Ecuador Refuses to Sign U.S. Immunity Pact (Internat'l Criminal Court)

[maddezmom]

QUITO, Ecuador - Ecuador will not sign a pact to grant U.S. military personnel special immunity from the International Criminal Court, even if that means more aid cuts from Washington, the foreign minister said Thursday.

"If the United States decides it cannot provide aid if we do not sign this, well, we very much regret that we will not receive the aid," Antonio Parra told Channel 6 television.

President Bush opposes the International Criminal Court, which started operating in 2003. His administration argues it could be used for frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions of American troops.

Last year, Bush signed into law a measure to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid to countries that belong to the court but have not signed a bilateral immunity agreement with the United States.

~snip~
more:http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050623/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/ecuador_us_1

[Judi Lynn]

1. Thank God one virtuous voice has answered Bush.

I hope it starts a movement, but if it doesn't, the people of Ecuador will still be so proud of Ecuador's stance.

_Bush is accustomed to seeing everyone bow and scrape in hopes of securing little crumbs (VERY little, except for Israel, Egypt, and Colombia) of financial assistance. By keeping the countries in this hemisphere impoverished and frightened, our right-wing Presidents have been assured of many "coalitions" of the needy.

[struggle4progress]

2. Que Viva Ecuador!

[burrowowl]

15. AMEN!

or SO BE IT!

[IChing]

3. "To grant U.S. military personnel from the International Criminal Court"

Somebody explain the administration's legal explanation (spin) why this
would be necessary in Ecuador? I know the obvious but would like the spin.

Good for Ecuador

[mom cat]

6. Look what the US military is doing in Columbia.See the following

article from earlier today:



http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/international/americas/23colombia.html?

[marbuc]

10. This is a common demand, certainly not specific to Equador

Venezuela also refused to go along with this. I couldn't tell you the legal basis. Good for Equador for holding firm in its rights to exercise this option under international law.

[David Zephyr]

4. Ariba Ecuador

Bravo!

[meganmonkey]

5. Um... Ecuador, didn't you get the memo, 'Merka makes all the rules

but we don't have to follow them.

This is a really good sign - I hope others follow. A bully only succeeds if people let them.

[maddezmom]

7. and they need the aid....so it's a huge decision

[Miss Chybil]

9. I'm sure China's ready to fill the gap...

Maybe. I don't know, but it sounded good.

[maddezmom]

12. ohhhh, could be

either way, they are right not to sign.

[PATRICK]

14. Also smart

They can realign aid from oil rich Venezuela. It is not aid loss they have to fear though. It is retaliation and US interference that would involve the very crimes they want immunity from. Maybe this is pre-empting some already dirty moves to install RW media and stooges in Ecuador as well.

Freedom on the march in Latin America. Not ready for crime time players.

[oblivious]

18. I don't know if they need this kind of aid though.

As a result, Ecuador last year forfeited $15.7 million in aid, much of it for military equipment

[Jack Rabbit]

8. ¡Viva el Ecuador!

Pueda muchas más naciones siguen este principal.

May many more nations follow this lead.

[MisterP]

11. how dare you oppose the Emperor of the World!

[Sacajawea]

13. Kudos to Quito!!!

At least the leaders of some countries have cojones grandes!!!

:woohoo:

[LiberalFighter]

16. Is it special immunity for U.S. military personnel?? or is it for...

gw*dipshit?

[IndianaGreen]

17. Ecuador doesn't want GIs murder Ecuadorans with impunity!

A similar bill that was introduced in the Bolivian Congress by one of Washington's lapdogs was also defeated. The nations of the world are wising up to the true nature of our military, and the imperialists policies that it seeks to enforce by brute force.

Viva Ecuador!

[loudsue]

19. Yep! And pretty soon, the entire * Administration won't be

able to travel ANYWHERE outside of our borders, because they'll be arrested and tried for all their war crimes.

:applause: I can't wait 'til they have to face a criminal court!! :woohoo:

:kick::kick::kick:

[kodi]

20. stupid Americans, now China will loan Ecuador the money

I can not believe how God damned stupid the Busheviks are about international affairs.

you have to get up awful early and be committed to fucking up to fuck up this bad.

for a short term political gain, they are ignoring the potential for a substantial harm to their influence in the Americas. the Chinese are already involved in Venezuelan oil and construction companies and are loaning money to Venezuela they got from selling crap to the Americans.

these clowns aren't good businessmen, they are gangsters who can not run a legitimate enterprise if their lives depended on it.

[alarcojon]

21. As a proud Ecuadorean-American, this kicks ass!

:kick:

[drduffy]

22. well, apparently

the Ecuadoreans have got more balls than many of the democrats in congress. Viva Ecuador. To Hell with BushCo.

[Nothing Without Hope]

23. They've given up millions in aid for this stand. Clearly, they are willing

to pay a price to avoid having to trust the US, which shows both how low the reputation of the US has sunk in the world and also the pride and wisdom of the Ecuador government. It's not a small price to pay - in addition to earning the animus of the Bush administration criminals, this decision resulted in a forfeiture last year of $15.7 million in aid, much of it for military equipment, according to the Netherlands-based nonprofit Citizens for Global Solutions.

I only saw this story now, noticing it as a featured article at AllHatNoCattle.net today. Very significant - it should be a message that the American public listen too - but given the complicity of our Poodle Press, I doubt most of them will hear about it.

[Zhade]

24. Fantastic news!

They did the right thing. I am so proud of them!