In an update to an item that I discussed two months ago [see blog of Friday, June 22], it now transpires that the Ecuadoreans have granted asylum to WikiLeaks head honcho Julian Assange. The man perpetually on the run has now found a new home, even if he remains effectively under house arrest in the embassy of Ecuador in London. He is stuck there in his chic Knightsbridge digs because effectively the UK authorities have refused to let him fly to South America, due to an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Sweden.
As much as this news appears to have little or nothing to do with my last blog on the ending of the London Olympics, there is one aspect that I raised in that blog which unfortunately raises its head mere days after the closing ceremony. I am referring to the great sense of unity, collective sense of purpose and "togetherness" that such event provide, and my concern over how long it would take for that to be pushed aside, and we would get back to the business of fighting with each other again. It took a lot less time than even I had pessimistically predicted!
Ergo, it now seems that friendly, loving old London has been switched back to its more typically British self if their response to Assange being granted asylum is any barometer of the stiff upper lip with which they are associated. The British government has issued a diplomatic comminique, referred to as an aide memoire, de facto stating that if Ecuador granted asylum to Assange then they could exert their right to enter the embassy to apprehend him. This communication was read out by Ecuador's foreign affairs minister, Ricardo Patino, who stated that he felt that it was a "direct' threat" from the UK, and clarified that Ecuador is not a colony of the great empire, and that in fact, "the days of the colony are over." Britain suggested that they could effectively revoke the embassy's status thus allowing them access to grab the interloper.
The reaction to the British "letter of intent" has been swift, with even some experts in diplomacy somewhat perturbed by the concept, leaving them wondering what the British really mean to do, and whether they intend to totally ignore the rights of a foreign embassy standing on UK soil. I am not sure what the precedents are, but frankly, if a foreign embassy is not a refuge for citizens (or those granted asylum) abroad, and it has no capacity to prevent the host nation from entering it at will, then what's the point? They may as well go ahead and close the embassy, making sure to kick the British out of Ecuador at the same time! If Assange was an axe murderer or someone who had stolen millions of pounds from a British bank, I might get the point a little better, but come on! He's the founder of an anti-secrecy "cult" who released some classified information, just like the Obama government does on a regular basis. Oh I see, if a government surreptitiously releases classified information, to suit its own ends, then that kind of leaking is sanctioned, but if Mr. Assange does it, then it's potentially a crime? Uh-huh. Only time will tell what the gravity of the Swedish charges is likely to be, if he ever does go back to face them.
Ironically, in a mood reminiscent of the Olympic spirit, this threat by the UK has actually garnered support for the decision to grant Assange asylum in Ecuador, and the citizens seem to be rallying around President Rafael Correa. An even newer sense of national pride has arisen in Ecuador, in reponse to being threatened by a relative superpower such as the UK, and increased solidarity with the Ecuadorean state has been the result.
Correa himself wrote that "Nobody is going to intimidate us!" on Twitter.
Once again, Julian Assange has done what he does best: polarizing people, and whole nations; all the while with the hot topic being none other than, you guessed it, Julian Assange!
It's quite ironic that by losing their Olympic spirit, immediately, and returning to their old colonial ways, the British suddenly rekindled the flame of being Ecuadorean. But then again, as I said in that last blog, nothing unites a nation as strongly as international competitive sport, or war. Let's hope that this affair remains a storm in a teacup, or at worst becomes a war of words, and only words. No one needs another ridiculous Falkland's War-like fiasco. - Kevin Mc
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