Lenin Moreno

Ecuador has revoked the citizenship of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks who is currently in a British prison.

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Ecuador's justice system formally notified the Australian of the nullity of his naturalization in a letter that came in response to a claim filed by the South American country's Foreign Ministry.

Eight South American countries that are part of the regional PROSUR bloc are coordinating their response to the new coronavirus, said Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno, quoted by the DPA.

Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, Peru and Guyana have agreed to "unify measures for the entry of people into each country," Moreno wrote on Twitter.

Five civilians, including an indigenous driver, have died in protests over rising gas prices in Ecuador, France Press reported.

Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno on April 14 defended his decision to overturn Julian Assange's asylum status, claiming in an interview with the Guardian newspaper that the WikiLeaks founder had tried to set up a "center for spying" in Ecuador's London embassy.

WikiLeaks creator was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, police said. 47-year-old Julian Assange has been detained by London City Police officers at the Ecuadorian Embassy on an order issued by the Westminster Magistrates Court on June 29, 2012 for failing to appear in court.

WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange must eventually leave the Ecuadorean embassy where he has been holed up for the past six years, the country's president says.

Speculation about Assange's future has grown in recent days after reports senior officials from Ecuador and Britain were now in discussion about how to remove him from the embassy after revocation of his asylum.

Ecuador's new president Lenin Moreno warned Julian Assange on May 25 not to interfere in the politics of the South American country, whose embassy the WikiLeaks founder has lived in for the past five years.

Ecuador will hold a run-off presidential election in April after a hard fought and inconclusive first round, the electoral commission said Feb. 22.

The voting is being watched closely to see if oil-producing Ecuador will become the latest leftist-run country in Latin America to shift to the right.