Ambassador Esteban Tomic Errázuriz presented credentials to Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General César Gaviria on Wednesday as the new Permanent Representative of Chile. He reiterated his government's "firm commitment to OAS efforts to strengthen democracy."

Ambassador Errázuriz praised the Secretary General's role "in helping preserve democratic governments that have had to deal with disruptions in their constitutional order." He also commended Mr. Gaviria's support for the inter-American human rights institutions.

He remarked, however, that democracy would not be defend or promoted effectively "unless we tackle at the same time the problems that come with underdevelopment. These problems affect a large segment of the Hemisphere's people." He observed as well that nowhere else in the Americas was there any institution other than the OAS, that brings together all the players and enables them to promote democracy on many levels.

Receiving the letters of accreditation, Mr. Gaviria said Chile has played an outstanding role in the Organization and in the 1998 Second Summit of the Americas that country hosted. "The mission of the OAS is to respond to new challenges and entrench democracy around the Hemisphere to redress problems, and Chile has a vital role to play in that regard," he stressed.

Ambassador Tomic studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University in Chile and holds a doctorate from the University of Lérida in Spain. From 1968 to 1973 he served as a foreign service officer in Chile's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then went to live in Italy and Venezuela. He returned to Chile in 1984 to practice law and pursue teaching and politics.

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