"They over-stepped, looked like bullies, and made it into a big-power versus small-power conflict,” said New York-based Michael Ratner in an interview with The Nation.

The diplomatic standoff will have to be settled through negotiations or by the International Court of Justice at the Hague, Ratner said. "In my memory, no state has ever invaded another country's embassy to seize someone who has been granted asylum,” Ratner added. There would be no logic in returning an individual to the very power seeking to charge him with offenses, he indicated.

Since Assange entered the Ecuadoran embassy seven weeks ago, Ecuadoran diplomats have worked to avoid an escalation by private talks with the British and Swedes seeking an assurance that Assange will be protected from extradition to the United States where he could face charges under the US Espionage Act. Such guarantees were refused, according to Ecuador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, who said in Quito that the British made an "explicit threat" to "assault our embassy" to take Assange. "We are not a British colony,” Patino added.

The US has been silent on whether it plans to indict Assange and ultimately seek his extradition. But important lawmakers, like Sen. Diane Feinstein, a chair of the joint intelligence committee, have called for Assange's indictment in recent weeks. But faced with strong objections from civil liberties and human rights advocates, the White House may prefer to avoid direct confrontation, leaving Assange entangled in disputes with the UK and Sweden over embarrassing charges of sexual misconduct in Sweden.

Any policy of isolating Assange may have failed now, as the conflict becomes one of Ecuador – and a newly-independent Latin America – against the US and UK. Ecuador's president Rafael Correa represents the wave of new nationalist leaders on the continent who have challenged the traditional US dominance over trade, security and regional decision-making. Correa joined the Venezuelan-inspired Bolivian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) in June 2009, and closed the US military base in Ecuador in September 2009. He survived a coup attempt in 2010.

For more details, please see previous coverage of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange here.

Original article on TomHayden.com