Snowden’s Safe Haven? A Primer on Ecuador

With rumors swirling that former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden is bound for Ecuador, the media spotlight has suddenly fallen on this tiny nation of 14.7 million—something that doesn’t happen all that often. Folks who would have trouble finding Ecuador on the map (hint: look around the earth’s belly band) suddenly have a pressing desire to know more about the country. Here are some salient facts.

Ecuador has an extradition agreement with the U.S. That document dates back to the late 1800s, though it was renewed on the eve of World War II. Relations between the two countries have been strained, however, since Rafael Correa, a U.S.-trained economist, was elected president in 2006. Correa, now serving his third term, is an acolyte of Venezuela’s late leftist leader Hugo Chávez and a member of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, a coalition of like-minded countries that seeks to act as a counterweight to U.S. influence. Academics and the press have frequently cited Correa’s rise to power as evidence that there’s a Pink Tide sweeping through Latin America.