U.S. Trade Benefits for Ecuador Seen at Risk in Assange Case
U.S. Trade Benefits for Ecuador Seen at Risk in Assange Case
Speaking with Reuters, AS/COA’s Eric Farnsworth comments on how president Correa’s decision to offer Assange asylum could impair U.S. trade benefits to Ecuador.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An possible decision this week by Ecuador to grant political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would put long-time U.S. trade benefits for the Andean country at risk, U.S. business leaders and analysts said.
"It's not a move destined to win many new friends in Washington," said Eric Farnsworth, vice president at the Council of Americas, a group representing U.S. companies that do business in the Western Hemisphere.
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said on Monday he hoped to announce his decision on Assange's asylum request by the end of the week.
Assange has been taking refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since June 19 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on sex crime allegations.
The former computer hacker, whose WikiLeaks website published thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables in 2010, says he fears he could be sent to the United States, where he believes his life would be at risk.
Chevron Corp. and many U.S. business groups are already urging the White House to suspend Ecuador's trade benefits under the Andean Trade Preferences Act, which dates back to the early 1990s....
Please click here to read the full article.
