"Venezuelan President Maduro Cheers Freedom for Assange": Venezuela's leader Maduro rejoices over Assange's release.
Mexico City, Mexico, June 25, 2024 (our website) - The liberation of Julian Assange, infamous WikiLeaks founder and political prisoner, echoed throughout Latin America following his release from British custody.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro seized the opportunity to extend a warm welcome to Assange, praising his tenacity as a champion of truth and human rights in a social media post. Assange's cause faced numerous hurdles, ending up in the super-max Belmarsh Prison for the past five years when it seemed justice was anything but near.
But Monday brought welcome relief, as Assange stepped onto a flight out of London Stansted Airport. Commissioned to formally accept his plea bargain before US authorities in Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, Assange's next leg of the journey will lead him back to his homeland, Australia.
Assange's release culminated more than a decade of relentless persecution that began when he first sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, only to be unceremoniously dragged out by police after former Ecuadorean President Lenín Moreno revoked his asylum in violation of his own country's laws.
Rafael Correa, Moreno's predecessor who granted Assange diplomatic protection, voiced his relief at the news, stating, "The world is a little less unfair." He further denounced Assange's persecution, arguing, "They have stolen 12 years of a journalist's life for telling the truth."
Latin American leaders echoed Correa's sentiments, with Bolivia's Luis Arce condemning the violation of Assange's asylum. "His crime was revealing war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by imperialism," the Bolivian President asserted.
Diosdado Cabello, a ranking Chavista in Venezuela, criticized former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet for her selective approach to human rights, speaking out against human rights violations in Venezuela while staying silent on Assange's case.
Left-leaning leaders such as Mexico's Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a vocal supporter of Assange's cause, welcomed the news of his release, finding joy in the fact that millions of people worldwide could finally celebrate freedom for the journalist. In Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva deemed the event a "victory for democracy and the fight for press freedom."
Though his actions complicated relations between countries, Assange's work exposed United States' political meddling and war crimes in Latin America, as evidenced by the publication of conspiratorial US embassy cables in 2010. This revelation sparked the US's pursuit of Assange, who faced a prosecution that had severe implications for journalists and press freedom worldwide.
The Committee to Protect Journalists outlined their concerns, as the US's pursuit of Assange set a harmful legal precedent by opening the path for journalists to be tried under the Espionage Act if they received classified material from whistleblowers.
Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.
Note: Julian Assange was released in a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors, agreeing to plead guilty to violating U.S. espionage law. This agreement ended his extradition battle and will see him sentenced to time served. Though Latin American leaders have historically shown support for Assange, specific responses regarding his 2024 release are not documented in the provided sources.
- Despite facing unpunished charges related to US espionage law, Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, received congratulations from Latin American leaders, including Mexico's Andrés Manuel López Obrador, for his release and return to Australia.
- In contrast to the US's pursuit of Assange, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro praised Assange's relentless pursuit of truth and human rights, extending a warm welcome to him upon his release.
- The general news of Julian Assange's release echoed throughout Latin America, with Left-leaning leaders like Bolivia's Luis Arce condemning the violation of Assange's asylum and Diosdado Cabello criticizing the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet for her selective approach to human rights issues.
- The UK's decision to release Julian Assange, despite his previous imprisonment in the super-max Belmarsh Prison, was met with relief by political figures like Rafael Correa, who argued that Assange had his life stolen for telling the truth about war-and-conflicts and crime-and-justice in areas such as Latin America.
