"the one view that has been consistent throughout is that one way or another, the government of ecuador is going to end up with half of the value of fdn and every other piece of property in the country."

I don't dispute the possibility that this is likely the eventual bottomline scenario. However, how they approach it is a fine art, which Ecuador has in no way mastered.

If they do it through conventional taxes, royalties and fees I don't think any of the investor would complain too loudly. What puts off and worries the investment community is the jingoism and hardline approach (which is what they have done). The end effect may be the same, they get the same amount of take from FDN, but the perception is the big difference.

You can do that in a business like manner (and they come willingly as friends), or do it like thieves robbing investors at gun point (call it nationalization, proctecting the nation's resources, it's still taking away assets or properties that someone else bought and paid for - and that's robbery).