman, Correa likes Obama and they get along well, and is enjoying the relationship with the U.S. after being demonized by the Bush Admin for so long. So he thumps his chest, and then says Ecuador will revue the asylum application, which will probably take 'months'. He wins each way.

[blackspade]

36. Thanks.

However, Latin America has not traditionally resisted corporate encroachment.
In fact from 1900 onward, most central and South American countries have been the playground for American companies that have exploited the people and environment. It has only been in the last 15 years that there has been progressively more unity of opposition to Capitalist greed.
Correa is not popular for his bravado, that is a gross stereotype, rather, he is popular for the decrease in poverty and increases in jobs and infrastructure.

And it looks like Ecuador has indeed dropped out of the trade agreement as of today. So I guess it wasn't posturing.

[SamKnause]

4. Ecuador

USA, USA, we're number 1 in bullying and terrorizing the planet !!!

If our military, or CIA assassins don't get you, our financial terrorism, or sanctions will.

When was the USA, or their corporations appointed, or elected to be the rulers of the world ?

Hasn't the USA caused enough destruction and damage in Latin America ?

[Catherina]

11. I don't get the attitude at all. CNN had a very good article about this

I was shocked to see this on CNN

Why U.S. is being humiliated by the hunt for Snowden
By Simon Tisdall, special for CNN
June 26, 2013 -- Updated 1306 GMT


...

Perhaps it has something to do with Guantanamo. For sure, the Beijing Politburo has no problem with detaining people indefinitely without charge. After all, they've been doing it for years. But it comes hard from a global superpower that is constantly lecturing China and everybody else about the inviolability of human rights.

Perhaps it's a Bradley Manning thing. There's a lot of sympathy out there for the pint-sized soldier who dared to share the State Department's incredibly tedious cables, then got treated worse than a mass murderer.

...

Geopolitically speaking, Washington took over where London left off, post 1945. Except the US equivalent phrase is "right man's burden". That is to say, we (that's the imperial Washington 'we') are (always) right, and you (lesser mortals, sadly benighted) are (always) wrong.

...

Extra-judicial assassination, drones, killer robots, extraordinary rendition, black ops, wet ops, psy-ops, silly ops... The world is a bit tired of all this American posturing, grandstanding, and self-serving banditry.

So now it's cyber-ops, but wholly unofficial, courtesy Mr E. Snowden. It would hard to accept it is real, if you didn't suspect it was virtual. Rather than decry it, many applaud it.

...
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/25/opinion/snowden-us-humilation/index.html

[msongs]

5. the american bullies in action nt

[warrant46]

19. Too bad the Change you can believe in bunch is behind this

[nineteen50]

6. And the biding has begun

[naaman fletcher]

7. This is sort of misleading

The US ALREADY wasn't going to renew the trade deal.

So, the headline really should be:

Tom Democrat suggests we may reconsider not doing the trade deal if you turn in Snowdon. Or more likely:

Tom Democrat suggests we try to sucker Ecuador into handing over Snowdon even though we don't plan on renewing the trade deal anyway.

[BillyRibs]

33. How about this,

Top Democrats suggest US should shoot itself in the foot of credibility with Ecuador!

[hrmjustin]

9. Interesting tactic but it may not work.

As stated above others can pick up the slack.

[Catherina]

13. It's an upside down world right now. Orin Hatch didn't like the idea so he's thinking straight

I wish it were the reverse.

I don't know if you saw an excellent post by Bvar-22 about how our policies are pushing many Latin American countries into the arms of China and Russia, to our loss. It was in the Latin American forum about a month ago.

[hrmjustin]

15. I did see it and it was very good!

I agree it is not a good idea to go down this road.

[Catherina]

20. I'm so glad you saw it because I was looking for it for you lol! n/t

[hack89]

17. That defies economic logic

unless you can show that there is excess demand for their products.

[Downwinder]

10. Gee. Wonder who all is on NSA's list.

[DeSwiss]

25. Oviously it includes.....

...Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.)

- Sex or greed. It's not complicated......

[reorg]

14. you'd think that trade agreements always have mutual benefits

I know next to nothing about that particular agreement. But, looking around, I found this:

As a U.S. citizen who has lived in Ecuador for nearly 25 years, and been involved in the floral industry there when it was only 4 percent of its present size (...) a program that has yielded tremendous benefits at a low cost to the United States ...

Why should ATPDEA be continued (or at least replaced by the General System of Preferences for roses)? There are three key reasons:

• It works. The United States at its peak never reached 500 acres of greenhouse roses but Ecuador alone has 5,500 acres today and only supplies about 25 percent of the cut roses imported into the United States. Less than 25 percent of the farm price stays in Ecuador; the vast majority of value added is added in the United States.

Without the volume and competition these flowers provide in the market, supply would shrink and prices would climb, putting further pressure on mass market and other retail floral sales. Estimates are that each cut-flower industry job in Ecuador and Colombia creates one U.S. cut-flower job. That means employment has grown here. The ATPDEA has curbed drug smuggling and illegal immigration from Ecuador.

• ATPDEA is not a gift from the United States; it is part of a bilateral or multilateral trade relationship between countries. I work in part for the only remaining greenhouse rose breeders in the United States. We can import duty-free into Ecuador our mother plants, test codes, fertilizers, agricultural chemicals, plastics, etc. Although it is not a two-way agreement at the present time, there are parallel agreements providing reciprocal benefits. ...

http://www.theproducenews.com/index.php/floral-2/9970-ecuador-at-the-crossroads-free-trade-agreement-to-continue

[Catherina]

29. "Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act" with the emphasis on Drug Eradication

Latin America made it clear that they're not interested in our drug war.

The US tried this exact same gambit when the Julian Assange asylum case came up and this was Ecuador's response

As we’ve said before, the United States that Mr. Correa so despises allows Ecuador to export many goods duty-free, supports roughly 400,000 jobs in a country of 14 million people and accounts for one-third of Ecuador’s foreign sales. Congress could easily decide to diminish that privileged commercial access early next year. Is Mr. Assange really worth the risk?”

‘Definitely not’ was the resounding response from Ecuador’s private sector. In a meeting with President Correa and his cabinet ministers and some 150 businessmen shortly after the publication of this editorial, Pablo Dávila, the president of the umbrella business association Comité Empresarial Ecuatoriano (CEE), expressed his concern that “recent events that we have been through, particularly the asylum granted to Julian Assange, show without doubt that there is going to be an impact on trade ties.” He called for the adoption of a “strategy reaching out to that (the US) market”.

Correa shot back that “if national sovereignty is at stake, we will leave the negotiation table”. He added: “In February [17th] we will have new elections; if I stand for re-election let me make it clear, I will never accept any form of blackmail... Let them keep their ATPDEA, we will give them a few million for a course in ethics and human rights.”

...

In the past, Correa has repeatedly stressed that he “will not beg” the US for an extension of Atpdea. He argues that Atpdea is not a gift from the US, but the corollary of a contract under which the Andean countries stepped up their fight against the drug trade in their territories.

...

http://www.latinnews.com/component/k2/item/53191-ecuador-assange-asylum-and-atpdea-what%E2%80%99s-at-stake?.html

He won the last elections with a resounding mandate and has a 90% public approval rating. I don't think he really cares about US trade threats, especially after we've been demonizing him for so long and tried a little coup down there. I could be so wrong, that's just how I see it.

[Bacchus4.0]

16. Ecuador's "KEEP TRADE GOING" Campaign Launches Online Call-to-Action to Protect Ecuador-U.S. Trade

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/embassy-ecuadors-keep-trade-going-020000982.html


Embassy of Ecuador's "KEEP TRADE GOING" Campaign Launches Online Call-to-Action to Protect Ecuador-U.S. Trade


..WASHINGTON, June 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to alert business owners—large and small—, consumers and lawmakers that key, two decades old, U.S. trade programs are about to expire without action by the U.S. Congress, the Embassy of Ecuador's Keep Trade Going (KTG) campaign has launched KeepTradeGoing.com, an interactive website, letter-writing, and petition drive aimed at encouraging action before it's too late.

The KTG campaign, an initiative of the Embassy of Ecuador in Washington, D.C., was launched to promote the Ecuador-U.S. trade relationship, which supports thousands of jobs and economic growth and promotes opportunity for advancement and security on both sides of the equator. Visitors to the new website now have a one-stop shop where they can learn about the history and importance of U.S.-Ecuador trade, follow the KTG campaign activities and learn how they can support this effort.

Keep Trade Going seeks to promote the continuation of trade programs such as the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (APTA/ATPDEA) and the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences Program (GSP) which have proven to be effective tools to foster economic growth and promote security in both countries. But, these programs are set to expire on July 31, 2013.

Duty-free access to high quality Ecuadorian products that are produced with the highest level of social and environmental standards—such as fresh cut roses, tuna, broccoli, and mangoes—has provided a competitive edge to thousands of American businesses, the benefits of which are passed on to U.S. consumers. This commerce generates jobs along the entire production chain—from American airlines, to retailers, to restaurants, as well as Ecuadorian farmers, many of which are women heads of households. Thousands of American and Ecuadorian jobs rely on U.S.-Ecuador trade.

[DeSwiss]

24. K&R

Last edited Thu Jun 27, 2013, 09:22 PM - Edit history (1)

[Nihil]

26. K&R for this reply.

The graphic sums it up beautifully.

[BlueNAlabama]

27. The Day is Coming..........

The good ole USA, the good guys in white hats.....Yeah, right. Some day all the little guys we've bullied, exploited and forced our will upon are going to gang up and take us down. The sad part is that, given our present course, we'll deserve it.

[Catherina]

28. I think the sun is already rising on that day & we're too arrogant to notice

Ecuador doesn't want our stupid *help* to fight OUR drug war. When you read this careful, the US is holding 100,000 jobs in the cut flower business over their heads.

He also promised to block renewal of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, which also expires at the end of next month.

An OPEC nation, Ecuador exported $5.4 billion worth of oil, $166 million of cut flowers, $122 million of fruits and vegetables and $80 million of tuna to the United States under the Andean trade program in 2012.

While Ecuador could find other markets for its oil, termination of the benefits could hurt the cut flower industry, which has blossomed under the program and employs more than 100,000 workers, many of them women.

Ecuador is the only recipient of trade benefits under the long-time Andean program. Peru and Colombia have free trade pacts with the United States and Bolivia was suspended several years ago.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/26/usa-security-snowden-congress-idINDEE95P0LE20130626

We're so dishonest too. Bolivia wasn't suspended- it told us to shove it. Our news media is less than worthless, it's dangerous.

And as far as the Drug Eradication *benefits* which are part and parcel of the Andean Trade, they don't want it. Along with the other ALBA countries, they pledged to throw out the last remnants of USAID. Their business with China is increasing, especially in the oil field. Years ago, we were the importer for over 75% of Ecuador's oil; today we're at under 50%. Their economy is thriving while housing more people, building more schools, feeding more poor. Their President is doing such a great job that he has a 90% approval rating. Who needs who here? I'm flabbergasted that our representatives are either this uninformed, this jingoistic or this stupid. ALBA rising, US sinking. Personally I prefer not to see my country sink. But forgive me, I drifted. We weren't very nice on the way up so it won't be gentle on the way down. If we'd at least act gracefully, I think our landing would be a lot softer because there's still enough goodwill to work with us if we would only capitalize on it with a little grace.

[Bacchus4.0]

30. Bolivia was suspended from the program in 2008

http://americasquarterly.org/node/2571

In 2008, Bolivia was suspended from the program when the Bush Administration deemed it incompliant with eligibility criteria related to counter-narcotics cooperation, and in 2010, Peru was dropped from the list of beneficiaries following approval of its FTA with the United States.

USAID is still in Ecuador and Nicaragua. Haiti has observor status and has USAID. The other observer states are Iran and Syria.

ALBA is nothing.

[BlueNAlabama]

44. Catherina

I'm afraid you're right.

[BigD_95]

34. I support this 100%

He ass needs to be in jail

[Catherina]

35. Ecuador responds: Media is Distorting Our Words on Snowden. We're Pulling Out of US Trade Agreement

Tone fucking deaf! I just posted this in GD:

Patiño accuses the media of distorting his words on Snowden's asylum

Published: June 27, 2013 | 9:34 GMT

The Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño, said some media distorted his statements on the time necessary to consider the Latin American country not to grant political asylum to the CIA excolaborador Edward Snowden.

Journalists referring to Patino reported that Ecuador would take more than two months to review Snowden's application. "In Kuala Lumpur I stated that the decision of asylum could be resolved in a day, in a week or, as happened with Assange, could take two months. The media removed the first part of the statement and left only the second. They're trying to cause confusion, as we already know," Patiño wrote in his Twitter account.

http://actualidad.rt.com/ultima_hora/view/98552-patino-medios-distorsionar-asilo-snowden

And another thing

RT ?@RT_com 41m

Ecuador can't currently grant asylum to #Snowden, obstacle that he's not on its soil - officials http://on.rt.com/agi12q

12:44 GMT: Ecuador says it has not processed Snowden’s asylum request because he has not reached any of its diplomatic premises.

Asa K Cusack ?@AsaKCusack 26m

Fascinating stuff from #Ecuador in response to #US #Snowden #trade threats: they've dropped #ATPDEA rather than having US revoke it. Astute.

El Universo ?@eluniversocom 1h

Ecuador's Secretary of Communication announced that Ecuador renounces the US preferential trade agreement (Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act) and offers economic aid to the US

Secretario de Comunicación anuncia que #Ecuador renuncia a preferencias arancelarias #ATPDEA y ofrece una ayuda económica a EE.UU.

GAWD the US government is fucking tone deaf. Latin America made it clear it's SICK of the US drug war, and the US held that agreement over its head? After all the ALBA countries had already publicly pledged to kick out the USAID? And that they were SICK of being called (John Kerry that was you recently) and treated as America's backyard? Who's running this show?

Ecuador renounces renewed trade benefits from US Congress
Published June 27, 2013
Associated Press

QUITO, Ecuador – Ecuador's communications minister says the country is renouncing trade preferences that are up for U.S. congressional renewal.

It comes as Ecuador considers the asylum request of NSA leaker Edward Snowden, which has prompted critics in the U.S. to suggest retaliation against the South American country.

Minister Fernando Alvarado told a news conference Thursday the benefits were originally granted for help in the fight against drugs but have become "an instrument of blackmail." He said "Ecuador unilaterally and irrevocably renounces said preferences."

...

Alvarez said his country won't bow "to mercantile interests, as important as they may be."

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/06/27/ecuador-renounces-renewed-trade-benefits-from-us-congress/

Through his Twitter account the president (Correa) stressed that the Washington Post had "accused" Ecuador of having double standards.

They have managed to focus on Snowden (an ex-intelligence agent who fled the United States) and the "evil" countries that "support" him, making us forget the terrible actions he denounced against the U.S. people and the whole world, he expressed on Twitter.

"The world order is not only unjust, it is immoral," stressed the president.

...

The Ecuadorian government puts principles above its interests, said Foreign Affairs Minister Ricardo Patiño in a press conference from Vietnam where he was on an official visit.

http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1552231&Itemid=1

[Bacchus4.0]

37. it wasn't goint to be renewed anyway. Ecuador, Nicaragua, Haiti all have USAID

I guess the Ecuadorian embassy will be taking down this website.

http://keeptradegoing.com

..Embassy of Ecuador's "KEEP TRADE GOING" Campaign Launches Online Call-to-Action to Protect Ecuador-U.S. Trade
New website rallies grassroots support for U.S. trade programs that, if not renewed by Congress by July 31st, could threaten jobs, economic growth, consumers, and security

Press Release: Embassy of Ecuador in Washington, D.C. – Mon, Jun 17, 2013 10:00 PM EDT....Email0
Share0Print.....
WASHINGTON, June 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to alert business owners—large and small—, consumers and lawmakers that key, two decades old, U.S. trade programs are about to expire without action by the U.S. Congress, the Embassy of Ecuador's Keep Trade Going (KTG) campaign has launched KeepTradeGoing.com, an interactive website, letter-writing, and petition drive aimed at encouraging action before it's too late.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/embassy-ecuadors-keep-trade-going-020000982.html

[Poll_Blind]

38. +1 Amazing development! nt

PB

[Catherina]

39. My friend, I clearly called this one yesterday. ALBA is not interested in our bullshit

The US is making fools of themselves on the world stage, just as the right wing jerks attacking the ALBA countries on DU make fools of themselves every day. And today they're springing to action making even bigger fools of themselves judging by how many "ignored" are showing up under "My Posts". All that squealing is like shearing a pig, like Putin put it in another insult to our government's reaction.

Ecuador clearly stated long ago that they didn't want the USAID and our other cute little NGO's helping them out in anything because our help always comes with heavy strings and is never to their advantage. I expected this but you know, I'm delighted too.

Remember that old saying to be nice to people on your way up? Well we weren't very nice. Solidarity my old friend.

[Poll_Blind]

40. Half an hour or whatever after reading this, I'm still gob-smacked. The symbolic messages...

...sent over the last few days by various countries resonate throughout the world but none louder than Ecuador's. And for an entirely more ominous (for our enfeebled empire) reason. If, at one end of the spectrum, sits a destabilized Africa and it's perpetual exploitation by Western/European powers, South America's growing assertion's of self-worth, independence and solidarity set it squarely at the other.

When even the littlest countries cannot be bought off, when America cannot simply doff a straw Panama, make some calls to the United Fruit Company, que up "Rum And Coca Cola" on the jukebox and believe the lyrics as a deeper, universal truth...what then?

Kudos for calling it!



PB

[Fantastic Anarchist]

41. Relevant:

[Judi Lynn]

42. Ecuador nixes U.S. trade pact, 'blackmail' over Snowden

Ecuador nixes U.S. trade pact, 'blackmail' over Snowden
Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY 12:44 p.m. EDT June 27, 2013
NSA leaker Edward Snowden seeks asylum from Ecuador, says fair trial 'unlikely' in U.S. courts.

Ecuador said Thursday it is renouncing a trade pact up for renewal by the U.S. Congress because it had become a "new instrument of blackmail" involving the fate of an NSA leaker who has asked for political asylum from the South American country.

Edward Snowden, who was employed by Booz Allen Hamilton as a National Security Agency systems analyst in Hawaii, requested political asylum from Ecuador after fleeing to Hong Kong last month with top-secret documents and court orders on U.S. government surveillance operations.

In requesting asylum, Snowden said in a letter to Ecuador that it was "unlikely" that he would get a fair trial in U.S. courts.

He also noted he could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted under the U.S. Espionage Act, Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said on Monday.

More:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/27/ecuador-nsa-edward-snowden-asylum-andean-trade-pact-tariff-renounces/2463465/

[Enrique]

43. so much for Levin's threat

[Union Scribe]

45. allow me to join you

[Poll_Blind]

46. UPDATE: Aaaaand it backfires! Techdirt: Ecuador Tells US To Take Its Trade Agreement And Shove It!

Ecuador Tells US To Take Its Trade Agreement And Shove It, After Threats Relayed Over Snowden



PB

[Judi Lynn]

47. Your article linked to the Guardian article, which offered this:

~snip~
The waiving of preferential trade rights followed threats from members of the US congress to drop the ATPA in July, when it is due for renewal, unless Ecuador toed the line on Snowden.

"Ecuador does not accept pressure or threats from anyone, nor does it trade with principles or submit them to mercantile interests, however important those may be," said Fernando Alvarado, the communications secretary.

"Ecuador gives up, unilaterally and irrevocably, the said customs benefits."
The announcement will enhance President Correa's reputation as a bold leader unafraid to defy the US, just like the late Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez.

Tactical calculation lay behind the decision. Even before the Snowden affair Quito feared losing the trade preferences, largely because of Republican antipathy to Ecuador's outspoken socialist leader.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/27/ecuador-us-trade-pact-edward-snowden

[center]~ ~ ~[/center]
Republican assholes are the ones who have caused Almost all the filthy, unpardonable suffering to the people of the Americas at the hands of US gov't meddling, covert war, manipulation, assassinations, greed , hostility, murderous, immoral arrogance.