Ecuador has received asylum request from NSA leaker Snowden

[codex]

Snowden's choice of helper countries is a national security risk to the United States. Here you have someone in possession of (still undisclosed) state secrets from his work at the NSA, and who needs help from a foreign government. That's the very definition of compromised. What is he going to trade for protection? More classified information, of course--possibly much more sensitive information than the existence of programs like PRISM, which foreign spy agencies have likely known about for years. He has national security information, foreign governments want it, and they eventually will get it. This intel will eventually flow to China and/or Russia, where it will remain secret and used against the United States.

[lmm]

As others have said, the US placed him in that position themselves. Why should he owe any loyalty to a country and a government that wants to detain and perhaps torture or even execute him?

Loyalty to humanity as a whole should (and seemingly has, in his case) override more parochial considerations. The "national security" of the US nation is far less important than the individual humans who live in it, and Snowden has done the latter a great service.

[blhack]

This is a very jingoistic mentality.

Perhaps Ecuador cares about human rights?

[kinghajj]

The key difference in this case is that the information is flowing not directly to the foreign governments themselves, as in past cases, but rather to independent journalist organizations, so that the information can be known to everyone, both world governments and their citizens, equally.

[Ultron]

Snowden has awakened the whole world to the surveillance leviathan that is the US. The US have been the one world government for awhile now, it's just that most people (and countries) refused to see it until now.

The C&D to the Bitcoins Foundation is no surprise either. It's in the cross hairs of the US government and it can't be allowed to exist. Read the book Cypherpunks and you'll find out why. I'm sure those in power know the book well.

[throwawayyyz]

Bad idea. I personally know a guy who was illegally kidnapped by the US government from Ecuador with the assistance of local police. Snowden will regret this decision.

[werid]

Mossad kidnapped Vanunu from Italy. With or without local help, you can be kidnapped anywhere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordechai_Vanunu

[kinghajj]

I'm not trusting any "sources" that claim to know his final destination, as various ones have claimed Venezuela, Norway, and now Ecuador. I guess we'll have to wait a couple days to know what'll really happen.

[lhnz]

Can you give us more information? This sounds like bullshit.

[pvnick]

I'd like to see them try, considering the high-profile nature of this specific case. It would severely harm their position diplomatically.

[1337biz]

Just wondering: What would be the appeals process if he were actually kidnapped by the US government in a foreign country. Is there some court by the United Nations that is mediating such cases even if there is an extreme power imbalance between both nations?

[lawnchair_larry]

Sounds exactly like what Sweden did to Gottfrid Svartholm Warg in Cambodia a few months ago.

[ngoel36]

One would think that he would have planned this shit out...

[sudhirj]

http://wikileaks.org/WikiLeaks-Statement-On-Edward,253.html?...

The Wikileaks statement has been updated to confirm this.

[nodata]

This is all one hell of a distraction from what the government did.

[jakejake]

Yea it's a pretty classic debate technique - http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-propaganda.html#divert

It's also a great time for lawmakers to pass unrelated, controversial legislation while everyone's attention is elsewhere.

[sho_hn]

First Assange and now Snowden. One wonders when Ecuador's capacity to act in this role would run out.

[cdash]

Why should it run out?

[return0]

It doesn't necessarily mean that he has to go to Ecuador, he can stay in the Ecuadorian Embassy in Moscow (if there is one). But, can he? He doesn't have a visa to exit the airport.

[sold]

Reports say he used diplomatic cars [1] to avoid visa requirement.

[1] https://twitter.com/NewsBreaker/status/348800297700835328

[dubfan]

Ecuador does indeed have an embassy in Moscow.

http://embajada-ecuador.ru/ecuador/

[Havoc]

Damn - all these places seem to be leaking info like a sieve.

[ChuckMcM]

What does Ecuador get out of offering him asylum? I could get Russia or China but don't see the appeal of Ecuador.

[eli]

Ecuador's President was very close to Hugo Chavez and his open hostility towards US influence in South America helped him consolidate power.

It is politically beneficial for him to embarrass the US government and make them appear weak.

[moo]

News you can trust, with desk reporter Julian Assange, field reporter Edward Snowden. Today we give an update on John McCain's trip to Syria, with video of McCain's night feeding on human organs with his best buddy, opposition leader Khalid Al-Hamad.

Yeah, I'm liking the new media.

[jlgreco]

So to be clear, your hypothesis is that he is still in Hong Kong?

[namank]

Exactly!

But it's important to post for it to serve the purpose.

[throwaway10001]

I hope he has plan B, or starts planning it. Ecuador is a tiny country and can easily be influenced by USA once this government falls. In smaller countries when USA needs a favor, it "forgets" a few things their leader does when it comes to human rights, elections and so on.