REMARKS GUSTAVO M. DE LA GARZA ORTEGA UNITY LUNCHEON LULAC CONFERENCE 2008 WASHINGTON, DC

Good Afternoon, LULAC President Rosa Rosales, Honor Guests, LULAC Members, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is an honor as a Hispanic immigrant of Mexican origin to be here today on behalf of the Billetel Corporation.

What is it that I admire the most from immigrants?

It is their desire of breaking the circle. What am I talking about when I say breaking the circle? It means to get out of apathy, is to plan for a better path, it is to end with the atavism of conformism and break the chains of a status of mediocrity, it is to understand that not because our ancestors were that way, we now have to be like them as well. It is to accept that our mission in life is go always ahead and up. Break the circle is a moral commitment on excelling our previous generation. Break the circle is uplift the sight a little more, it is broaden our horizons, is intending to be, is living with a dream, is fighting for straighten the road, is, above everything, knowing that we got to be always better, because we ought and can.It is the same courage that our first immigrants had, who came to this land to found this beautiful and now powerful, beloved, admired and respected Nation.

What virtue did they have to achieve this? Attitude…...

Attitude is an intrinsic virtue, which comes inside us, however, has to be developed up to heroic levels and sacrifice, so an individual can give everything he/she can give. It is a rabid desire inside ourselves that impel us to be better and work harder. It is a sensation of haven’t fully complied with our duty. It is an internal revolution that leads us to look other paths to obtain what we have in mind. It is an indomitable character that doesn’t let us give up before the obstacles. It is internal fire that burns; it is ultimately, an invisible strength that makes us do what others can’t.

Our brothers that now emigrate from other lands; have that same attitude of those immigrants that in other times arrived also to this land with a dream: improve their personal situation.

Recently I heard an interview to an outstanding immigrant that by fighting for an ideal, got the position of Treasurer of this Nation. Rosario Marín, answering to the question of what was it that she felt most proud of, from all her achievements;She took a deep breath, her eyes got moistened and with a transparent sincerity, she said: “Have gotten to reduce the high commissions the immigrants used to pay when sending remittances”. For her, that was her brightest medal. I have the same conviction.I wish I could share that medal. This week was my 71st. Birthday; I don’t need to work anymore, in February of this year I was in St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston for two months, struggling between life and death. The Lord gave me another opportunity in life….. What for? To conclude what I had started and haven’t finished yet: To fiercely fight for this anonymous and misunderstood heroes, that like the pioneers, left their country, their land, their customs, and their families looking for new opportunities. To me, my health crisis this year was like for St. Paul, the falling from his horse by a lightning ray. Let’s not wait until we experience a falling from our horse, to react, time is passing by; it is time to do it.

As a Hispanic entrepreneur I feel proud of representing Billetel, a Hispanic company that I founded and which purpose is to design products that help more Hispanics, especially those who don’t have access to bank accounts, electronic methods of payment, those who always take the risk of carrying all their salary in cash in their pockets and who need to take care of their income in these moments of recession……with an accessible and secure method! Today we are in this important LULAC convention, an organization with which we have made an alliance, so through its councils, members, companies we are allowed to present a secure method, approved by American Payroll Association, an accessible way for those employees that don’t have a bank account yet, could benefit of a simple and secure mean….without the need of high cost transactions to cash their income, to reinforcing together with LULAC a synergy that catapult our mission.

The Billetel card is an advantageous tool for the employer and for the employee……..especially for temporary workers, on agriculture, travel, construction, transportation, gardening or unions. In Billetel we have united the telecom technology with our entrepreneurial experience to facilitate an innovative and effective help to those who don’t have bank accounts or electronic means of payment.

Our mission is to save those anonymous heroes, to end with the genocide they suffer and that prevents them from offering a piece of bread or a glass of milk to their children, in order to pay high cost transactions and because they are being chased and forced to work under unfair conditions, because genocide is to starve a sector of the population.

Let’s ease our consciences and make our alliance with LULAC stronger than ever and with all those organizations that have the same goals, so our effort will be more effective and its benefits get to more brothers, so they don’t feel abandoned to their luck for one more day.

At this stage of my life, I should be enjoying of the serenity that gives the satisfaction of the complied duty, but this serenity, seeing all this injustices, breaks and shake my conscience again, and throws me to fight again, but now for them.

I invite you to visit our Billetel booth; I appreciate your interest, I reiterate our alliance between Billetel and LULAC and congratulation for this great crusade of unity and work that now is reinforced and makes the world aware of the fact that we, Hispanics, are a united family, proud of our roots, companies and work! I know it is not a one day labor, but let’s do today what we couldn’t do yesterday or let’s do today in a better way, what we did yesterday. God bless you!!! Thanks a lot.

Gustavo M. de la Garza Ortega