Ecuadoreans, an unfortunate event has occurred today.
Mr. Jose Sanchez, my bodyguard, friend and colleague for more than 20 years, was attacked and shot by two criminals riding a motorcycle.
I have just visited him in intensive care unit at the Alcivar hospital, and thank God doctors could save his life, and I hope he returns very soon to work.
I take this moment to ask the people of Ecuador to support President Lenin Moreno in his fight against corruption and his fight against crime, of which we are all victims, both the country and individuals like Jose Sanchez.
Let us leave aside the ideologies, let us stand united as a country, and support President Lenin Moreno to get ahead of this moral crisis, of this criminal crisis, this financial crisis in which the country is plunged, and this moral crisis.
Mr. Lenin Moreno, I am ready to support you in what you need, to build a better Ecuador, an Ecuador that becomes a place where there is justice and where people can live in peace.
Questions
Q: Mr. Noboa, what were the circumstances of the robbery?
A: We do not know. It all happened as I just described. I was informed he was driving his car early in the morning, he was not with me, and two armed people on a motorcycle approached him.
Jose is the best security professional I have ever met. He responded to the shots with shots, one of the criminals fled the scene, and the other is in jail.
Q: There is talk of he carrying a considerable amount of money in his car. What is true about that?
A: No, no. There was not a considerable amount of money. Therefore, that is false.
Q: What did the criminals want to steal in this case?
A: There are times; unfortunately, the delinquency in Ecuador is such that you get robbed for $ 200 or $ 500, for a gold ring or a cell phone.
Q: Mr. Noboa, considering the request you make, and your signs of support to the President, are you ready to dialogue with him too?
I have always been open to dialogue with him, if you remember, even during the election campaign, I always said that only a united Ecuador could move forward.
I also want to give you an example of two socialist countries, President Lenin Moreno is a socialist himself, and these countries took different paths.
Chile, and its president, Mrs. Bachelet, whom I know, took a socialist way, but in order to produce, it was necessary to promote production, to protect production internationally as the Chinese do, who are also socialists.
And the other path, that of Mr. Maduro and the Castro family. Maduro in Venezuela and the Castro family are also socialists, but they took an authoritarian path, an entirely wrong path in their economic rules, and found failure.
So I wish that Mr. Lenin Moreno reconsiders and thinks well, and takes measures such as Chile did, such as China did.
Chile is today one of the countries whose per capita income is one of the highest in Latin America.
Q: Have not you had a rapprochement with the Government, within this framework of dialogue it has promoted?
A: Not yet, because I also said that I am ready to support Mr. Lenin Moreno in a difficult financial situation of the country and at a quite difficult political moment. Then, I’ve waited for him to get out of this crisis so I wish we could meet because he obviously has a tight agenda now.
Q: Mr. Noboa, do you think that in the wake of the problems involving Vice President Jorge Glas, he should resign from his post?
A: Look, I support President Lenin Moreno in his fight against corruption. It will be in the hands of the judges to define a way for Glas; it is in the hands of President Lenin Moreno whether he wants to demand Glas´ resignation. (I)