Álvaro Noboa: May God be with you, Ecuadorians. In the overview that I have taken across all of Ecuador, I have encountered two critical problems that I wish to deal with in this press conference.
The first concerns young people. I would like to say to the young people of Ecuador that I firmly believe that university should be free, that there should not be an entrance exam, and that every young person should be able to choose the profession that they wish to study. That is my commitment to young people. I went to the State University of Ecuador in the year 1969. I was part of the “29 de Mayo” movement where our achievement was that there were no entrance exams, that university be free and that we could choose the profession that we wished to study for. This should be re-established once more in Ecuador.
The second issue concerns the poor neighborhoods that have been neglected; their existence throughout Ecuador forgotten.
I commit myself, when I am President, to giving special help to the municipalities in order for the streets of those poor neighborhoods to be paved, given that they are full of dirt, dust and lacking asphalt.
Number two, that there should be water, not from a delivery tank, but via canalization and at low cost.
Third, that there is low-cost electricity.
Fourth, that there be sewer systems. That will transform those neighborhoods that have been completely forgotten into neighborhoods that are like those in which the middle class of Ecuador live.
That is my commitment to the poor, and I would like to tell you so. Thank you very much. Glory to God and long live Ecuador.
