Obama Administration efforts to blackmail some country or other into capturing Edward Snowden for them continue apace, with the latest focus on starting a huge trade war with Ecuador if they grant the whistleblower asylum, as expected.
Ecuador’s economy relies heavily on agriculture exports to the US, with cut flowers and frozen broccoli the key money makers. The loss of the US market could devastate the country.
Congress has been mad at Ecuador for awhile for being insufficiently pro-US, and the country has been lobbying to try to keep trade with the US going when their existing trade pact expiring this summer. Snowden could tilt the balance even more against trading with them.
Frozen food companies are keen on keeping the broccoli flowing, and while there doesn’t seem any logical reason to stop Americans from eating Ecuadoran broccoli, the official rage at Snowden has taken the US in some weird directions already, and if the administration is already willing to cut off its nose to spite it’s face, they’re surely willing to cut off someone else’s broccoli florets.
But wouldn't that go against America's values? After all business and commerce must go on. You can't have political squabbles get in the way of making money.
Like with Cuba and sugar.
can the US thugs get any sillier ?
Yes they can, re-naming French fries "Freedom fries" comes to mind, just because they had an independent foreign politic at the time, not one run by "israel" like the US….
Don't be silly – yes, they can!
Yeah, the US are "thugs", but the Chinese Communists and Russia are cute, cuddly little teddy bears.
no, they are ALL thugs.
I don’t see it, for the socialist governments of the Americas are on a high roller and if the U.S. could put more pressure on Ecuador, then surely it would have been applied when the IMF was evicted from the reigns of power over Ecuador.
Ecuador—Do't let Amerika bully you. DO WHAT IS RiGHT!
Wouldn't any punitive political retributions be a violation of WTO rules? What about that "rule of law"?