Not odd at all. If he'd gone to a country with good US relations he would have been extradited. Russia and China don't want to be seen giving into requests from the US so along with Latin America were two of the safest places for him.
Yes but Latin American countries wouldn't have as much interest in his Intel as the other Russia and China. If he was just seeking asylum Ecuador would have been a much better choice for him. They have already given Assange asylum so I would think that would have been a better first option than HK.
Latin American countries also wouldn't have the power to tell the US to piss off (as we've seen in July). He asked for asylum there but there was no way he could fly to these countries.
