Alvaro Noboa

Alvaro Noboa and the PRIAN address the country

ALVARO NOBOA´S SPEECH AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY OPPOSING TAX INCREASE TO BE IMPOSED ON THE ECUADORIAN PEOPLE.

Fellow Assembly Members, I have listened, perplexed at the hatred that some of you have directed towards when the majority of you - such as the MPD party with its great leader Jaime Hurtado, whom I honored until the last, even unto his tomb, who voted in 1998 in order to open the urns in regards to electoral fraud perpetrated against me when I won the presidential elections. Equally, in the same year, 1998, Pachacutik, who was against Mahuad (and demonstrated it later in the streets) voted in great majority for my presidential election, which I won and of which I was later robbed. I would also like to say that a great number of those of List 35, including Economist Correa, voted for me in 1998. I tell you this, colleagues, because, believe me, the state of fervor in which you find yourselves is taking you along the wrong path.

This law has been created for me and, trust me, Economist Alberto Acosta, that I can explain it to everyone.

In any case, this Law, this Tax Reform, has to do with me and I am going to show you, but you in order to do so, you have to let me speak.

Fellow Assembly Members, some of those from List 35 were previously PRIAN candidates. All of you have forgotten; everyone has to have complete amnesia. All of you.

Other Assembly Members have been my teachers. And have spoken of me, as teachers, that I was a very good student and very intelligent, thank God.

Others, many of you, have been my colleagues: the attorney, Antonio Gagliardo, current Minister of Labor, was a bank colleague of mine for seven years, together with Elsa Bucaram. Fine, now I am going to show Economist Acosta (and I am sure that you also voted for me); I am going to show you how in each and every one of the cases this Tax Reform Law refers to me. Economist Correa says that in regards to inheritance, in a recent speech - imagine it - Correa says, "if we would have imposed 70% against the 2 billion dollars that Alvaro Noboa's father left him, then 1.4 billion would have gone to the state and 600 million to the inheritors and he still would have been very rich." What does that demonstrate? That his zeal has led him to impose an inheritance tax. Beyond the income tax which we have to raise against the wealthy, against people like Alvaro Noboa other Assembly Members say. Everyone is waiting for my declaration of wealth and as I don't want to hand it over (in order to avoid further political persecution in a country where there are now no constitutional guarantees) they have asked it of all the people of Ecuador, and there is no country in the world that I know of where they ask everybody to declare their wealth. It is my right to protect myself against political persecution.

Then there is the land tax. I have heard several speeches of Assembly Members here that with this we can impose a few taxes against Alvaro Noboa's farms.

Then evasion, what a coincidence, Economist Acosta, in the leaflet given regarding evasion, just guess what example they put forward. That of banana production, Economist Acosta, that of banana production, or that is to say, that there was someone else there wanting to see how they could get something out of Alvaro Noboa through banana production. Then I want to say to all of you who have been friends, teachers, colleagues, and who now are fellow Assembly Members, that I, yes, do have warmest regards towards you despite having heard no end of insults, I want to urge you to put your feelings to one side and that in trying unsuccessfully to get back at me, you are getting at the Ecuadorian people, because it is the Ecuadorian people who are going to lose their liberties when a declaration of wealth is required of them, and it is said that if one forgets one bicycle, they will prosecute, if it is convenient to the IRS man or the government. The Ecuadorian people are the ones who are going to lose their liberties; the people are the ones who are going to be impoverished; the Ecuadorians are the ones who are going to experience a higher cost of living, and with the salary increase that they have just effected, it won't be enough to cover the rise in the cost of living that this increase in taxes is going to bring about.

I would also like to remind you, my dear colleagues, because, yes, I love you as I love all Ecuadorians, I would like to remind you that with this Law, the only thing that you are going to do is prevent anyone, whether Ecuadorian or foreigner, coming here to invest in Ecuador, just like no one invests in Cuba. Believe me, colleagues, in trying unsuccessfully to injure me, you are only going to end up injuring yourselves and will end up harming Ecuador's poorest where, I repeat, the salary increase is not going to be enough for them for the inflationary rise in prices that will result.

I want to die loving Ecuador and in friendship with you. They put me on this bench, which they call the right, and they indicate to the right and to the left, and in that way they while the time away. Colleagues, leave that discourse aside. Get around to thinking, and I am available to help you in this, of how to get all Ecuadorians to produce more, to generate more money. You are not going to get anywhere with a class struggle, you are not going to achieve anything by getting the wealthy and the poor to hate each other. For that reason, Economist Acosta, you are never going to learn anything new if you don't listen and I can teach you how to become wealthy. Listen to me good, Economist, and please don't just remain in your same ways. It is no bad thing to be wealthy if you have a sense of social responsibility and I have earned this social sense and I have been recognized in all of my elections, therefore, the people don't hate me for generating employment, the people don't hate me for being the biggest employer in the country. The people love me and continue to vote for me. Forget those speeches, for that reason Economist Correa tries to insult me as little as possible, because he is insulting someone who the people love.

I want to say to you, ladies and gentlemen of the Assembly, that in the way that you are going, you are going to stop the economic growth, prices are going to rise and we are all going to suffer. Alberto, Assembly Members, get a move on.

Thank you.