Showdown: Washington Threatens Ecuador, Demands Immunity for U.S. Troops

President Palacio Will Not Approve Immunity for U.S. Soldiers in World Court

This is potentially large. Read on...

Ecuador's President Alfredo Palacio has decided not to sign an immunity treaty for U.S. military and civilian officials before the World Court, confronting Washington, which considers (the Ecuadoran capital of) Quito as important to its war on drugs...

It's about the Manta, Ecuador, U.S. military base, the key "Forward Operating Location" (FOL) for the U.S. military intervention named "Plan Colombia." And Washington is now trying to blackmail Ecuador's new (60-days-old) President, Alfredo Palacio with threats of cutting aid.

"Absolutely no one is going to frighten me," Palacio told the press. "Neither the government, nor Alfredo Palacio, nor the Ecuadoran people should be afraid."

The outgoing U.S. Ambassador is freaking out... The El Universo story continues:

The outgoing U.S. Ambassador in Ecuador, Kristie Kenny, reiterated that notwithstanding (the president's statements, Ecuador) ...must sign the agreement that the U.S. government demands that protects U.S. soldiers from facing trial in the World Court, just as 90 other countries have done, among them seven Latin American countries..."

(Ed. Note: if only seven of 34 Latin American countries have bought this Brooklyn bridge, while 83 other countries of the world have already done so, that speaks well of Latin America.)

"Kenney assured journalists that the delegates of the foreign ministries of each country have been negotiating this agreement... for three years... But Ecuador's Secretary of State Antonio Parra said that Washington has made no formal request so far.

Noting that the World Court judges only crimes against humanity, Parra said that "these are difficult crimes to commit unless they are planning an invasion of Ecuador."

...He said that the soldiers based in Manta (the U.S. military base in Ecuador) already have diplomatic immunity and he said that Quito will respect the Roman Treaty by which the United States is authorized to to control the military base until the year 2009.

Impacting...