Alvaro Noboa

I invite Economist Rafael Correa to a public debate

I understand that it is difficult for you to accept this invitation because you lost to me the last time that you did, in the first round of presidential elections in 2006, the last time in which there were free elections in Ecuador. But the situation that this country - which is on the edge of an abyss - is going through demands you face these problems together with me.

The entire country will be watching and listening to the realities we are going through: a growth rate of merely 1% of Ecuador while petroleum is at record levels. That is to say, it will take us another 100 years, until 2110, to reach the level of development in which countries like the United States, Germany and China find themselves. The worst thing, Economist, is that China is growing at an annual rate of 8-10%, that is to say, in the year 2110 they will have outstripped us, not by 100 years, as they are doing at the moment, but by 300 years, given the speed of their development. We should debate, Economist, about why, today, 50% of Ecuadorians are in a state of misery; 40% of Ecuadorians are in poverty, and only 10% of Ecuadorians exist in better conditions. We should debate why the greater majority of those 10% work for your government; we should debate about the economic fall of the middle class, of the impoverishment of that middle class in Ecuador, of why more of them emigrate all the time. We should debate the numbers of Ecuadorian neighborhoods that are still without water, without paved roads, without sidewalks and curbs.

We should debate the delinquency that preys upon the poor, the middle classes, and all of Ecuadorians. We should debate the corruption threatening your government, and how we have become a country in which drug trafficking and money laundering flourish, and where criminals and terrorists from the world over come and go as if they were at home. We should analyze the problem of our budget deficit and the problems which are bringing Ecuador to the point of having to abandon, in a short while, the dollar. Nobody wants that, but that is where we are heading, Economist. We should speak of the lack of housing. Half of Guayaquil and many cities throughout Ecuador still have houses only made of cane. We should speak of the Social Security crisis and how there will be no money for services for its members, given that the State is asking for loans from funds belonging to the members to cover the costs of government emergencies. We should debate why Ecuadorian and foreign businesses are leaving the country; we should talk about how, in Ecuador, we no longer exist under a state of law: the Court fears your government, which takes away its independence and its capacity to create justice. We should talk about how the same thing occurs with the press and how, for the most part, there is no free press in Ecuador.

We should debate about the inflation of prices and how the cost of living has almost doubled in the 3 years of your government. We should debate about how unemployment has risen and risen. We should speak about how the IRS is used as a political tool to intimidate politicians and businessmen, bringing about their bankruptcy of many businesses or their closure and greater and greater and greater unemployment. Don't send the IRS to collect $90 million in taxes for 2005 from Bananera Noboa, or announce that audits are going to be carried out for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Don't do that when you have collected between $200,000 and $700,000 dollars from other exporters for 2005 for exporting the same volume, while wanting to collect 300 more from Bananera Noboa. Neither they, nor Bananera Noboa deserves that. Exportadora Bananera Noboa today has a capital of less than $10,000,000 dollars, therefore the only thing that you will achieve is to bankrupt it, and to leave more Ecuadorians unemployed, as well as ruining banana and tropical fruit producers, pallet services, transporters, and thousands upon thousands of persons who work directly and indirectly for the business. Bankrupting Exportadora Bananera Noboa, or any other leading business of the Noboa Group, such as Industrial Molinera, or indeed any Ecuadorian business, will only bring about the further fall of the economy, and more unemployment and crisis in Ecuador. Economist Rafael Correa, I was disappeared and tortured under the dictatorship of 1973, I was taken to the wall to be shot, and at the last moment, they didn't shoot. That made me love life even more, and to never fear death, nor anybody else. Therefore, I am not afraid of you. You are wasting your time trying to intimidate me. My life has been that of a patriot; a servant of God and of all Ecuadorians. The Ecuadorian people recognized that with their vote and their massive support. I am the biggest employer in Ecuador and one of the biggest businessmen in this country. In 1995 I served this country successfully as President of the Monetary Fund and the Central Bank.

The presidency was stolen from me in 1998, a period in which you supported and voted for me: I clearly recall your telephone conversations. I have served the poor with funds from my foundation, the New Humanity Crusade Foundation, for more than 30 years via mobile clinics, by giving students scholarships and computers; I have given handicapped people wheelchairs; loans to micro-businesses.

I have fought, and all my life will continue to fight to eradicate the poverty of this country. It brings me joy to raise our level of education; it makes me happy to attract national and foreign investment to generate more employment. I have fought to bring an end to unemployment and poverty in this country; my dream is for Ecuador to become one of the poles of global development and for Ecuadorians to have the salaries of a Swedish, North American, British, French or Chilean citizen, and that they have cement houses, cars, education and secure neighborhoods. This will be impossible if we continue growing 1% annually under your government.

Economist Rafael Correa, come out from under the influence of Colonel Chavez. Ecuador wants to be a free and independent country, and the heroes of our Independence died to be free and independent.

Let's publicly debate this. If you want to persecute me, ruin me, take away my freedom because I won the first round of elections against you in 2006, if you want to attack me because you think I am a threat to you, don't send third-parties to intimidate me. Come yourself. Instead of ruining businesses and leaving Ecuadorians unemployed, present yourself to a debate with me where we will discuss, before all Ecuadorians, the critical state in which the country finds itself. We should then invite all Ecuadorians to propose solutions and to work together to take the country forward.

My biggest dream, Economist Correa, is not, as many would believe, to become President: I already won the presidency on my first try in 1998. My biggest dream is for Ecuador to reach the levels of development of the United States, China, Sweden and Chile, and for that to happen we have to debate, we have to search for the truth, we have to analyze, we have all of us - whether liberal, communist, 21st century socialist, Christian socialist, lucista, independent, a member of indigenous movements, white, mestizo, black, Indian, poor or rich - to look for solutions together, to unite and to work together for Ecuador.

Your desire to destroy me and to destroy anyone who opposes you will only bring about the destruction of the country. We should debate the possible loss of the dollar currency given your government's treasury deficit. We know that if that happens, you will not be able to give the Human Development voucher received by around one million Ecuadorians. Tell those citizens the truth, prepare them for the heavy blow they are going to receive, let's look for solutions to generate dignified employment for them. Don't fear the debate, fear the darkness, fear the isolation, you have fought with everyone. light, truth, is the best thing for all of Ecuador. Let's find solutions now to get ahead. I ask God to bless Ecuador, and I ask God to enlighten all Ecuadorians.

Let's find solutions through public debate; later on, let's invite all the sectors of the country to debate and to search together for solutions.

Consensus is the ideal. Majorities, at times, leave very discontented minorities. If you do not accept this debate, if you do not look for solutions for the crisis together with all Ecuadorians, the public will in any case, with or without you, look for solutions to not sink further.

Economist Rafael Correa, you will not shut me up, nor stop my fight by intimidating me, by ruining the businesses in which I work, by taking away my freedom or by persecuting me. I will be quiet and die peacefully only when Ecuador will have attained a level of development in which all Ecuadorians have comfortable cement housing, cars, modern education, health, safe neighborhoods without crime, and when Ecuadorians can live prosperously, in freedom, without fear and in a state of happiness.

Glory to God, long live Ecuador.
May God bless us all.
Thank you very much.