Ecuador Weighs Asylum Request, Stands Up to U.S. Again

QUITO—For the second time in two years, tiny Ecuador has thumbed its nose at the U.S., this time by considering granting asylum to Edward Snowden, the security contractor who caused an uproar this month when he revealed the U.S.'s vast program of collecting data on telephone calls and emails.

Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño said Mr. Snowden, who arrived in Russia from Hong Kong on Sunday, has requested asylum in Ecuador, and that the government is "analyzing it with a lot of responsibility," according to the Associated Press.

Speaking briefly to reporters on his way to a meeting with Vietnam's foreign minister in Hanoi Monday morning, Mr. Patiño said the decision "has to do with freedom of expression and with the security of citizens around the world," according to the AP. He didn't say how long it would take Ecuador to decide.....

A grant of asylum could prove economically costly for Ecuador. The U.S. is Ecuador's most important trading partner. The banana-, flower- and oil-exporting nation sends $10.7 billion, or 43%, of its total exports to the U.S. Under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, Ecuador enjoys tariff breaks on some of its U.S. exports.

"The U.S. has "tools available to express displeasure," including refusing to renew the trade-preference act, which needs congressional approval to be renewed when it expires at the end of July, said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas, a Washington, D.C., group that promotes trade. Such exports as flowers and tuna could be particularly hit, says Mr. Farnsworth. "The question is, what are [Correa's] priorities? If his leadership is intended to create more jobs the last thing you want is to cut unilateral trade preferences with the world's largest economy...."

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