Rafael Correa: Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino: Snowden's whereabouts remained a mystery and his application for Ecuadoran asylum was formally just under consideration. Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, nonetheless, made little effort to disguise his government's position. He told reporters in Hanoi that the choice Ecuador faced in hosting Snowden was "betraying the citizens of the world or betraying certain powerful elites in a specific country.", according to Times Colonist. Analysts said welcoming Snowden would sharply escalate Correa's policy of tweaking the United States while maintaining strong economic ties that have maintained healthy growth rates and fueled the president's wide popularity, over 60 per cent in recent polls. It would be a tempting but potentially dangerous play, they said, for a leader who appears to delight in slamming U.S. foreign policy but depends on Washington for nearly half Ecuador's foreign trade and QUITO, Ecuador - Ecuador's president and foreign minister declared Monday that national sovereignty and universal principles of human rights would govern their decision on granting asylum to Edward Snowden, powerful hints that the former National Security Agency contractor is welcome here despite potential repercussions from Washington. President Rafael Correa said on Twitter that "we will take the decision that we feel most suitable, with absolute sovereignty." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.