In Standoff Over Assange, Ecuadoreans Close Ranks Meridith Kohut for The New York Times A family walks by graffiti in Quito that says, "Assange is coming ..." Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has taken refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London. GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador - Juan José Illingworth has English bona fides that are hard to beat. He is the sixth-generation namesake of an Englishman who became one of Ecuador's national heroes, fighting for independence from Spain, helping to lead the young nation, founding its naval academy and drafting the law that freed the country's slaves. But for all of Mr. Illingworth's keen appreciation of his family's ties to the old sod, when the British authorities threatened last month to enter Ecuador's embassy in London to seize the asylum-seeking founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, his sentiments went decidedly against Mother England. "I've always believed that an embassy is a bulwark of protection," said Mr. Illingworth, a software executive and a former legislator. England cannot violate that. Bear in mind, Mr. Illingworth is no fan of Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, who made the decision to grant asylum to Mr. Assange. And like others here, he sees political motives behind the move. Mr. Correa certainly has a predilection for grand public stances that portray him as fearless and defiant, whether he is daring rebellious police officers to kill him if they are "brave enough," kicking out the World Bank's representative, expelling the American ambassador or refusing to let the American military use a prominent base on Ecuadorean soil. But when the tussle over Mr. Assange turned into a fight pitting tiny Ecuador against a powerful and imperious Britain, many in this politically divided country rallied around him. Miriam Vilela, 40, a seamstress, who sat on a recent afternoon in Navy Park here near a statue of Mr. Illingworth's famous relative, had only a vague notion of who Mr. Assange was, recalling merely that he had "something to do with the Internet." But what she was clear about was that Britain had tried to bully Ecuador, and she was glad that Mr. Correa had stood his ground. It reminded her of a phrase used by a former president of Ecuador, Sixto Durán Ballén, to rally the country during its 1995 war with Peru. "Not one step backward," said Ms. Vilela, who supports Mr. Correa because of his policies that help the poor. Never retreat. What's ours is ours. Britain ultimately backed off its threat to invade the embassy, and Ecuador said this week that it would resume talks aimed at resolving the standoff. There seemed to be little hope for a quick fix, however. Mr. Assange, who has taken refuge in the embassy since June 19 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on allegations that he sexually assaulted two women, told Telesur, a channel based in Venezuela, that he expected to remain in the building for 6 to 12 months. Still, London is far away, and large numbers of Ecuadoreans are busy worrying about making ends meet. On the streets of Guayaquil, the country's biggest city, and Quito, the capital, more than half of the people questioned said they had not heard of Mr. Assange or of the embassy standoff. Nonetheless, a few walls in Quito have been spray-painted with an end-of-days-like slogan: "Assange is coming. Get ready. There have been a handful of small rallies in support of Mr. Assange's asylum and against Britain's bullying. Last Sunday, a half-dozen activists showed up at the main square in Quito, Independence Plaza, taking turns holding up a large banner that said "Welcome Assange" and another one calling for a ban on bullfighting. Felipe Ogaz, 34, one of the activists, said that he would gladly offer Mr. Assange the use of the couch in his two-room apartment, if he ever made it to Ecuador. "He is an icon who has made Ecuador be seen not just as a small country but as something important," said Patricio Melo, 26, a student who passed by and took a couple of posters of Mr. Assange. Mr. Correa has made many broadly popular changes, improving health care, education, roads and social services. But he is a lightning rod and delights in picking fights and taunting his opponents. He has been criticized by human rights groups for cracking down on popular protests and by dissident groups for seeking to intimidate and restrict the press. In granting asylum to Mr. Assange and butting heads with Britain, Mr. Correa both stirred a sense of national pride and confirmed some skeptics" views of him. Carlos Soria, 45, the owner of a tiny hardware store near the Quito airport, said he cherished Ecuador's tradition of offering refuge to those who need it and approved of giving asylum to Mr. Assange. "We had to do it for humanitarian reasons," he said. But Mr. Soria, who said he had never voted for Mr. Correa and did not plan to in the future, questioned the president's motives. "I think he did it to get a political advantage, to increase his popularity," he said. This president is always trying to draw attention to himself.