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In reply to the discussion: Top Dem threatens to block trade deal with Ecuador over Snowden [View all]The world is not the same everywhere you go. Latin America has traditionally stood up against foreign capitalists, but they can no longer survive in this day and age unless they start trading. So the populist leaders bang the drum of traditions for popular support while trying to ease themselves into the modern world without much fanfare. Its just the way it is, a pure, unadulterated comment. Correa is popular because of his bravado, and he pours revenue into building up Ecuador and battling poverty. But he's not stupid. The trade deal with the U.S. is very lucrative to hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorians. Its not something you can just drop and replace with another country, because they're not going to be willing to pay as much. As he told Amy Goodman, Correa likes Obama and they get along well, and is enjoying the relationship with the U.S. after being demonized by the Bush Admin for so long. So he thumps his chest, and then says Ecuador will revue the asylum application, which will probably take 'months'. He wins each way.