Ecuador's president orders U.S. official to leave

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Ecuador's president orders U.S. official to leave
Sat Feb 7, 2009 2:59pm EST
By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa ordered a U.S. Embassy official to leave on Saturday after accusing him of meddling in local police projects, a move likely to fray ties with Washington.

Correa, a popular leftist, has generally kept good relations with the United States since he took office in 2007, but his socialist allies in Bolivia and Venezuela have often clashed with Washington over U.S. policies in Latin America.

"Foreign minister, give this gentleman 48 hours to pack up his suitcases and get out of the country," Correa said during his weekly media address. "We're not going to let anyone treat us as if we were a colony here."

The U.S. State Department was aware of the announcement and was checking into it, spokesman Fred Lash said.

Correa said U.S. official Armando Astorga had abruptly ended a financing deal with local police after authorities refused to abide by his terms in selecting officers in charge of the aid projects.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN07487505

[EFerrari]

1. I don't think I understand what happened. What was Astorga trying to buy?

[scarletwoman]

2. I haven't read the article, but my first guess is that it's "Drug War" related. (nt)

[EFerrari]

8. It does seem to be that. Good guess.

The US flunky was trying to call the shots in some drug deterrence program.

Correa doesn't need the local police to be on our payroll, does he?

[Judi Lynn]

13. That's a slap in the face to Correa, no doubt about it. Typical right-wing foreign policy.

He's got every right to be hopping mad.

[scarletwoman]

16. It's not particularly "right-wing" it's standard Bipartisan Foreign Policy Establishment Imperialism

Do you honestly think any of this shit changes just because there's a Dem president?

Ask the East Timorese how much it changed under Carter.

sw

[EFerrari]

18. Or, Obama -- CF Dennis Blair. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

19. Carter did make some critically important adjustments in Latin American policy after he got the hang

of things, although it appeared to take him a while. He cut funding to Guatemala, and that monster Rios-Montt, friend of Ronald Reagan, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell:

In the 1970s, international publicity revealed the pattern of torture and killing, and public reports exposed the Guatemalan Army as the most repressive in Latin America. This series of events resulted in a change in human rights sentiment in the US. In 1977, US President Jimmy Carter cut off overt military aid. However, money and arms still got to there -- through the CIA. When President Lucas Garcia began his fearsome regime in 1978, and set out to eliminate all the new popular leaders by either murdering or coopting them, and when death squads roamed the land and murdered at will, the CIA was there to help.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/US_ThirdWorld/US_Guat.html

I'm embarrassed to admit I completely was unaware of the East Timor actions until much later. That just didn't go well.

[scarletwoman]

21. The thing is, there are bigger powers at work behind the scenes, no matter who is president.

I think JFK was assassinated because he was trying to begin the process of rooting these powers out.

Every president after him has had to proceed very carefully -- if they cared at all, which most certainly wouldn't be the case with our Republican presidents.

It is the Owner Class that is the biggest enemy of the people of the world. And they work their will through U.S. foreign policy, because the U.S. government is controlled by the Owners.

sw

[Judi Lynn]

23. Yep. It's the bitter truth. By the way, did you know Kennedy was engaged in dialogue with Castro?

You might want to keep an eye out for a documentary which keeps getting cycled on the Discovery Channel. It just ran again last week, reruns regularly:

Kennedy Sought Dialogue with Cuba

INITIATIVE WITH CASTRO ABORTED BY ASSASSINATION,
DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS SHOW

Oval Office Tape Reveals Strategy to hold clandestine Meeting in Havana; Documents record role of ABC News correspondent Lisa Howard as secret intermediary in Rapprochement effort

Posted - November 24, 2003
Washington D.C. - On the 40th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the eve of the broadcast of a new documentary film on Kennedy and Castro, the National Security Archive today posted an audio tape of the President and his national security advisor, McGeorge Bundy, discussing the possibility of a secret meeting in Havana with Castro. The tape, dated only seventeen days before Kennedy was shot in Dallas, records a briefing from Bundy on Castro's invitation to a U.S. official at the United Nations, William Attwood, to come to Havana for secret talks on improving relations with Washington. The tape captures President Kennedy's approval if official U.S. involvement could be plausibly denied.

The possibility of a meeting in Havana evolved from a shift in the President's thinking on the possibility of what declassified White House records called "an accommodation with Castro" in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Proposals from Bundy's office in the spring of 1963 called for pursuing "the sweet approach…enticing Castro over to us," as a potentially more successful policy than CIA covert efforts to overthrow his regime. Top Secret White House memos record Kennedy's position that "we should start thinking along more flexible lines" and that "the president, himself, is very interested in ." Castro, too, appeared interested. In a May 1963 ABC News special on Cuba, Castro told correspondent Lisa Howard that he considered a rapprochement with Washington "possible if the United States government wishes it. In that case," he said, "we would be agreed to seek and find a basis" for improved relations.

The untold story of the Kennedy-Castro effort to seek an accommodation is the subject of a new documentary film, KENNEDY AND CASTRO: THE SECRET HISTORY, broadcast on the Discovery/Times cable channel on November 25 at 8pm. The documentary film, which focuses on Ms. Howard's role as a secret intermediary in the effort toward dialogue, was based on an article -- "JFK and Castro: The Secret Quest for Accommodation" -- written by Archive Senior Analyst Peter Kornbluh in the magazine, Cigar Aficionado. Kornbluh served as consulting producer and provided key declassified documents that are highlighted in the film. "The documents show that JFK clearly wanted to change the framework of hostile U.S. relations with Cuba," according to Kornbluh. "His assassination, at the very moment this initiative was coming to fruition, leaves a major 'what if' in the ensuing history of the U.S. conflict with Cuba."

More:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB103/index.htm

[scarletwoman]

26. Don't have cable, but I did know about that. It just reinforces the truth about who's in control nt

[scarletwoman]

14. Easy guess, actually. The U.S. has a set repertoire in Latin America: Drug War, Resouce Control,

and/or Coups Against Leftist Governments.

sw

[EFerrari]

17. There has been a shift to try to manage these intrusions via the media

though, so it's surprising that this kind of old style naked attempt to manipulate was done in this way.

[scarletwoman]

22. It was done in this way because the powers behind it hold Latin America in utter contempt.

They think of themselves as oh so very clever, and they sincerely believe that they are superior to those whom they seek to manipulate. It would never occur to them that Latin Americans would have the intellectual wherewithal to comprehend that they are being scammed.

sw

(edited for spelling error)

[No Elephants]

33. My first reaction was "Why go to the media? Go through the usual channels. But

maybe they have made repeated complaints and requests through channels and have been ignored. Whether or not that is true, maybe they want the world, including the American voter, to know what is going on in their countries.

It's hard to tell from just this story because the story specifies this guy has a bad temper. On the other hand, the story also mentions similar trouble with Venezuela and Bolivia, as well as Ecuador, so it seems way beyond one man's temper.

[EFerrari]

41. They always try to smear the guys that fight back.

There is no evidence that Correa has a bad temper -- or, maybe he only has fits of bad temper when dealing with American diplomats that are f#cking around with his government. :)

[No Elephants]

57. Come to think of it, any time there's a problem anywhere in this hemisphere, we hear

that the Latin leader has a bad temper--and/or is "erratic" or "eccentric" and things like that.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Here's an article in Spanish I just ran through google translation:

Correa gives 48 hours of a U.S. embassy official to leave Ecuador

President was outraged by a letter from Armando Astorga on the abolition of money to the police.

by EFE | 07/02/2009 - 16:30

The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, took 48 hours for an aggregate of U.S. Embassy leave the country after an official sent a letter to the General Command of the local police, which was described as "insolent"

"Lord Chancellor of the Republic (Fando Falconí), listen to me, gives 48 hours a gentleman Armando Astorga to take your bags and throughout this country. We are not going to accept that no one treats us as a colony," said Correa in weekly report of their work.

The president read a letter sent to the Police Command by Armando Astorga, who, as head of state, "adding he was the U.S. Embassy," but did not specify what unit.

In that letter, according to Correa, Astorga reportedly have decided to terminate "the understanding of logistical and operational support provided to the unit's operations center of the Anti National Intelligence of the National Police."

According to the Head of State, in the center, USA andalusia andalusia qualified staff and commander of the unit, which gave the order to "finish" with the situation.

For Correa, the letter of Astorga and other economic reprisals in this area respond to the decision taken by his government to end the rating on U.S. law enforcement personnel.

The letter of January 8 and made public today by Correa, Astorga reported that since January 9 2009 "are suspended $ 340,000 annual operational and logistical support" for that unit of the Police.

"Mr. Astorga, keep your dirty money, we do not need, here is the sovereignty and dignity, keep your $ 340,000, silly, rude," Correa said, adding that is returned "to the final draft" released by the United States for that dependence, because, he said, "Ecuador does not need charity from anyone."

The president noted that next Monday will be delivered to Astorga a letter to confirm that it is not required of $ 340,000 or $ 160,000 annual U.S. was to provide logistical and operational support for the national unit to combat trafficking in persons.

http://www.latercera.com/contenido/678_99798_9.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And, another one:

The president of Ecuador expels an aggregate of U.S. Embassy
20:04

The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, today gave a deadline of 48 hours for an aggregate of U.S. embassy outside the country, having qualified as "insolent" an official letter addressed to the General Command of the local police.

EFE In this letter, the diplomat reported that the U.S. was ended by "logistical and operational support to the Ecuadorian police, apparently in response to Correa's refusal to the United States qualified to Ecuadorian officials.

In its weekly report, said that Correa ordered the Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Falconi Fando, which "gives you 48 hours a gentleman Armando Astorga to take your bags and throughout this country. We are not going to accept that no one treats us as a colony. "

The president read a letter sent to the Police Command by Armando Astorga, who said that acting "as added by the U.S. embassy," but did not specify what unit.

In this missive Astorga reported that the U.S. was completed by "the understanding of logistical and operational support provided to the unit's operations center anticotrabando from the National Intelligence of the National Police of Ecuador.

For Correa, the letter of Astorga and other economic reprisals in this area, responding to its decision to end the rating on the U.S. police in Ecuador.

In the letter dated January 8, Astorga reported that since January 9 2009 "are suspended $ 340,000 annual operational and logistical support" for this unit of the Police.

"Mr. Astorga, keep your dirty money, we do not need, here is the sovereignty and dignity, keep your $ 340,000, silly, rude," said Correa in emphatic tone is returned to add that "until the last draft" released by State United for this unit because "Ecuador does not need charity from anyone."

The president said that next Monday will be delivered to Astorga a letter to confirm that it is not required of $ 340,000 or $ 160,000 per year that the U.S. would provide logistical and operational support for the national unity.

Correa said that the letter, Ecuador proposes giving a donation to U.S. $ 160,000 per year for a project to prevent torture in the United States because it is being tortured in prisons such as Guantanamo. "

"These gentlemen do not know who they are trying," he added to ensure that recently the U.S. Embassy, Heather Hodges, asked him to exit after this year's U.S. operations center of the Manta base (west) are allowed U.S. Coast Guard aircraft landing control drugs in Ecuadorian soil.

Correa said today that discussed the issue and said that it accepts the landing of aircraft, but with one condition: "That we have to qualify for the pilots of these aircraft to us not getting any offender in our country."

"We qualified pilots or not, I did not land any American plane," said Correa in ratifying the charter is Astorga "extremely serious".

He said this is a "spoiled and shameless intervention by an official at the U.S. Embassy in affairs of our country."

"This poor man does not have understood that Government is already here and we are not a U.S. colony, but in a dignified and sovereign country," stressed andalusia hoped that "in 48 hours this man is out of the country."

A source from the U.S. Embassy told Efe that this is an official Astorga legation, but did not specify what took charge and simply note that this is a "diplomat."

http://www.farodevigo.es/secciones/noticia.jsp?pRef=2009020700_7_295195__Mundo-presidente-Ecuador-expulsa-agregado-Embajada-EEUU

[mitchtv]

6. how many posts before it becomes

Chavez' fault?:popcorn:

[Judi Lynn]

9. Truly! It's just a matter of time. Chavez actually told Correa to do this.

Thank god there are wildly fascist right-wing media controlling news in both countries who will interpret the meaning of it all for us in due time.

It seems he was spotted heading toward Ecuador in his red VW. There are witnesses:

http://redstandard.org.nyud.net:8090/reasoninrevolt/chavez_beetle.jpg

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com.nyud.net:8090/files/images/people/chavez_correa_copia.jpg

[Judi Lynn]

37. Ah, ha ha ha ha. They've already started. Just found an article trying to lead readers to that

conclusion. So damned typical. We're all "on to 'em," by now!

Ecuador’s president orders U.S. official expelled

By Alexandra Valencia, ReutersFebruary 7, 2009

~snip~
Correa, a U.S.-trained economist who faces reelection in April, has bolstered his strong popularity in the past by taking a tough stance against what he deems to be interference from neighboring governments or multinational companies.

There has been tension with Washington since Correa vowed not to renew a lease ending this year on a coastal air base used by U.S. forces for counternarcotics missions.

Correa said on Saturday he would allow U.S. Coast Guard planes to land there if needed, but only if Ecuador was allowed to approve of the pilots.

The former college professor is known for his quick temper, ejecting a journalist from a live interview and ordering the arrest of people he charged had hurled insults or made offensive gestures at his presidential motorcade.

Correa has been tough on foreign companies by repeatedly threatening to expel them over contractual disagreements or legal disputes. Last year, he kicked out Brazilian building firm Odebrecht and sent troops to seize its projects in Ecuador.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a standard-bearer for anti-U.S. sentiment, last year expelled the U.S. ambassador to Caracas and Bolivian President Evo Morales kicked out the U.S. envoy in September after accusing him of fanning civil unrest.

http://www.vancouversun.com/Business/Ecuador+president+orders+official+expelled/1265578/story.html

~~~~~~~~~~
Thank god for the brave journalists of the Flying Propaganda Brigade. They are right there to handle this. Blessed be.
Fortunately, they're right there to paint him as a lunatic, as they do with every leftist President.

http://images.dcheetah.com.nyud.net:8090/

[EFerrari]

10. It looks like he was trying to buy the position of the head of the smuggling unit

so he could put a ringer in there. That's pretty crude.

[Bacchus39]

20. sounds more like: we'll take your money but don't tell us what to do with it n/t

s

[scarletwoman]

24. Really? Please share your insight.

[Bacchus39]

25. well, there is this from OP

Correa said U.S. official Armando Astorga had abruptly ended a financing deal with local police after authorities refused to abide by his terms in selecting officers in charge of the aid projects.

[scarletwoman]

27. I don't see where it says that Correa still wanted the money. Try again.

[Judi Lynn]

28. A President who informs the US that he wants them out of the Manta Air Base is not a president who's

angling for any way to shake the US down for some spare change.

Odd how some people interpret things which are absolutely clear to everyone else, isn't it?

[scarletwoman]

31. "Odd how some people interpret things which are absolutely clear to everyone else, isn't it?"

I suppose it's not "odd" if one is determined to remain ignorant of the truth. :)

sw

[Bacchus39]

29. the money was withdrawn by the US agent. that is when he was expelled. n/t

l

[scarletwoman]

32. How does that prove your point ? (nt)

[tama]

43. Yeah

IMF is so charming. But you, of course, are fine with taking money from your paymaster and doing what your paymaster tells you to do with your money.

Even whores don't accept such slavery. They take your money and do what they like with it. You sound like a total slave.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa expels US official Armando Astorga |

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa expels US official Armando Astorga
From correspondents in Quito | February 08, 2009
Article from: Agence France-Presse

ECUADOR'S President Rafael Correa has ordered the expulsion of a US official from the country, accusing him of treating the country like a colony.

Speaking on his weekly radio and television program, Mr Correa alleged the US official sought to link economic aid to allowing Washington to choose the head of the government's unit that counters smuggling.

Mr Correa ordered Ecuador's foreign minister to give the official, identified as Armando Astorga, 48 hours "to grab his suitcase and get out of the country! We are not going to accept anyone treating us like a colony".

Mr Correa read a letter he said was from Mr Astorga announcing the end of US aid for the anti-contraband unit.

"Mr Astorga, keep your dirty money, we don't need it. Here we have sovereignty and dignity. Keep your 340,000 dollars! Insolent fool!"

More:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25024020-12377,00.html

[earcandle]

5. Glad some countries can see the light at the end of our tunnel vision.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Bush's Latin American policy was so crude it was hard for them to miss, apparently.

They tried to send him a message all over Latin America when he made his pathetic Latin American tour a year ago or more, and the people rioted in the streets from Guatemala to Brazil and Argentina.

http://duniatopaketa.files.wordpress.com.nyud.net:8090/2007/03/fuera-bush.jpg http://mw2.google.com.nyud.net:8090/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/652665.jpg http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/media/images/42668000/jpg/_42668513_070312_bush.416b.jpg http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/media/images/42668000/jpg/_42668511_070312_bush.416b6.jpg http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/media/images/42668000/jpg/_42668521_070312_bush.416b5.jpg http://www.losblogueros.net.nyud.net:8090/mt-weblog/fotos/fuera%20bush.jpg

http://www.all4all.org.nyud.net:8090/images/2007/03/3006.jpg

http://www.cebraspo.com.br.nyud.net:8090/Boletins/64/f04sp4.jpg

http://www.nadir.org.nyud.net:8090/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/colombia/txt/2007/0311fuera_bush.jpeg

Endless supply of these photos!

[Peace Patriot]

7. Sounds like a Bushwhack appointee who was given instructions to be an asshole,

in order to make it ever harder for Obama to make peace in South America.

What a stupid thing for him to do--try to appoint the head of an Ecuadoran agency! Diplomats make mistakes like that on purpose, rarely by inadvertence or thoughtlessness. They are trained not to make mistakes like that (--although Bushwhacks are such a crude lot, who knows?).

I could be wrong. Astorga could be a Clinton asshole--but I don't think she's had time to make diplomatic appointments. At least, if it was Clinton, we could be sure it wasn't inadvertent. (She's not stupid.)

Why do you suppose the U.S. wants their boy (or gal) controlling illicit trade in Ecuador? (--if Astorga really expected to succeed with this ploy). Interesting question.

One final thought: Correa had trouble with CIA plants in Ecuador's military, which emerged during the U.S./Colombia bombing/raid on Ecuador's territory last year (which almost started a war). I remember reading there was an investigation and CIA moles were ferreted out and removed from military service. Correa has these and other reasons to be extremely wary of the U.S. Enter Astorga--trying to push an Ecuadoran agency around and appoint its head. Deliberate provocation? Sure seems so.

[EFerrari]

11. Astorga was trying to insert a plant. What an idiot.

:shrug:

[Judi Lynn]

12. You're so right: he found them very quickly after Uribe invaded Ecuador last year.

It didn't take him long at all to locate the insiders and remove them.

_Bush pursued a pattern from the first in meddling in Latin American governments. All those who are trying to carry on his underhanded, dirty, disrespectful machinations SHOULD be sent home as soon as they can manage it.

Maybe this event will trigger an even earlier departure from Manta Air Base. They're not wanted there.

[bluesmail]

30. "Foreign Minister, give this man 48 hours to pack his suitcases and get out of the

country." I hope this is just the beginning of a planet revolution. (Dislike the word global and am not going to apologize).

[Judi Lynn]

34. Wouldn't come a moment too soon, either! n/t

[The abyss]

35. Judi

You keep the good fight!

Thank you!

[Judi Lynn]

36. It's wonderful you've joined us, The abyss. It's exceptionally good there are some people here

who know a lot about Latin America, who are acquainted with its history, and where it wants to go. I'm with the people who are just starting to find out what I would have wanted to know so long ago, had it not been hidden from us. Once you find out more and more, you realize there's not much there to be proud about, and that's probably the reason it's all been covered up, kept quiet, even lied about for so long.

Hope the time has come they realize the BEST policy is one which is good for BOTH sides, not one exacted at the great expense of the more helpless, defenseless, less powerful.

You've only posted a very short time, but you've made your presence known from the first. So glad you're here. :hi:

[The abyss]

39. “points south”

I feel that you, and many others, have captured the essence of what is and still stands as US doctrine.

Smedley Butler probably put it together better than anyone else did. How many decades ago?

Please keep up the fight.

At this time, in this place, it is all about knowledge!

[totodeinhere]

38. We are probably going to see much more of this sort of thing because...

it will take months to purge all of the mid to low level Bush appointees.

[EFerrari]

49. Agreed. The clear out will take a while. n/t

[Zorro]

40. Correa does Ecuador no favors by his pubic display of hotheadedness

It is not surprising that a US official offering financial support for aid projects would be interested in selecting who should administer them, given Ecuador's notoriously corrupt government institutions. I presume Correa may have felt insulted that his government could not be trusted to select administrators that wouldn't siphon off the funds for personal or other uses.

Correa could have graciously refused to accept the terms to receive the aid, but instead appears to want to manufacture a confrontation. If he wishes to brand the Obama administration as an adversary, then he will be making more trouble for himself in the long run.

[EFerrari]

42. LOL

[Zorro]

46. Looks as if my observations were close to the mark

<snip>

If President Barack Obama and his counterparts in the western hemisphere are serious about improving the dysfunctional dance known as U.S.-Latin American relations, they need only look at what transpired in Ecuador this weekend. President Rafael Correa rather petulantly expelled a U.S. diplomat on Saturday. He did so because the diplomat rather high-handedly sent Correa's national police commander a letter saying the U.S. was pulling $340,000 in aid to Ecuador's anti-drug cops, because Correa decided last year not to let Washington have a veto over who runs that force and even who works for it.

It was the latest showcase of how the Americas in the 21st century are as hopelessly mired in a toxic mix of U.S. insensitivity and Latin hypersensitivity as they were in the 20th. On the one hand, it was indicative of Washington's inability or refusal to realize that Latin Americans aren't as obsessed with the drug war as los yanquis are — and that they tend to feel humiliated by imperious U.S. conditions like those set on aid for Ecuador's drug police. Correa's chief complaint against the U.S. diplomat, Homeland Security attache Armando Astorga, was "the insolence to pretend that Ecuador is a colony of the U.S." (Neither the U.S. embassy in Quito nor the State Department would comment.)

On the other hand, it demonstrates how impulsively many Latin American governments, especially those like Ecuador that are part of the region's resurgent left, confuse national sovereignty with their own idea that foreign aid should be provided gratis and without political strings. Because Latin military and security forces have an unfortunate history of sliding into drug lords' pockets — a former Ecuadorean deputy interior minister under Correa was recently charged with drug trafficking — it's not all that outrageous that the U.S. ask to have some input in exchange for aid (or "logistical support," per Astorga)...

<snip>

More at: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1878037,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

[EFerrari]

47. Hilarous. Correa told them where to put their money

and he was very clear about it.

[ConcernedCanuk]

44. Bull Pucky - it's time for nations to express their anger at the USA - stop kissing it's ass . .

.
.
.

And President Obama should get right on this . . .

USA's relation with the World is deteriorating.

With it's belligerent attitude,

What would the USA be without all it's weapons . . .

hmmmm?

[Zorro]

45. When your country's currency is the US dollar

It is prudent to behave diplomatically.

Correa is also demonstrating imprudent behavior to the greater international community, including the Spanish, Brazilians, and Chinese.

Being a hothead is not going to win him any allies.

[EFerrari]

48. Only you could describe a leader asserting the sovereignty of his country

as hotheadedness.

Good for Correa.

[Zorro]

50. Petulance is no substitute for diplomacy

And Correa is not helping Ecuador by manufacturing a confrontation with the US.

[EFerrari]

51. Cool. Two false premises in 30 words. n/t

[Zorro]

52. Remaining willfully blind to the obvious

seems to be a trait you embrace with great relish.

[EFerrari]

53. Recognizing groundless assertion after assertion is a skill I have.

And it must be exhausting to be so consistently wrong.

[Zorro]

54. Actually, promoting groundless assertions seems to be your obsession

Many examples abound even within this thread:

"The US flunky was trying to call the shots in some drug deterrence program..."

"There has been a shift to try to manage these intrusions via the media..."

"There is no evidence that Correa has a bad temper -- or, maybe he only has fits of bad temper when dealing with American diplomats that are f#cking around with his government..."

"It looks like he was trying to buy the position of the head of the smuggling unit so he could put a ringer in there..."

"Astorga was trying to insert a plant..."

Seems that "recognizing groundless assertion after assertion..." is actually a skill you lack, since you (and the rest of the DU Sandalista crowd) can be counted on to eagerly assert whatever groundless claims can be imagined -- so long as they can be spun to promote an anti-US agenda.

[Blue_Tires]

55. ttt

[rabs]

56. Astorga bugged out

Article (in Spanish) today in El Comercio newspaper of Quito says Astorga left Ecuador last month, according to U.S. Embassy press attache. Suspect that Astorga got the word that he was in hot water and bugged out before he could be expelled.


Quito, EFE

El agregado de la embajada estadounidense Armando Astorga, cuya expulsión ordenó ayer el presidente de Ecuador, Rafael Correa, salió del país en enero pasado, indicó a Efe una fuente de esa legación diplomática en Quito.

Astorga, agregado del departamento de Temas de Migración, Aduana y Trata de Personas, dejó Ecuador a principios de enero como parte de "una rotación normal" de personal, dijo Marta Youth, jefa de prensa de la embajada.

Correa dio hoy un plazo de 48 horas para que Astorga salga del país, tras calificar de "insolente" una carta que este dirigió a la Comandancia General de la Policía local.

(Translation mine)

U.S. attache Armando Astorga, whose expulsion was ordered by President Rafael Correa, left the country in January, a source from that diplomatic mission in Quito indictated to Efe.

Astorga ... left Ecuador as part of a "normal rotation" of personnel, said embassy press chief Marta Youth.

Correa today gave a period of 48 hours for Astorga to leave the county ...


http://www.elcomercio.com/noticiaEC.asp?id_noticia=255718&id_seccion=3