Title: Rafael Correa - Radio Program #63

Source: Gualaceo radio channel

Date: April 5, 2008

Rafael Correa:

There are incredible things in this country... I make a call to all citizens.

We are in a state of national emergency, 40% of the territory is flooded, prices are on the

rise, roads are interrupted, there are close to 50 people dead. We are in an external

emergency because of the aggression of March 1st, and there are irresponsible and

foolish people that are making preventive strikes to the national government because we

do not take into consideration their demands...because we do not execute their demands:

To immediately close all of the mining concessions, to nationalize the petroleum and the

hydro-electric plants.

I can show you the demands of these foolish, irresponsible, and irrational groups and on

top of all this we have to endure road blockages etc. all of it caused by two hundred

people, they are not even representative!

It is enough already compatriots!

It is enough!

For how long are we going to put up with these kinds of people that are equally or more

damaging than the right-wing groups? I’ve always said that certain radical left-wing

groups that speak on behalf of the poor, of ecology, are the most dangerous...they are the

most dangerous for our project.

These people went to the elections and got only 1% of the votes, but forcefully they want

to impose their agenda on us...their politics.

It is enough!

How could there be so much irresponsibility, so much indolence, so much lack of

solidarity with the problems the country has! And they occupy themselves by blocking

roads!

I want to tell you gentlemen that all of this is illegal!!!

Everyone has the right to protest.

What is the name of The Coordinator for the Defense of Life...? What a fancy name! But

they are just a handful of nobodies.

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If

Here, law, order and democratic legitimacy will prevail.

And I call upon all the civilized citizens of this country.

If they have 200 we have 200,000.

Denounce these unpatriotic people…these foolish irrationals …combat them!!

If you see they are going out, go and tell them not to be irresponsible.

Condemn them socially!

Enough already of these irresponsible anarchists!!!

You will see how tomorrow I’ll be in all the articles… the negative news articles: Correa

is on the side of the mining companies… How is it possible that he calls the fighters of

social protest “unpatriotic”?

Let us not be deceived!

There are some leaders here that make a living out of this and they don’t have anything to

lose, they are used to creating chaos…they live and eat off this… the gentleman Salvador

Quishpe; put him through an intelligence test and see how much he scores…but also put

him up for elections and see how much he scores…and this is the leader who wants to

impose his agenda on us…go somewhere else with that story Sir!

There are some other leaders here – and the Ecuadorian people have to know who they

are – who are the ones that in the midst of a national emergency and with such a terrible

external problem, want to anarchize the country because we are not giving them what

they want.

How much longer are we going to put up with this? People of my country! Get organized

humble citizens, the victims of the road blockages get organized, condemn, denounce

these groups. If they have 200 we have 200,000. We cannot let ourselves be boycotted,

we cannot let ourselves be dominated, we cannot let ourselves be intimidated by these

handful of insensate people:

Salvador Quishpe

Campos Mendieta (...)

Lawyer Tarquino Cajamarca, councilman for the canton Limon, be attentive Limon...

instead of building roads Cajamarca is closing roads! If he wants to impose the mining

and petroleum politics on a national level he has to win the Presidency of the Republic

because according to the constitution and much to the distress of this lawyer, the one that

imposes these policies is the one that won the Presidency of the Republic.

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Mr.

Mr. Marcos Ochoa, proprietor of Limon Radio, agitator

Mrs. Aída Astudillo, wife of Tarquino Cajamarca, agitator

Teacher Franklin Reinoso, agitator

Enough already!!!

And there are still some others...

Lidia Solis

And...what is the name of this lady…oh! it is almost impossible even to talk about

her...Lina Solano... please this lady...we have to send her to a psychiatrist, this is crazy!

And those are the people that pretend to be leaders…the other day she denounced that it

was the government’s fault because we didn’t want to dialogue with her... I don’t have to

dialogue with her...Who does she represent?...She doesn’t even represent her own family.

Enough already!!!

Enough already!!!

I want to tell you compatriots what for me is fundamental.

That this has zero tolerance.

I will not cede on this one!

This is a fundamental thing.

As a researcher of the national reality, I know that one of the greatest national problems

is anarchy. The decomposition that we have lived through which is the breeding ground

for leaders of the lowest category, irresponsible and even tremendously limited at an

intellectual level…they don’t have much to lose…they are corrupt and don’t be surprised

that a lot of these pseudo leaders are being paid by mining-transnationals in order to

impede the mining activity in the country.

I am not in favour of the mining activity; I am in favour of good judgment.

If the mining activity was bad then why does Norway, the most developed country in the

world, have mines?

If the mining activity is against ancestral indigenous rights, then why does Evo Morales

in Bolivia, the first indigenous President of the continent, with an indigenous population

of more than 60%, have the mining activity as the basis of its economy?

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All

They are almost useful fools.

But I am telling you in advance gentleman, I know the criticism that is coming…it is

funny how some newspapers and certain media play this game, they have always

criticized these groups but if I criticize them today, they are going to be with them

…Ortiz became an ecologist because of the problems with the sharks. That is the

hypocrisy of some pseudo journalists.

I am ready to take the plunge, you already know me.

I will not continue to allow a handful of irresponsible people who are not

representative of anybody to install the chaos in the country without any legitimacy

or legality, and to try to impose their agendas - agendas that are insensate, absurd

and irrational.

I am going to post the demands of these groups, The Coordinator for Life etc., on the web

for you.

The immediate nationalization of petroleum: As if Petro Ecuador could take on the

burden of exploitation from all of the other companies;

Complete closure of all the mines: It doesn’t matter is they file five hundred lawsuits

against us and we lose thousands of millions of dollars;

The immediate closure of hydro-electric plants: yeah!..to start working with the thermo

electric plants that consume more fuel.

Besides being illegitimate and illegal it is totally absurd, deficient and irrational.

But these are the groups that without any legitimacy want a country in chaos.

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Enough already!!!

I make a call to all citizens, but above all to the citizens of the Austro, in order to

counteract those pseudo groups of irresponsible people that want to boycott this citizen’s

project and who are playing with the right-wing because of their irrationality and

senselessness.

And, to that great majority of citizens that trust their government, please do support your

government and counteract those minuscule groups that want to harm us greatly and that

want to impose their agenda on us regardless if they haven’t even won the elections of the

local parent board at their children schools.

Thank you,

Rafael Correa