Washington Post Alerts Ecuador of Commercial Consequences over Assange’s Case

Washington Post Alerts Ecuador of Commercial Consequences over Assange’s Case

The American Journal, Washington Post, warns that granting asylum to Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, could bring “disastrous” economic consequences for Ecuador.

“Congress could decide, easily, a decrease in that privileged trade access to be implemented early next year,” adds the Post, and asks “Is it Assange really worth it?”.

“America, the country that Rafael Correa despises so much, allows Ecuador to export many goods duty free, supports about 400,000 jobs in a country of 14 million people, and takes on a third of Ecuadorian outer sales”, continues the note.

The editorial notes that Asange “is presented as a victim of an international political conspiracy … and claims that extradition to Sweden will result in his delivery to United States where he could face the death penalty.”

“Rafael Correa, the loquacious and very anti-American president of Ecuador, has encouraged those fantasies and gave Assange a formal greeting to a ‘club of the persecuted’” the editorial added.

But Correa “surely knows that the United States has not accused the founder of Wikileaks with any crime nor has requested his extradition,” said the Post. “Why then offer him asylum?”

According to the newspaper “Correa, who has restricted speech freedom in his country, has begun to show signs of establishing the same kind of autocracy that Hugo Chavez has established in Venezuela.” (MZ)