(E-193/00) November 2, 2000   OAS WRAPPING UP FIRST ROUND OF ANTI-CORRUPTION WORKSHOPS   The first round of anti-corruption workshop-conferences convened under an Organization of American States initiative will conclude in a few days in Paraguay, Ecuador and Bolivia. The program is designed to spur implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, a major priority for the hemispheric Organization. Convened primarily to consider how to bring national criminal laws in line with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption -- adopted in Venezuela in March 1996 -- the workshop-conferences are also aimed at encouraging more countries to implement the Convention to facilitate hemispheric cooperation among judicial institutions to combat the scourge of corruption. Paraguay hosted the workshop in Asunción October 23 and 24, while Ecuador's session was held in Chorlaví October 26 and 27. The workshop goes to La Paz, Bolivia, November 8 and 9. The meetings bring together senior representatives of each country's Ministry of Justice, Attorney General's Office, Supreme Court, Congress and Customs as well as non-governmental organizations, among others engaged in fighting corruption. The OAS' Department of Legal Cooperation and Information has already completed studies on national criminal laws in 12 member countries. Those studies were examined at workshop-conferences that also identified and recommended measures needed to bring the laws into conformity with the hemispheric Convention. This year's first round also took the workshop series to Panama, Nicaragua, Peru, Chile and Argentina, in addition to Paraguay, Ecuador and Bolivia. The OAS Department of Legal Cooperation and Information has scheduled a second round for next year, to cover the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The OAS has also spearheaded other initiatives aimed at preventing corruption. To date, 20 of the OAS' 34 member states have ratified the anti-corruption Convention. ********