The shit in Spain falls mainly in the fan

[Valmy]

One of the gray eminences behind the Catalan independence movement (guy I know and that I actually worked for once) has been spotted in certain south american embassy in London...

I hear those who enter the Embassy of Ecuador never want to leave.

[celedhring]

Well, it's no mystery that Assange has been involved with this mess, but this reveals a larger degree of coordination than I expected.

[Pedrito]

Intriguing. How is he involved?

L.

[celedhring]

Intriguing. How is he involved?

L.

Russian bots have been working overtime these weeks in favor of the separatists.

So far, Assange has been tweeting drivel and being interviewed by pro-separatist media. Dunno if that meeting means wikileaks is going to step it up a notch with a view on the upcoming election.

[Berkut]

And people actually pretend like he is anything other than a stooge for fucking Putin.

[katmai]

And people actually pretend like he is anything other than a stooge for fucking Putin.

How did the Donald get dragged into this?!?

[celedhring]

Funniest thing, if there's a country that could get Ecuador to kick Assange out of the London embassy, that's Spain - relations between both countries are really tight, and Spain is currently the main backer for the FTA with the EU currently in process.

Don't think Madrid will care enough to spend political capital on him, but the schadenfreude...

[celedhring]

And people actually pretend like he is anything other than a stooge for fucking Putin.

Russia's been funny in this. Officially they back Spain, but RT and the bot army have been working overtime in favor of the separatist cause.

And know what? Spain used to be one of Russia's potential allies within the EU. We're far from the front line in the east, and we have plenty of economic ties with Russia - the ban on vegetable exports hurt our agriculture, for example, and we'd be one of the first countries to back de-escalation with them. But now? Today our Foreign Minister has openly denounced meddling from "Russian-based agents" (although it has stopped short of directly accusing the Russian government) in the European Council, and I can tell you that next time that easing sanctions on Russia is put on the table, Spain's going to wipe its arse with that.

[Jacob]

Intriguing. How is he involved?

L.

Russian bots have been working overtime these weeks in favor of the separatists.

So far, Assange has been tweeting drivel and being interviewed by pro-separatist media. Dunno if that meeting means wikileaks is going to step it up a notch with a view on the upcoming election.

I suspected something like that, but thought I might have been too paranoid...

[Valmy]

And people actually pretend like he is anything other than a stooge for fucking Putin.

You called it years ago dude back when I was idiotically thinking he was an honest broker.

[Josquius]

Funniest thing, if there's a country that could get Ecuador to kick Assange out of the London embassy, that's Spain - relations between both countries are really tight, and Spain is currently the main backer for the FTA with the EU currently in process.

Don't think Madrid will care enough to spend political capital on him, but the schadenfreude...

Yes, I wondered about that one. I know Spain is super-close to Latin America.
IIRC Latin Americans can get a Spanish passport after 2 years of residence? Seems like something a Latin American government would be wary of ruining, big potential to annoy the people.

[Valmy]

To be fair Ecuador is one of those South American countries that works tirelessly to shoot itself in the foot at every opportunity.

[The Larch]

Funniest thing, if there's a country that could get Ecuador to kick Assange out of the London embassy, that's Spain - relations between both countries are really tight, and Spain is currently the main backer for the FTA with the EU currently in process.

Don't think Madrid will care enough to spend political capital on him, but the schadenfreude...

Yes, I wondered about that one. I know Spain is super-close to Latin America.
IIRC Latin Americans can get a Spanish passport after 2 years of residence? Seems like something a Latin American government would be wary of ruining, big potential to annoy the people.

Yeah, all Latin American countries + a few select others get the 2 years of residence for citizenship deal. Anyway that wouldn't be messed up with, if anything Spain could tax remitances (Ecuador's 2nd main source of foreign currency after its oil exports), as the Ecuadorian community in Spain is amongst the largests, if not the largest of all Ecuadorian communities abroad.

[The Larch]

To be fair Ecuador is one of those South American countries that works tirelessly to shoot itself in the foot at every opportunity.

Fun fact, the 1st big wave of inmigration from Ecuador in the 50s was due to the collapse of its Panama hat industry. 

[Barrister]

To be fair Ecuador is one of those South American countries that works tirelessly to shoot itself in the foot at every opportunity.

Fun fact, the 1st big wave of inmigration from Ecuador in the 50s was due to the collapse of its Panama hat industry. 

Ha!