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Comment by chiaro | Hacker News Reader

The reasons why Ecuador took Assange in in the first place no longer make much sense. Under Correa, there were a number of tensions with the US that were looming large in Ecuadorian political landscape following a default in 08. By taking in Assange, Correa could both shore up anti-US sentiments at home that were mounting in criticism over an oil export deal, and get a bargaining chip to boot if he needed it. With Correa out of the picture and China stepping in and propping up exports, this makes little sense, and Assange's value as a bargaining chip is dubious to a Trump admin.

Back when Wikileaks had a better reputation, it also helped affray Correa's attacks on free speech at home. Now that Assange's reputation is in the gutter, he's only a liability to Ecuador.

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It is a shame to see Assange's welfare reduced to being a bargaining chip like this, but one imagines that he has upset too many powerful people and it is only a matter of time for him until he is back in the justice system and shuffled into a cell somewhere. I'll be counting him lucky if he avoids something like Guantanamo.

It really amazes me how many people claim there are no conspiracies against Assange though - the number of things that went from 'conspiracy theory' to 'uncomfortable fact' because of Wikileaks is obviously no evidence of anything.

I remember what it was like watching discussion of the 5 Eyes before Wikileaks; people were written off as cranks for opinions that turned out to be very well rooted in fact. If Wikileaks' leadership gets shut down, we are going to lose a very comforting level of insight into how decisions are actually being made by people in power; and what the moral realities of government actually are.

Nah, most substantial leaks in recent years have avoided wikileaks and gone straight to reputable publishers, such as the panama papers team, so as not to be tarnished by perceptions of bias or recklessness.

The same people who called it all “conspiracy theory” we calling him a “Russian hack” today.

Nothing has changed.

> Assange's value as a bargaining chip is dubious to a Trump admin.

I expect that Trump doesn't particularly want Assange (despite WikiLeaks complaining of a Trump Admin war on WikiLeaks), and I expect that he especially doesn't want Assange anywhere within reach of the Mueller investigation.

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