Ecuador’s Presidential Elections Could Decide Julian Assange’s Fate
[ Ecuador's President will have to step down soon. He's been an ally of Venezuela and Bolivia. This story is dated but it does tell the stakes for Assange. Excerpt from more recent story follow below.
In the February elections, the past President's VP, named Lenin Moreno, got just shy of enough votes to win in an election with more than half a dozen candidates. Now there will be a runoff election between Lenin Moreno and a free market oriented banker, Guillermo Lasso. If Lasso wins, Assange will be kicked out. Runoff election April 2.
Was the Assange- Farage meeting about figuring out a way to save an asset important to Trump and Putin?
Sweden wants him. Western intelligence services want to get him. Presumably the US still wants to get him, but it would be nice to hear Sessions say so. Assange has to be sweating and you can bet Putin won't want him falling into the hands of western intel agencies. Hope he doesn't have a fatal fall. ]
BY ROBBIE GRAMERFEBRUARY 9, 2017 - 2:22 PM ROBBIE.GRAMER @ROBBIEGRAMER
Julian Assange’s days of asylum may be numbered, depending on how Ecuador’s presidential elections go. Guillermo Lasso, a leading candidate in Ecuador’s presidential race, said he would boot the Wikileaks chief out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London if he wins the upcoming presidential elections next week.
More than four years after Assange got asylum, he has long overstayed his welcome in the embassy, Lasso said in an interview with the Guardian. “We will cordially ask Señor Assange to leave within 30 days of assuming a mandate.”
Lasso trails the ruling party candidate Lenín Moreno by seven points according to the latest polls, but is well-positioned to win a runoff vote.
Ecuador granted Assange asylum in 2012 to prevent his extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault accusation, with Western intelligence agencies hot on his trail. Ecuador’s self-described ‘anti-imperialist’ president Rafael Correa spurned the United States and gained international prominence by agreeing to shelter Assange.
But since then, the country has started feeling buyer’s remorse. British intelligence closely monitors the embassy. And Assange, who hasn’t stepped foot outside the embassy in four years, is starting to wear on their patience.
“Our staff have been through a lot. There is a human cost,” said Guillaume Long, Ecuador’s foreign minister. “This is probably the most watched embassy on the planet.” In October, 2016, the embassy even cut off Assange’s internet access, citing concerns over Wikileaks involvement in the U.S. presidential race hackings.
“The Ecuadorian people have been paying a cost that we should not have to bear,” said Lasso, a leader in the conservative Creo-Suma political alliance.
Though Lasso is still trailing, he has gained momentum as the most likely candidate to oust Moreno after an initial round of voting on Feb. 19 is expected to lead to a runoff vote. It’s safe to say Assange is following this election closely, too.
foreignpolicy.com
.... A second round is not expected to favour 63-year-old Moreno, say analysts. They predict Ecuador’s opposition could join forces around Lasso, who has vehemently attacked the government, blaming it for an economic downturn and corruption scandals.
Fernando Tuesta, a political scientist at Lima’s Catholic University visiting Quito as an election observer, said the trend was unlikely to alter and it would be “very surprising” if Moreno’s votes got past the 40% needed for him to win outright.
“In a likely second round Lasso will face the challenge in bringing together all those people who didn’t vote for either one of them,” he added.
The two candidates offer very different visions of Ecuador’s future and its place in the world. Moreno represents the continuity of the nation’s leftwing government, with its focus on poverty reduction, disability rights and closer Latin American integration. But supporters say he represents a change of style, being more of a listener and less confrontational towards the media compared to his predecessor, Correa.
Lasso has vowed to cut taxes, boost employment, trim government spending and evict the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, from the Ecuadorian embassy in London. While Correa and Moreno have relied on Chinese loans and investment, Lasso is thought more likely to reach out to the US and the IMF.
theguardian.com |
