Former FM Calls Ecuador's Moreno a CIA-controlled US 'Vassal'

The former Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Ricardo Patino Aroca, told RT Spanish that the Ecuadorean government's decision to terminate Julian Assange's asylum was 'savagery'.

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Patino said the decision by the Ecuadorean government has heavily damaged the dignity and constitution of the country, turning it into a vassal of the United States.

“This is an insult to the dignity of our country, it is lawlessness – to allow the British police to enter our embassy and pull out the person we gave asylum to. And according to our constitution and international agreements it is forbidden to extradite him, this is called the principle of non-refoulement,” Patino told RT Spanish in an exclusive interview.

Patino, who is a vocal supporter of Assange, said the Wikileaks founder still possesses Ecuadorean citizenship, despite the fact it has been suspended by the government.

The former official said the amount of violations against Assange is “savagery from a legal point of view."

“All that Moreno does is an attempt to completely destroy what we have built. Undoubtedly, it was planned and it was planned with CIA involvement. He is not smart enough to come up with something like this, so it is staged by the US Embassy,” he said, adding that a CIA representative is frequently present during presidential and government meetings.

Patino was put under investigation by the Ecuadorian government earlier this week. He is accused of anti-government activities and having 'links' to Swedish software developer Ola Bini. The latter was arrested in Ecuador last week on suspicion of 'hacking' on WikiLeaks’ behalf.

“I am accused of giving a speech during a meeting of our political organization,” the former minister said. “I’ve called on our supporters to accompany the people, take to the streets, to state institutions and condemn the disastrous economic and social policy of the government of Lenin Moreno in Ecuador. Therefore, because of the dissent, because I gave a speech at a meeting, they wanted to arrest me,” Patino added.