RANT OR RAVE? Julian Assange Granted Asylum

I should have been happy, overjoyed in fact (!!!), about the news yesterday that Julian Assange had been granted political asylum by Ecuador. So this should be a rave. Yet even with that news I am niggled by fear and apprehension - apprehension borne of how ugly this entire affair got this week and how it could yet get a lot uglier. Hence my need to also rant about this.



So, let me deconstruct the affair as I see it as succinctly as possible:

The Victim: Julian Assange. There are two camps in the world today - those who believe Julian Assange is being persecuted on the one side, and those who believe he is a 'terrorist' and a 'threat' to American hegemony (read: imperialism) on the other side. There is no room for grey - it's that black and white.

The Heroes: Ecuador. I admittedly had my doubts that the Ecuadorian government would capitulate to Western (read: American) pressure. Many had those doubts and fears. Even his mother must have had her fears an doubts. But they came through for Julian, in unapologetic, crystal clear and frankly stunning terms. This small South American country did what very few countries would dare to do. All power to Ecuador for what they have done this week. Simon Bolivar would be proud.

The Enemy/ Bitch Whore of the Arch Enemy: The United Kingdom. When it's foreign affairs crowd even dares to suggest that the UK would see fit to rip right through centuries of diplomacy and international customary law and storm the Ecuadorian embassy to seize Assange, then it is a country that has lost all sense of the rule of law and its own sense of self. It's democracy and legal system is a sham. All so it can do the bidding of its Imperial Master. The UK should be ashamed of itself.

The Passive-Aggressive Bitch Whore: Sweden. This Scandinavian country, always so smug in its own sense of level-minded, content democracy, is at the very epicentre of this entire crisis. All it had to do was reassure Ecuador that Assange would not be extradited to the United States once handed over to Sweden by the UK. This Sweden refused to do, which spoke volumes - and the Ecuadoreans rightly saw this as overwhelming evidence of the political persecution of Assange. Game over. Sweden is a sham democracy doing the shabby bidding of the biggest bully of them all. It too should be thoroughly ashamed of itself.

The Arch Enemy: The United States. Need one say more?

And that's what this entire debacle boils down to: a man who did nothing more than publish the truth about the shocking shenanigans of world powers is being persecuted by three of what were once the most respected democracies on Earth.

And that is why, whilst I can rave about Julian Assange being granted his asylum, I can only rant at all the other malevolent ingredients in this putrid mix.

And I am sincerely, genuinely, horribly worried at how the entire Julian Assange affair may yet unravel. And expose the true, sickening nature of the world in which we live.

Do you get my point?

AN APPEAL: President Correa, Please Do The Right Thing

As my previous post attests, I am getting seriously worried about all the time that is lapsing as Julian Assange sits in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, waiting to be granted asylum by Quito.

It just all seems to be taking too long. And now signs are that Ecuador is somehow trying to negotiate with the UK, Sweden and, astoundingly, the United States. That just doesn't bode well.

Ultimately, whether or not Ecuador grants Assange asylum and thereby prevents him from being eventually tried and possibly even murdered in the United States all rests on the shoulders of one man:



President Rafael Correa of Ecuador: the choice is his.

Now is his chance to provide his small country with a moral stature and impetus that very few countries could ever aspire to have. Now is his chance to make or break the legacy he has tried to build as a populist leader in a region sick to death of the meddling, often deadly machinations by the Yanks up north.

Will Correa be up to it? The coming days and weeks will tell.

President Rafael Correa of Ecuador: he simply must do the right thing.

After all, how many people actually realize that Correa is currently one of the most powerful people in the world?

His destiny and the destiny of his country is also our collective destiny.

Do you get my point?

RANT: Ecuador, What's Up With You People?!

Julian Assange continues to wallow inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London, and, according to his mother, Christine, his health is deteriorating. She claims that the strain of the relentless persecution against her son over the past two years are taking a toll on her son.



Christine Assange met with the Ecuadorean authorities in Quito on Monday, basically pleading for them to grant him the asylum that he is seeking from the South American nation. Asylum that many of us thought would surely be quite forthcoming, considering that Julian had had a very candid interview on Russia Today with Ecuador's charismatic president, Rafael Correa, just a few short months ago.

In fact, President Correa appeared downright smitten with Assange's whistleblowing achievements, and the mood between the two men was decidedly warm and mutually admiring.

In fact, I distinctly remember Correa at one point during the interview inviting Assange to go to Ecuador where he would be "well received and always welcome." Is it any wonder then that Julian Assange chose to seek refuge in that very country's embassy just weeks after that interview...? 

So, what am I and others following this saga supposed to make of these words from Ricardo Patino, the Foreign Minister of Ecuador, as reported by CBS news?:

"Ecuador is doing "everything possible to protect the life of Mr. Assange."

Okay, that sounds good, but then its stated by CBS that, "Ecuadorean officials have said they will not announce a decision on the asylum request until after the London Olympic Games end in mid-August."

Why?! What is so damn special about the fact that the bloody Olympic Games are being held in London? Is Julian Assange SUCH A HUGE THREAT to the very security of the Olympic Games itself, never mind the whole of the UK?!

Patino continues by saying: "For that reason we are engaged in conversation with the Swedish and government and also with Great Britain before speaking to the United States."

What?! Since when is it necessary for a sovereign nation to be liaising with the United States of all countries in a matter taking place in the UK and with implications too with Sweden, when we all know that the Yanks are the very reason why Assange is so fearful for his life and took refuge in the Ecuador embassy in the first place...!
What the hell is going on with Ecuador? The CBS article does continue by stating that, "Ecuadorean officials are seeking assurances that Sweden and Britain would not allow Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported last week, citing unnamed officials at the country's London embassy."

Right...uh huh...as if the United States of all countries would ever give those types of assurances, never mind if they even stoop to do so...yeah, right!
I'll say it again: what the hell is going on with Ecuador? Why all this time? Why all these delays? Why all this kowtowing to the likes of the United States, to which Ecuador has supposedly thumbed its nose at so many times a la Hugo Chavez's Venezuela?

Was seeking asylum with Ecuador a bad idea for Julian Assange after all?

Does Ecuador in reality not measure up to its international bravado? What is Ecuador so scared of? Does Ecuador have another agenda? Is Julian now their pawn? One can only shudder at that thought.

I can only hope for the best, and indeed hope that Ecuador is just playing for time and playing all the right cards in diplomatic gamesmanship. I do hope that.

But I can't help believing that Assange would have possibly done better in rather seeking asylum with Venezuela. My mom certainly seems to believe that. She may have a point.

I somehow don't see Hugo Chavez having flip-flopped quite like this. Not with a golden opportunity like this to yet again flip the Imperialist States of America a big, fat middle finger.

I do hope Quito doesn't quit on Assange.

Where is Cuba at the height of Fidel Castro when you need it? Where indeed...

Do you get my point?

INSIGHT: Mrs Assange Pleads, Por Favor

In the ongoing saga that is Julian Assange holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, now it is the turn of his mother to be pleading his case to the Ecaudorian authorities...and in Quito itself. Christine Assange arrived in the Ecuadorian capital yesterday, knowing only too well that the very life of her beleagured son lies in the balance.



As quoted by CNN (itself one of the biggest instigators in the bought-out establishment media's character assassination of Assange, by the way):

"The mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will meet with Ecuadorian authorities [on] Monday to urge them to grant her son asylum. Christine Assange, who arrived in the capital city Quito on Saturday, told reporters she will appeal to Ecuador's stance on human rights during her meeting. Her son has been holed up inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since applying for political asylum on June 19. He is seeking to avoid being sent to Sweden over claims of rape and sexual molestation and said he fears if he is extradited there, Swedish authorities could hand him over to the United States."

She knows only too well what the rest of us also know only too well - Julian Assange simply CANNOT be extradited to Sweden.

According to the state-run El Ciudadano website, and as quoted by CNN, Christine Assange stated how, "Surely, the president and his staff will make the best decision."

One would think that, Ms. Assange, but as this saga enters its sixth week, I'm really not sure about that. It's simply taking too much time...

One can only hope that the pleas of a desperate mother will not fall on deaf ears in Quito.

It's what I am hoping for as this gut-wrenching, slow-churning saga enters its sixth week...

Do you get my point?

WHAT NEXT? Julian's Refuge - Ten Days and Counting

Julian Assange did the absolutely right thing on June 19th.

He entered the Embassy of the Republic of Ecuador in London and claimed asylum, on the grounds that he was being persecuted by the UK, Swedish and (potentially especially) United States governments. He requested political asylum as per under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ecuador granted temporary protection during and told the world that they are considering the request.



He had no other choice. And it was something that I had been hoping he would have the courage (and good advice by others) to do. Because if there is one man in the public spotlight who is being hounded and having his rights raped and usurped like no other on this planet, it is Julian Assange.

And we all know that the Americans are just itching to get their grubby, fat hands on him so that they can charge him with spurious charges of 'high treason,' or some other legal claptrap that only a militarized state could conjure up, potentially consigning him to life imprisonment, or, worse, the death penalty.

His very life depended on him walking into that Embassy, and never being extradicted to Sweden (known lapdogs to the Yanks) if he can help it. You can count on that. 

Ten days have passed. It seems an awful long time for the Ecuadorian government to be considering his application. We all know that Ecuador, and especially their incredibly smart and charismatic president, Rafael Correa, would love to grant asylum to this most whistleblower of note.



But the political and economic ramifications for a still-developing and small South American country like Ecuador must be crushing. Much as they may hate the strong-arm tactics and imperialist protestations of the United States, Ecuador must remain ever mindful of the sheer power of the world's biggest bully, never mind its biggest hypocrite.

Why not Venezuela? Surely a man like Hugo Chavez would do his nut to further grind American faces into his socialist groin by welcoming a man like Assange to Caracas with open arms? What a glorious middle finger that would be to los gringos up north. One would think so. Perhaps that is exactly what Correa is trying to achieve in these days that seem to drag on and on - a handover somehow to Venezuela, which doesn't even have an extradiction treaty with the US. One can continue to hope so, certainly.

Where is a healthy, cigar-smoking Fidel Castro when you need him?

And so Day Ten of his asylum in that London embassy almost comes to a close. And those os us who respect and honour and need this man wait with baited breath.

We wait for the very best outcome for him...and for us.

RAVE: A David Called Maria

A diminutive Quechua lady in a remote part of Ecuador has become the David in a mammoth struggle between her community and the Goliath that is Chevron, in what has become one of the biggest environmental stories in recent years.

Maria Aguinda has no legal background and doesn't even speak the official language of her country, Spanish. But what she has been is at the forefront of a momentous class action suit by her community in Orellana province against Chevron for the years of environmental pollution and devastation to the surrounding rain forest by big oil polluter, Texaco, which was bought out by Chevron in 2001.

The case is known as Aguinda vs Chevron. A poor indigenous woman in a remote part of a poor South American country takes on one of the biggest, richest multinationals in the world, Big Oil itself. This is about as David-versus-Goliath as it gets.

Texaco operated in the area between 1964 and 1990 and created an environmental holocaust with its lax and sub-standard oil drilling techniques. Billions of gallons of crude oil were dumped into the rainforest and surrounding areas. Marshes are clogged with oil, rivers are dead, local fisheries have all but died out, and local communities have suffered huge rates of cancer and other health ailments.

Says Maria Aguinda, "When Texaco came we never thought they would leave behind such damage, never. Then it began to drill a well and set up burn pits." "It changed our life: hunting, fishing, and other food, it's all finished."

Last week an Ecuadorian court slapped Chevron with a fine of $9.5-billion, one of the largest ever awarded in an environmental lawsuit anywhere in the world.

Even so, Maria's community claims that at least $27-billion or more will be needed to allow for proper restitution from the resulting and devastating environmental and health impacts from the crude oil pollution.

Disappointed in the outcome she may be, and the environmental devastation in her area may continue, but Maria Aguinda has nevertheless accomplished that which so few of us would even dare to dream of doing. She is the epitome of believing in one's cause, for fighting for what is right, however long that may take, for not allowing the powers that be to get away with what is nothing less than murder.

The words of Mark Twain seem very apt here:

                                 

                             It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare. 

 Thank goodness then for Maria Aguinda.