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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Pass notes No 3,232: Rafael Correa | Pass notes No 3,232: Rafael Correa |
| (4 months later) | |
| Age: 49 | Age: 49 |
| Appearance: Handsome, but well fed. | Appearance: Handsome, but well fed. |
| Ah. Celebrity chef, is he? No. Celebrity president. Of Ecuador. | Ah. Celebrity chef, is he? No. Celebrity president. Of Ecuador. |
| Ah yes, the country named after its latitude. That's the one. Although there's a bit of it in London too, where Julian Assange is living. | Ah yes, the country named after its latitude. That's the one. Although there's a bit of it in London too, where Julian Assange is living. |
| Not him again. I know. In his balcony speech on Sunday, he thanked President Correa "for the courage he has shown in considering and in granting me political asylum". | Not him again. I know. In his balcony speech on Sunday, he thanked President Correa "for the courage he has shown in considering and in granting me political asylum". |
| That's nice. Kindred spirits are they? Does Correa also take a keen interest in journalistic freedom? Indeed he does. Mostly so he can suppress it. The Committee to Protect Journalists describes freedom of expression as "under siege" in Ecuador. Correa is always shutting down or forcibly nationalising newspapers, radio stations and television channels that criticise him. | That's nice. Kindred spirits are they? Does Correa also take a keen interest in journalistic freedom? Indeed he does. Mostly so he can suppress it. The Committee to Protect Journalists describes freedom of expression as "under siege" in Ecuador. Correa is always shutting down or forcibly nationalising newspapers, radio stations and television channels that criticise him. |
| I see. You're saying he's another of those populist tyrant characters, like a Chavez or a Putin? Well Correa is not a complete tyrant, but he is certainly ty-curious. Earlier this year he won a libel case – after leaning on the judge, some say – against an El Universo journalist Emilio Palacio, and three of the newspaper's directors. They were all sentenced to three years in jail and fined $40m, but Correa has now said he will pardon them. | I see. You're saying he's another of those populist tyrant characters, like a Chavez or a Putin? Well Correa is not a complete tyrant, but he is certainly ty-curious. Earlier this year he won a libel case – after leaning on the judge, some say – against an El Universo journalist Emilio Palacio, and three of the newspaper's directors. They were all sentenced to three years in jail and fined $40m, but Correa has now said he will pardon them. |
| That's nice. I'm not sure they think so. Palacio had fled to claim asylum in the US, two of the directors have also left the country, and the third – get this – has been granted asylum in the Panamanian embassy in Ecuador's capital Quito. | That's nice. I'm not sure they think so. Palacio had fled to claim asylum in the US, two of the directors have also left the country, and the third – get this – has been granted asylum in the Panamanian embassy in Ecuador's capital Quito. |
| That's rather ironic. Yes it is. | That's rather ironic. Yes it is. |
| So what would happen now in the purely hypothetical scenario where, say, Wikileaks received a batch of documents showing that Correa's brother was corruptly awarded government contracts? You mean as was alleged in the book El Gran Hermano, whose authors Correa also sued? | So what would happen now in the purely hypothetical scenario where, say, Wikileaks received a batch of documents showing that Correa's brother was corruptly awarded government contracts? You mean as was alleged in the book El Gran Hermano, whose authors Correa also sued? |
| That's right. Would they risk the wrath of Correa by publishing them? Who knows? | That's right. Would they risk the wrath of Correa by publishing them? Who knows? |
| Do say: Anything you like. Ecuador is a free country. | Do say: Anything you like. Ecuador is a free country. |
| Don't say: Anything that could "discredit, dishonour or disparage" "an authority" or you'll be sued. | Don't say: Anything that could "discredit, dishonour or disparage" "an authority" or you'll be sued. |
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