CIA-linked company spied on Ecuador's ex-President to evict Assange
4 Min Read
A Spanish investigation into UC Global reveals that the company has spied on Ecuadorian officials drawing parallels to Assange's eviction from the embassy.
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Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa attends a meeting at the national theater in Brussels, Belgium, October 22, 2018. (AFP)
UC Global, a Spanish private security company linked to the CIA spied on Ecuador's former President Rafael Correa. according to the Spanish newspaper El País.
The company's director, David Morales, instructed employees to spy on Correa in 2018 and collect information on his meeting with Latin American leaders, including," former president of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay—Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff, and Jose Mujica," the newspaper revealed.
The company then gave that information to then-President Lenin Moreno who succeeded Correa and backstabbed him after gaining his support in the 2017 presidential elections.
"Sofía and Anne, Correa’s daughters, twice had Trojans (viruses disguised as legitimate software) from the company Tradesegur installed on their cell phones," El País said.
This information comes after Jullian Assange's legal team analyzed Morales' laptop as part of a case in a Spanish criminal court. Furthermore, the investigation revealed parallels between the case and the WikiLeaks founder's extradition to the United Kingdom.
The Spanish newspaper was allowed to review the records which detailed a trip that Correa and his press chief Amauri Chamorro Venegas made between March 18 and 24 in 2018. UC Global employees who posed as bodyguards accompanied the officials during their visit.
El País shed light on the extent of the CIA's involvement in pressuring Ecuadorian officials to force Julian Assange out of the Ecuador embassy in London back in 2012. While the CIA-backed pressure campaign has been known, the newly surfaced information points to a deeper and more sinister plot behind Assange's eviction.
UC Global involved in CIA plot
In June 2012, Assange sought political asylum in the Ecuador embassy, and his application was eventually granted in August of the same year. However, it appears that the CIA was actively trying to manipulate the situation to their advantage.
One such incident involved the discovery of "intimate images" of a diplomat stationed at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. These images were found on a flash drive hidden in UC Global's headquarters in southern Spain.
It is alleged that UC Global's owner, David Morales, conspired to use these intimate images as blackmail to retain their security contract at the embassy, which was at risk of being terminated. Morales communicated with Bolívar Garcés, the director of Ecuador's now-defunct national intelligence service, regarding the use of the photographs to protect their interests.
The report also indicates that the CIA has been involved in the case against former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who was found guilty of bribery in 2020. While residing in Belgium under asylum, Correa appears to have been targeted in a political prosecution under the Moreno administration. However, the exact nature of the CIA's role in this case remains unclear.
Furthermore, evidence suggests that UC Global collaborated with the CIA during Assange's stay at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, which was owned by billionaire and Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. In December 2017, Morales emailed his employees about accessing audio and video recordings from the embassy cameras and ensuring that only selective information would be revealed to the Ecuadorian authorities. This information was then shared with the CIA, which may have contributed to tipping them off about Assange's diplomatic passport plans and aided in his eventual eviction from the embassy.
The reporting from El País on these explosive revelations has received little attention from other media organizations, including those that previously worked with Assange and WikiLeaks on the publication of documents relevant to the U.S. Espionage Act trial against him.
As the US Justice Department continues its unprecedented efforts to bring an Espionage Act trial against Assange, the uncovered evidence may have significant implications for the integrity of the case and the broader implications on press freedom and journalism worldwide.
