In a letter in which he denounces the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for persecuting him in order to prejudice his candidacy, the PRIAN List 7 candidate for President of the Republic, Álvaro Noboa, summarizes the main governmental actions that are in clear violation of the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and delivered the letter personally to Rafael Albuquerque, the head of the mission of the Observers for the Organization of American States (OEA).
The letter points out that the Inter-American Democratic Charter (Lima 2001) states that “democracy is essential for the social, political and economic development of peoples of the Americas ” (Art. 1) the effective basis of the rule of law and of the constitutional orders of the Member States of the Organization of American States, and before all else, make known a series of situations that, in fact, impede the electoral process of Ecuador, and that, in the end, are aimed at my detriment, in light of my having been a candidate for President of the Republic on five consecutive occasions for the PRIAN.
The Ecuadorian electoral system was modified with the ideal of perfecting it and to achieve true egalitarian and equitable participation. Unfortunately, this ideal of a sovereign people of Ecuador has been defrauded by the incumbent candidate, President Rafael Correa Delgado, who, from his “privileged” position, makes use of all the measures at his disposal to cast disfavor on me as the PRIAN’s candidate, the letter indicates.
The document, signed by Álvaro Noboa, indicates that because he is leader of the PRIAN, which is the second Party with the largest number of affiliates in Ecuador, after the Government’s party, ALIANZA PAIS, I am currently facing the most bloody political persecution in the republican history of our Country.
In a summary of the most representative abuses of power, the letter states that the Government, via the IRS, came up with an audit for the fiscal year of 2005, applying adjustment for transfer prices utilizing prices that do not correspond to reality and that were never technically and legally proven by the IRS.
While the IRS is attempting to charge EXPORTADORA BANANERA NOBOA, EL SRI $49,206,895. for the fiscal year 2005, DOLE, which exports more than BANANERA NOBOA were charged $700,136.37 for the same period; CHIQUITA were charged $39,500.20; REYBANPAC were charged $14,219.11; and DEL MONTE, $11,748.13.
“There exists no real debt on the part of Exportadora Bananera Noboa S.A., nor on my part. This is an attempt to discredit my image as a person and as a politician,” he denounces, citing Carlos Marx Carrasco, the IRS Director who, on various occasion, has called me “a tax evader.”
He adds that the national government has prevented the case from being opened in order for the justice system to decide if the audit conducted by the IRS is correct, or not, besides which, the IRS issued a prohibition to leave the country against him, days before the closing date for the registration of candidates thinking thereby to intimidate me so that I would not register myself as a candidate for President of Ecuador.
“This measure, affects my legal right to reach the special electoral constituents living abroad to reveal to the emigrants my plans of government, as well as addressing regional political leaders, foreign business leaders and investors, related to my plans of government and interested in investing their capital in Ecuador. This leaves me in a condition of inequality with regard to the incumbent candidate.”
The summary of the Government’s abuses of power against him narrates the implementation of a regime of terror aimed at intimidating judges, public servants, social communicators, student, neighborhood and community directors and all those political figures who, like Álvaro Noboa, oppose their political ideology by initiating polemical legal processes against them that, on many occasions, conclude with the accused ending up in prison.
He highlights the case of Judge Augusto Posligua Galarza, who, after making a public declaration and sentence against the part of the President of the Republic, Rafael Correa, has been imprisoned for more than 120 days for having granted a Precautionary Measure to Exportadora Bananera Noboa.
Noboa makes reference to the utilization of the seized television channels, TC Television, GAMATV and CN3 for the manipulation of the editorial line of their news broadcasts, and its programming influence their audiences with the aim of benefitting the incumbent candidate and prejudicing the rest of the participants of the elections of February 17, 2013.
He also denounces the utilization of public goods and the state apparatus in order to campaign on behalf of Rafael Correa and the indiscriminate use of television channels during prime television viewing time with the only aim of prejudicing the image of opposition candidates, and, in particular, Álvaro Noboa for being the most likely candidate in this electoral race.
The letter concludes with: What has been related is a clear violation of the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, being an obligation that “The electoral observation missions shall advise the Permanent Council, through the General Secretariat, if the necessary conditions for free and fair elections do not exist.” (Art. 25), the reason for which I direct myself to you with this present denunciation.”
Download the Letter of Álvaro Noboa denounces the Political Persecution of the IRS to the OAS and all irregularities in the electoral process.
| Company Name | 2005 |
| EXPORTADORABANANERA NOBOA, INC | $49,206,895.28,PLUS INTEREST AND FINES |
| DOLE | $700,136.37 |
| CHIQUITA | $39,500.20 |
| REYBANPAC | $14,219.11 |
| DEL MONTE | $11,748.13 |