Thursday, June 27, 2013

Ecuador to the US: You Can't Fire Me. I Quit.

Oh, and, before I leave…
Snowden, 30, is believed to be at Moscow's international airport.

"The petitioner is not in Ecuadorean territory as the law requires [to process a request for asylum]," government official Betty Tola said at an early morning news conference in Ecuador.

Bristling at suggestions Quito was weighing the pros and cons of Snowden's case in terms of its own interests, officials also said Ecuador would not base its decision on its desire to renew the Andean Trade Preferences Act with Washington.

"Ecuador gives up, unilaterally and irrevocably, the said customs benefits," said another official, Fernando Alvarado.

"What's more, Ecuador offers the United States economic aid of $23 million annually, similar to what we received with the trade benefits, with the intention of providing education about human rights," Alvarado added.

"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."

  Reuters
Good on Ecuador.

Reminding me once again of the 2002 coup in Venezuela when the coup leaders tried to crash the Cuban embassy. The ambassador there replied: “We have resisted the greatest power on the planet for over 40 years and did not let them into our embassy. We will not let you.”

Americans supposedly love it when someone stands up to a bully.

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