Snowden, Assange and South America

What Correa really said about Assange and the safe-conduct to Snowden. Analysis

Journalist Rory Carroll and the President of Ecuador Rafael Correa

The Presidency of Ecuador has now published a videotape with the actual interview

By Marcello Ferrada-Noli

I have carefully listened to the interview – conducted in Spanish – of President Rafael Correa with the Guardian on the “Snowden saga”, also focused on the role of the WikiLeaks founder Mr Julian Assange. Frankly, I became astonished realizing the extent to which the answers of Rafael Correa were misrepresented by the Guardian, and subsequently by other MSM. Instead of what it has been reported, Ecuador has never retracted of their positive statements on whisteblower Edward Snowden, or on their openness to study his asylum. Correa affirms clearly that Ecuador has not “negated” the safe-conduct issued to Mr Snowden. He also says emphatically that “Mr Assange continues to enjoy our respect”

Professorsblog.

8 July, 2013

In front of the incumbent peril of extradition of Mr Edward Snowden to the U.S. from Hong Kong, the one and only important thing about saving whistle-blower Snowing was to obtain his exit to Moscow, where he could formalize petitions of political asylum. This positive outcome was no doubt the work of Mr Julian Assange (and his organization WikiLeaks), who also took the initiative of contacting the Ecuadorian Consul in London – in the middle of the night – about the precarious and risky situation of Mr Snowden in Hong Kong. That Mr Assange succeeded, together with the Ecuadorian consul, in finding a solution for Mr Snowden’s situation, is a fact that only brings relief and gladness to all those engaged in preserving the human rights. Amongst these, ostensibly the Ecuadorian people and government, and also many others in Latin America. See for instance the declarations of the governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

The safe-conduct worked out. That is the main thing and period. Whether – at the moments it was issued, in the middle of a crisis-situation (as acknowledged later by President Correa, see below) – the safe-conduct was or not released strictly according to formalities of this or that protocol is less than an “academic discussion”.

That Mr Assange and the WikiLeaks people moved that promptly – and with proven efficacy, judging by the results – it is a good thing that no one in the Ecuadorian government could be sorry for. And indeed they are not.

I have carefully listened to the interview – conducted in Spanish – of President Rafael Correa with The Guardian on the “Snowden saga”, focused on the role of the WikiLeaks founder Mr Julian Assange. Frankly I was astonished when realizing to which extent the “declarations” of Rafael Correa as presented in The Guardian’s reports, were in fact misrepresentations of what the Ecuadorian president actually expressed. These misrepresentations – mainly quotes “out of context”, as Correa would say afterwards – were in fact repeated by the rest of the conspicuous MSM. The Washington Post, for instance, partly sourced an own article (Ecuador’s strange journey from embracing Snowden to turning him away) on what the Guardian had reported of the interview – but not checking the interview itself.

One “breaking news” circulated by the MSM it was that Correa would have declared that the safe-conduct given to Mr Edward Snowden for his travelling from Hong-Kong to Moscow was “an error”. Amazing. It was not that what Correa is saying in the context (listen to videotape above).

Namely, what Correa is stating is that it is an error to affirm that Ecuador “negated” afterwards the salvo-conduct given to Snowden. Further, any Spanish-speaking listener would appropriate testify, after to have listened to what Correa is answering in the interview, is that the Ecuadorian president is saying exactly the opposite. Correa says expressly, “No es que hemos negado el salvo-conducto” (It is not that we have negated the save-conduct”].

Also, very many in the international media commented that Correa, and the entirely Ecuadorian government, were to say the least upset with Julian Assange, or “angry”, for his role in the helping of Edward Snowden. In fact he said quite the contrary.

For instance, the journalist in the actual interview puts a leading question on that if president Correa thinks “Assange abusó de la confianza del gobierno (de Ecuador)”. Far from that, Rafael Correa explained instead the context in where Mr Assange made the declarations he did, that he can understand Assange’s concern for Edward Snowden’s situation. President Correa says in the interview very clear about that subject, “we understand the situation perfectly and Mr Assange continues to enjoy our respect”.

And regarding other international dispatchs on that the Ecuadorian government was “furious” also with their own Consul in the UK, whom would have even “received a reprimand”: Not at all. Rafael Correa refers in the interview with Rory Caroll that he said to the Consul – and mentioning the context of previous experiences in which Ecuadorian consulates abroad had hastily to issue safe-conducts, historically for instance in Czechoslovakia to save Jews from persecution – , “If you think you were doing the correct thing, I respect your decision”. He also says that he regards the Consul as “a very cultivated person”.

So, in my interpretation, one thing is the clear ethical AND political stance of Correa and the Ecuadorian government on the issue of the safe-conduct issued to Mr Snowden to facilitate his travelling from Hong Kong to Moscow. Another thing – and also made clear by Ecuador- is the respect to international conventions on those matters that they do observe in normal conditions (the above was in a “crisis”, as characterized by Correa in the interview), which is an abiding they of course have to show to the international community. Ecuador means for instance that in “normal” conditions safe-conducts are issued with the government’s fully awareness and formal authorization. Which was not the case in the issuing of this particular one (a thing that the Consul has “to be accountable for”) But the truth is that the Ecuadorian government is not negating it a posteriori, because some formalities were nor met when issued.

The journalist took up the item that the Ecuadorian government – according to press reports – was full aware of such safe-conduct since the beginning, and that they would have changed their minds “only five days later”. President Correa called that information “a lie”. With those words, and emphatically. He also has asked for the proof behind such information, which never got it. To the best of my knowledge, no one of these items were ever published by the international MSM.

Free from imperial persecution’: Three Latin American countries offer shelter to Edward Snowden

Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela have indicated that they could give asylum to the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. It comes in the wake of the UNASUR summit, where Latin American leaders slammed EU ‘imperial’ skyjack of President Morales’ plane.

RT.

8 July, 2013

Bolivian President Evo Morales pointed out on Saturday that he would grant Snowden shelter if he made the request.

Earlier in the week, speaking to RT Spanish, Morales pointed out, “If there were a request, of course we would be willing to debate and consider the idea."

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro came through on an asylum offer to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden on Friday, making the announcement on television during a the broadcast of a parade marking the country’s independence day.

Also on Friday, Nicaragua said that it would “gladly receive” Snowden, who is still holed up in a transit section of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since fleeing Hong Kong twelve days ago, and give him asylum, “if circumstances permit.”

"We are open, respectful of the right to asylum, and it is clear that if circumstances permit it, we would receive Snowden with pleasure and give him asylum here in Nicaragua," Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega said at a public event.

Maduro, who often employs the same boisterous rhetoric employed by his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez, has said Venezuela will shield the whistleblower from prosecution by the US.

"I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young American, Edward Snowden, so that in the fatherland of Bolivar and Chavez, he can come and live away from imperial North American persecution," said Maduro.

Venezuela has offered Snowden asylum despite a US extradition request, demanding that the whistleblower be “arrested” if he “travels to” or “transits through” Venezuela and “be kept in custody” for “the purpose of extradition”.

The leader of Venezuela’s political opposition, Henrique Capriles Radonski, criticized the asylum offer extended by President Maduro, and took the opportunity to tie Maduro’s move to ongoing domestic politics.

Venezuela's opposition leader Henrique Capriles (Reuters / Carlos Garcia Rawlins)

According to Caprilles, the runner-up in the last presidential elections and governor of the state of Miranda, Venezuela’s president aimed to use the Snowden saga in a bid to “conceal the fact that he stole the elections,” asserting that the offer “does not grant him legitimacy, nor will it make people forget about the economic disaster, a growing sense of insecurity and scarcity.”

The three offers for political asylum from Central and South America come on the heels of an emergency UNASUR bloc meeting which was held Thursday in Cochabamba, Bolivia following an incident in which Bolivian president Evo Morales was denied entry into French airspace.

Morales’ plane was forced out of European airspace and to make an unexpected landing in Austria after a US diplomat lied about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden being onboard, local media reported.

The plane had departed from Moscow on July 2, but had to land in Vienna, Austria, and remain grounded for 12 hours as France, Spain and Portugal closed their airspace for transit over a suspicion it could have been carrying NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

When the plane landed in Vienna to refuel, US Ambassador to Austria William Eacho phoned officials from the Austrian Foreign Ministry, the Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse reported. Eacho “claimed with great certainty that Edward Snowden was onboard” and referenced a “diplomatic note requesting Snowden’s extradition.”

The Thursday meeting of the Latin American bloc was attended by the leaders of Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador, Uruguay, Suriname and Bolivia with representatives of Brazil, Chile and Peru also in attendance.

Following the emergency summit, the bloc issued a statement which voiced support for Morales and expressed indignation at Tuesday's moves by France, Portugal, Italy and Spain to obstruct the Bolivian head of state’s aircraft from free passage.

The incident "set a dangerous precedent of violating international laws" in the world, the statement said.

"The European people have seen the cowardice and the weakness of their governments, which now look like colonies of the United States," the Venezuelan president said of the episode.

The asylum offers by Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua suggest they may be related to coordination following UNASUR’s assembly. Moreover, the announcements by those countries come at an opportune time for Snowden, as Moscow has been voicing increasing irritation at his continued presence in Russia, and a bid for Icelandic citizenship failed after the country's parliament voted not to debate it on Friday before its summer recess.

On Thursday Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Snowden has not applied for political asylum in Russia, so it is not in Moscow’s power to decide his destiny.

"He needs to choose a place to go," said Ryabkov.

“We believe that without his determined personal decision in one direction or another, without his exact understanding of what is better for him, what solution he considers to be the optimal one, we are unable to decide for him,” he added.

Snowden has been making a slew of asylum requests, with legal help from WikiLeaks and direct intervention on his behalf coming directly from Julian Assange, himself still receiving an asylum at Ecuador’s London Embassy for the past year.

On Friday, WikiLeaks announced that six additional asylum bids had been made on behalf of Snowden, bringing the total number to 27, though many countries had so far declined to extend any political or legal protection to the whistleblower.

Eleven nations have already rejected the whistleblower's requests, including France, Finland, Brazil, Poland, India and Germany, leaving him trapped in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

New Delhi said on Tuesday that it has “no reason” to grant the whistleblower’s request. In his application to Poland, Snowden said that he risks facing execution if he is returned to the US.

Spain, Norway, Italy, Ecuador and Austria stated that asylum requests cannot be granted unless the applicant is inside the country. Italy also said that Snowden’s application was made via fax, which is not allowed, ITAR-TASS reported, citing a source in the Italian Foreign Ministry.

France went a step further, saying that Snowden would be arrested if he were to enter the country due to an existing US extradition request.

In contrast, President Maduro extended congratulations to Snowden during his comments on Friday.

"He has told the truth, in the spirit of rebellion, about the US spying on the whole world," Maduro said.

"Who is the guilty one? A young man ... who denounces war plans, or the US government which launches bombs and arms the terrorist Syrian opposition against the people and legitimate President Bashar al-Assad?"

"Who is the terrorist? Who is the global delinquent?” added Maduro.

The White House declined to comment on Venezuela’s asylum offer.