Ecuadorian
President Lenin Moreno has made no secret of his annoyance with the
man he refers to a “hacker,” calling Assange “a stone in his
shoe” as Ecuador seeks to restructure itself as a trusted ally of
the United States.
by
Elliott Gabriel
Part
4 - “Operation: Hotel” – espionage or simple state security?
While no
longer facing rape allegations from Swedish prosecutors, Assange is
still sought by British authorities for skipping bail and accepting
the offer of asylum from former Ecuadorian President Correa.
Any
attempt by Assange to leave the embassy would result in his arrest
and detention in the U.K. for more than a year, followed by possible
extradition to the United States. While he could contest prosecution
by the U.S., his time in prison would be virtually assured.
The
decision by Moreno to pull security from the facility comes after an
“investigation” by The Guardian and right-wing research group
Focus Ecuador was released this week. The report revealed that under
former President Rafael Correa, Ecuador spent at least $5 million on
a counter-espionage operation codenamed “Operation Hotel.” The
goal was not only to protect Assange, according to the report, but
provide surveillance through the placement of CCTV cameras throughout
the building and round-the-clock security personnel assigned to the
facility, who recorded Assange’s activities, disposition, and
interactions with staff and lawyers, as well as the visitors who
entered the Embassy. Records were allegedly sent directly to Correa.
The
British newspaper speculates that the visitor records could possibly
reveal who allegedly passed along the emails revealing the internal
workings of the Democratic National Committee that were released by
WikiLeaks in 2016 during the presidential elections.
According
to logs viewed by The Guardian, visitors included RT London Bureau
Chief Nikolai Bogachikin, British-Iranian journalist and RT anchor
Afshin Rattansi, gadfly philosopher Slavoj Žižek, John Pilger,
liberal documentarian Michael Moore, and dozens of others.
Beltway
liberal pundits in the U.S. claim the DNC leak was engineered by the
Russian government with the connivance of Assange, noting his immense
loathing for Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton. The Guardian
noted that “it is understood” that Special Counsel Robert Mueller
has already interviewed a source close to the operation.
According
to an anonymous source who spoke to The Guardian, Assange also
breached the firewall of the embassy through his own personal
internet connection via satellite, allowing him access to Ecuadorian
diplomatic correspondence and the personal communications of staff.
WikiLeaks
denies the allegation, calling it “an anonymous libel” stemming
from the new “onslaught against Mr. Assange” by the governments
of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and U.S. President Donald Trump.
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