Ecuador's Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Blasco Peñaherrera, has reaffirmed his country's commitment to safeguarding and consolidating the democratic system of government, entrusted to the OAS by Resolution 1080, adopted at the General Assembly in 1991 in Santiago, Chile.

In his remarks to the Permanent Council, the Ecuadorian diplomat said exercising the principle of non-intervention calls for "a proper balance between the imperative to observe it and the need for broader and firmer action to consolidate democracy around the hemisphere."

Peñaherrera also conveyed the appreciation of the government and people of Ecuador for the Organization's intervention in the wake of events that took place in that country last January. He described as the OAS intervention as "timely, efficient, decisive and clear," but warned that "the after-effects of the frustrated upheavals are still being felt."

A lawyer and journalist by profession, Peñaherrera previously served as ambassador to the OAS from 1993 to 1996 and was Ecuador's Vice President from 1984 to 1988. He presented credentials to OAS Assistant Secretary General Luigi Einaudi last month.

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