Ecuador Ends Trade Pact with US Over Snowden "Blackmail"
Ecuador is renouncing a renewal of a trade pact with the U.S., claiming it has become a “new instrument of blackmail” involving the fate of Edward Snowden, the NSA leaker who asked for political asylum from the country, according to USA Today.
Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that if Ecuador grants Snowden asylum, "I will lead the effort to prevent the renewal of Ecuador's duty-free access under GSP and will also make sure there is no chance for renewal of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act."
Communications Minister Fernando Alvarez told a news conference in the Ecuadoran capital Quito that the pact, which already faced an uphill battle for renewal, had become "a new instrument of blackmail."
He said his country "does not accept threats from anybody, and does not trade in principles, or submit to mercantile interests, as important as they may be."
"In consequence, Ecuador unilaterally and irrevocably renounces said preferences," he said.
Almost half of Ecuador's foreign trade depends on the U.S. The pact reduces tariffs on hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of trade in products such as artichokes and broccoli.
Last year, Ecuador exported $5.4 billion worth of oil to the USA under the terms of the pact.
Ecuadoran officials have said Snowden's asylum request could take weeks to process, however, WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said on Monday that Snowden was "fairly optimistic'' that Ecuador would grant the request.
