How Not To Normalize Relations in One Easy Step

This must have made for one hell of a phone call. Following Santos’ victory in Colombia's presidential elections last Sunday, Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa called him to congratulate him on his victory. Needless to say relations between the two countries are a lil rocky, I mean, a court in Ecuador recently issued an arrest warrant for the Colombia president-elect. In any case, following the phone call there was much hoop-la about the normalization of relations, yadda, yadda…well, how’s this for normalization (via Bloomberg):

Colombian police have been tapping the telephones of Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa and government and military officials since 2008

 But what's more is it’s not like Santos was an innocent bystander in any of this, the report includes this juicy lil nugget:

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and incoming President Juan Manuel Santos have been briefed at least three times on the operation, which began in the aftermath of a Colombian raid on a rebel base camp inside Ecuador in March 2008

Which brings us back to that phone call. Can’t you just imagine Santos answering Correa’s call, while three giggling DAS agents in a sixth story apartment in Quito listen in? Yup, got it.

Not to worry though, it’s not like Ecuador is the only one to get this special treatment. From EUObserver:

A group of MEPs is calling for action as further details of an alleged covert operation conducted by the Colombian intelligence agency (DAS) continue to emerge, with one of its reported aims being to undermine the authority of the European Parliament.

Recently released documents that were confiscated from the DAS by the Colombian Attorney General's office highlight the nature of "Operation Europe."

Its objective was to "neutralise the influence of the European judicial system, the European Parliament's human rights sub-committee, and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights," reads one text seen by this website.

And yes, the “alleged action in Europe includes phone tapping and the interception of emails”.

Ecuador Grants First Compulsory License

Props go to Ecuador, which this month granted its first compulsory license for a patented drug. Intellectual Property Watch reports:

The compulsory licence was granted for ritonavir, an antiretroviral drug, on 14 April to Eskegroup SA, the local distributor for Cipla, an Indian generic pharmaceutical producer, according to Andrés Ycaza Mantilla, head of the Ecuadorean intellectual property office (IEPI).

The owner of the patent is Abbott Laboratories, a US pharmaceutical manufacturer. Eskegroup will pay royalties to Abbott for using the licence under the term of the compulsory licence. The compulsory licence has been granted for the time that was left on the patent, until 30 November 2014.

This is a big move, and will make life saving drugs cheaper for Ecuadorians, so again, props to Ecuador.

For some background on the issue in Ecuador, this issue brief gives the low-down.

But Ecuador is not the first country to take measures against Abbott Laboratories. Colombia implemented price controls last year on Abbott Laboratories' Kaletra (ritonavir is the generic name). However civil society was pushing for Colombia to issue a compulsory license, which they stopped short of doing as far as I know. Brazil took similar measures in 2007, resulting in savings of $11.5 million a year. So whats the problem with Abbott? Why all the calls for compulsory licenses? Well, this, from the Aids Healthcare Foundation, pretty much says it all; they charge way too much, crippling countries health care spending and resulting in thousands of people going without life saving medication.

The move by Ecuador is totally legit under WTO rules, so why more countries aren't doing this is beyond me....maybe they are just structurally maladjusted beyond repair, scared to upset the price gouging pharmaceutical companies. Either way, this is a good move by Ecuador, lets hope others follow.

(image from TACD)