(E-190/00) October 25, 2000 OAS FEATURES ECUADOR WEEK A program featuring some of the most popular Ecuadorian music, paintings and sculpture opened Ecuador Week at the Organization of American States on Monday evening. Heinz Moeller, Ecuador's Minister of Foreign Affairs, inaugurated the exhibition by thanking the OAS for being involved in and supporting his country. "This cultural presentation on Ecuador is a token of our appreciation for the continued gesture extended to us by the OAS. We always feel connected to the OAS family." Mr. Moeller, who is in the United States on a working visit, described the cultural spotlight on Ecuador as manifesting a key element of his country's foreign policy: "using it as a basic tool to seriously promote the country's unique values--cultural values in particular." Ecuador's Ambassador to the OAS Blasco Peñaherrera joined OAS Secretary General César Gaviria in praising the participating artists and the caliber of works brought together for the occasion. The Ecuador Week program opened with a performance by Hugo Noriega, a young musician regarded as one of Ecuador's celebrated classical guitarists. The exhibition featuring master artists Jorge Delgado and Zeyneb Solah de Peñaherrera and Patricio Rivera's sculpture collection "Legacy and Influence of Religious Art in Ecuador" was then declared open. Another set of paintings--by Hugo Bastidas--goes on exhibition at the OAS' Art Museum of the Americas, beginning October 26, at 6:00 p.m. **********