The Miami Herald on Ecuador entering the WikiLeaks fray, from Aug. 27, 2012:
The grant of extradition to WikiLeaks founder and alleged sex-crime perpetrator Julian Assange by Ecuador is the most bewildering twist yet in this long, bizarre saga. Up to now, the government of Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa was better known for stifling freedom of the press at home than for championing the free flow of information. If ever there was an odd coupling of convenience, this is certainly it.
There's no mystery over why Assange, a 41-year-old Australian, should choose to go on the run, defy his bail conditions in Britain and seek asylum in any country willing to stick its neck out for him - any port in a storm, and Ecuador's embassy in London would do as well as any other.
But for Correa, the only way to explain this strange and otherwise inexplicable maneuver is the president's apparently urgent desire to burnish his anti-American credentials and claim for himself some of the notoriety and adulation from leftist sympathizers that he feels is his due.
Next door in Venezuela, poor Hugo Chávez must be beside himself with envy to see a neighbor steal the anti-yanqui spotlight: Why didn't he take cover in my embassy? ...
It's equally absurd for Assange, whose supporters see him as an anti-authoritarian hero, to align himself with a budding despot like Correa while claiming to be a martyr for freedom of information. ...
Ecuador should reserve asylum for genuine victims of government persecution, rather than grant it to a figure who disdains the laws of two democracies (Britain and Sweden) in pursuit of his own political agenda. To end the impasse, Ecuador should seek assurances from Sweden that Assange's rights will be respected, then persuade him that leaving the embassy is the best option for everyone.
Online: