Of course I’m sure you, of all people, know the reason why the Oz government will not “stop being Washington’s bitch”: neither government actually exists. You keep writing about the Deep State: there you have it. The Surveillance State cartel manages the puppet politicians in all the countries it has taken over; the reason Ecuador was the only state willing to shelter Assange is because the Spy State never considered it worth the effort to take them over before, via coup or assassination or whatever.

That’s always that possibility, of course; remember Iran? Probably before your time, but the CIA’s participation in the 1953 overthrow of Mohammad Mossaddegh, the democratically-elected Prime Minister of Iran, is now well-documented. They gunned down his foreign minister, but they allowed Mossaddegh to die at home a few years later under house arrest.

But Ecuador might have to wait, because at this point they have their hands full with Trump, who doesn’t follow directions well, among other things.