President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno is threatened with a major anti-corruption investigation, and, expelling Julian Assange from the republican embassy in London, he wants to fulfill Washington’s next demand.

Now is not the time that in 2012, when the founder of WikiLeaks crossed the threshold of the embassy in search of refuge.

Fearing that his homeland (Australia) would not protect him from extradition to the United States, where he faces a prison or even the death penalty, Assange appealed to Rafael Correa, the then president of Ecuador, with a request to hide him from "political persecution."

He agreed and granted him asylum on the grounds that his “life, security, and personal integrity” could be in danger at any time.

A few years earlier, Ecuador fielded the American military from its territory, and having sheltered Assange, with its gesture, it aroused enthusiasm among many, both inside and outside the country.

Seven years have passed, and now Ecuador has issued it. Further extradition is almost guaranteed.

According to Fidel Narvaez, the former Ecuadorian consul in London, this step is not only unjustified, but also contrary to international law.

“This is a violation of the law and the institution of asylum,” he said in a conversation with me.

The diplomat said that Assange, having fallen into the hands of the British authorities, will probably be extradited to the United States, where "he will most likely be sentenced to dozens of years behind bars - at least."

Narvaez was among those Ecuadorian officials who adopted Assange in 2012, and in today's actions sees an element of the Moreno government’s return to a “compliant” foreign policy.

“The foreign policy of the Ecuadorian government has changed dramatically. Now it is fully dependent on pressure from abroad, especially from the US and the IMF, as it always was before the civil revolution, ”adds Narvaez.

Moreno won the election promising to continue the left-wing patriotic course of the civil revolution of Rafael Correa, but since then he has actively opposed the legacy of Correa, as well as against other Latin American governments that are guided by “socialism of the 21st century”.

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In recent months, the Moreno government has reinstated the flight program of American military aircraft and participated in the creation of the Prosur right-wing unit, a measure aimed at undermining the Union of South American Nations created by Correa and his associates, such as the late Hugo Chavez.

The current Ecuadorian leader, who for months claimed that Correa had driven the country into monstrous debts, signed a loan from the IMF for $ 4.2 billion.

In light of these and other steps, Moreno’s decision regarding Assange does not seem surprising. But the moment is chosen so as not to just please the allies ...

“Julian Assange wants to make a scapegoat to divert attention from the scandal with the INA papers,” says Narvaez, referring to suspicions of corruption that tainted Moreno, his family and entourage.

The President of Ecuador faced the prospect of a political investigation into money laundering charges through offshore accounts and front companies in Panama, including the INA Investment Corporation, which was owned by Lenin Moreno's brother.

The materials received by an opposition member, along with incriminating personnel and documents that appeared to have been obtained as a result of hacking from Moreno's phone and got into social networks, caused irreparable damage to the authority of the president and his image as a fighter against corruption.

Moreno ratings collapsed. Now only 17% of Ecuadorians express confidence in the president.

It predictably hit his party in a recent municipal election: it lost two thirds of the territories where it had previously won.

Rising for Moreno and the risk of impeachment.

Acting in a desperate attempt to divert attention (you could not say otherwise), Moreno and his officials announced that the scandal was arranged by Assange and WikiLeaks.

The Minister of Communications, Andres Michelena, even accused Assange of colluding with Correa and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to “destabilize” the Ecuadorian government.

The authorities complained to the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, blaming WikiLeaks for information leakage, and Moreno himself pointed to Assange, stating that he had “violated the conditions for obtaining asylum.”

According to Narvaez (who became famous in 2013, when he gave the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden transit documents so that he could apply for political asylum in Ecuador), Assange did not break any rules, and such statements serve only as a pretext for depriving him of political asylum.

“Political asylum does not limit someone’s rights. On the contrary, it should protect them, and the government of Lenin Morena systematically violates the rights of Julian Assange, ”says Narvaez.

Moreno's decision to deprive Assange of asylum looks dubious and - given the various important events of recent years - may stumble across a number of claims in the legal plane.

In the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in the favor of Assange, verdicts were issued, stating that he should be free. Do not wait for him more for questioning in Sweden.

In addition, Assange is now a citizen of Ecuador, and the Constitution of the country prohibits the government from extraditing citizens. The fact that Moreno "suspended" the decision to grant Assange citizenship is a fact, of course, unprecedented and unfounded and can be canceled by a court decision.

But the situation in Ecuador is now such that all this can become nothing more than a formality.

Whatever the case with the impeachment, there are rumors about Moreno for a long time that he is preparing to resign ahead of schedule, and his right-wing allies are to intercept the reins of government in the palace of Karondelet.

But his campaign against the civil revolution of Correa led to the destruction of institutions and regulations, austerity measures and massive layoffs in the public sector. The country is moving at full speed towards political instability and disorder typical of the 1900s - early 2000s, which means that it can be problematic to prevent Assange from being extradited from his embassy, ​​appealing to the laws and procedures.

Assange was a prisoner of the Kafkian scenario: from one cell he was transplanted into another, and now he is waiting for his enemies to decide his fate.

The author is Pablo Vivanko, a journalist and analyst specializing in politics and history of the Americas, former director of teleSUR English.