TEXTUAL TRANSCRIPTION 

Arroba Ditto: Eight fifteen in the morning. That’s my Barcelona! That’s my Barcelona! That’s my Barcelona! My dear friends. What a moment. Barcelona fans, root of the Astillero. My dear Economist, what a good topic.

Oswaldo Calderón:  Very nice.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Barcelona fans, root of the Astillero. And how many people have given a show of force for Barcelona to be champion! Among them there is also one, Mr. Attorney, Álvaro Noboa, who contributed $700,000 to the team. Those $700,000 do you know, were they given, loaned?

Oswaldo Calderón:  It’s been mentioned that it was loaned, then later that it was a contribution. A contribution from Grupo Noboa to the Barcelona Sporting Club. That detail needs to be precisely established.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Yes, right, so let’s try to call Attorney Álvaro Noboa in order to see what he can tell us about the issue. What can Álvaro Noboa tell us about this issue. Let’s see if we can reach Attorney Álvaro Noboa, my dear Lucho, to talk with him. Eight sixteen in the morning. Eight sixteen. Here we have Counselor Noboa. Counselor. Are you there?  Good day from Radio Sucre headquarters of CADENAR Satellite.

Álvaro Noboa:  How are you, Vicente. Good morning, Ecuadorians.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Look, my dear Attorney, happy here with the win of Barcelona, but you contributed $700,000. In what form? Was it a gift? A donation? A loan? You could tell us about this.

Álvaro Noboa:  I loaned it because although Barcelona is in its most important historical moment – which has cost it a lot – together with the previous bad administration – has left Barcelona in a difficult economic situation. So, then, at this moment, it needed support and for over 50 years Barcelona has always received the support of Grupo Noboa. Remember Barcelona’s first important shirt was from Quaker, then under the Isidro Romero administration, Grupo Noboa contributed a lot and again, with such merit on the part of Antonio Noboa and Luis Noboa Ycaza, they deserved support once more, especially at this moment.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Counselor Noboa, and how is Barcelona going to pay those $700,000 now?

Álvaro Noboa:  I don’t exactly know when it’s going to be able to pay, because the economic ceiling that they have is strong, but from there we’ll wait until they can. They calculate two months, but we’ll see when.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Are you charging them any interest?

Álvaro Noboa:  It went through one of the companies and according to the law they have to charge the Banco Central minimum, by law because the Treasury does not accept any loan being made without interest.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Correct, Counselor. And what possibility is there that it could be paid for through advertising in one of the Barcelona uniforms, and they don’t need to debilitate the monies that Barcelona needs so much?

Álvaro Noboa:  What a lot of people are asking me to do is to try to get a great football player for Noche Amarilla [Exhibition Match]. That it really be a big surprise. Because we have already won this championship, but now it’s time for the Copa Libertadores, and for Barcelona to be champion, hopefully, of the Copa Libertadores.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  But here it’s being said, we said yesterday via Radio Sucre, that Acosta had quit, that it was the last game this week and he would move to Universidad de Chile. Is there any truth to that? Do you know anything about it?

Álvaro Noboa:  I don’t have those details. I have given my nephews Antonio Noboa and Luis Noboa all of my support, the soccer merit is completely their own. My grain of sand is simply supporting them.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Now, what truth is there to you giving away tickets to the stadium for this game?

Álvaro Noboa:  There is a raffle now. I don’t exactly know the details, but you can get tickets, there are a few tickets that we were able to get at the last minute, not very many. There are a few tickets but they’re very sought after and every little while throughout every day, via Twitter, they raffle them off, a raffle to get those tickets.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Okay, Counselor. Really, do you think this last match should be played on Saturday or Sunday?

Álvaro Noboa:  Saturday, because it’s possible, according to the law, to celebrate on that day. If someone wants to have a beer, or wine, or whatever they want, they can. On Sunday, there is a dry law, and that’s a problem.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  On the other hand, last night there were a number of incidents in various sectors. They attacked the changing rooms in the Monumental, a number of things were destroyed. There were 16 wounded, both contusions and injuries. Wouldn’t Saturday be more dangerous than Sunday? Because of the prohibition to sell alcohol on Sunday.

Álvaro Noboa:  Unfortunately, there is always a bad apple that dedicate itself to committing outrages, but it’s not the majority of the population. It’s up to the Police to control those badly behaved people, those people who behave badly.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Did you celebrate Barcelona’s win last night?

Álvaro Noboa:  I celebrated it with Toño and Lucho at the Tennis Club and then with a group of friends. Jorge Volpe was there, my cousin Roberto Ponce, the owners of Sumesa were there, the father, the son and their wives. Roberto Ponce’s wife was there, too, my neice, María de los Ángeles Navarrete. Ana Luis Pérez, the daughter of Alfonso Pérez and Patricia Suárez were there. Everyone was there. We had a glass of champagne in honor of Barcelona.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  In any case, you had a late night, my dear Counselor?

Álvaro Noboa:  (laughs) A bit, a bit.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  In any case, we’ll let you sleep, we’ll let you get back to sleep.

Álvaro Noboa:  I’ve got to work very early and I have to campaign. This week I visited two regions. I was in Milagro, and in Empalme, and today I am going to Daule.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Okay, Counselor, then keep on working. A good bath and then keep on working for Barcelona and for the country.

Álvaro Noboa:  Thank you, thank you very much.  Thank you for this great interview, and also for the support that you are giving Barcelona. I am doing it for the people of Ecuador, because I think this triumph will bring great happiness to the people of Ecuador.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Okay, my dear Counselor, thank you. The situation is clear. Thank you very much to Attorney Álvaro Noboa who has openly supported Barcelona. He said it, it’s not a gift, it’s a loan at the time that Barcelona needed it. He said that they are going to pay it in two months, in three months, with bank interests.  And it’s not to him, but to one of the companies, that is to say, about it being given, “I am giving it to Barcelona because I’m in a political campaign.” NOT at all. It’s simply a loan. He is loaning it to the nephews because they are with Barcelona. They will return the money with its interest because it’s not being exchanged for advertising. No. It has to be paid back. What I am going to do is to bring in a player for the Copa. Who he is going to announce on Noche Amarilla. We didn’t know that, it’s a scoop for Radio Sucre, my dear economist.

Oswaldo Calderón:  Very good information! What I liked best was the laugh.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  He was sleeping.

Oswaldo Calderón:  He’d been celebrating.

Vicente Arroba Ditto:  Congratulations, my dear Attorney, that they do so, the group of individuals who have supported the team.