(C-002/00) Managua, November 3, 2000 IN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS NICARAGUANS WILL REAFFIRM COMMITMENT TO DEMOCRACY, SAYS CHIEF OAS OBSERVER The November 5 municipal elections will afford Nicaraguans another opportunity to reaffirm their deep-seated commitment to democracy, says the Chief of the Organization of American States Electoral Observation Mission in Nicaragua, Santiago Murray. "As observers, we are all hoping our presence would help make election day a truly peaceful and quiet affair," declared Murray, who is leading a team of 35 observers from 19 countries of the Americas and Europe to monitor this Sunday's municipal vote in the Central American country. The observers, who bring to the Nicaragua election their vast experience in electoral processes in other countries of the region, are nationals of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, Peru, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Spain and Sweden. On November 2 the OAS Mission chief visited Puerto Cabezas, where he appealed for calm, urging Nicaraguans to refrain from acts of provocation that could taint the elections. Murray also met with senior regional officials and political leaders as well as representatives of civil society organizations, to look at measures that would enable voters to freely exercise their franchise. The OAS monitors are covering most of Nicaragua's 151 municipalities, operating from 13 regional offices set up in Nueva Segovia, Madriz, Estelí, Chinandega, León, Masaya, Carazo, Granada, Rivas, Chontales, Matagalpa, Jinotega and the North Atlantic Autonomous Region. They are engaged in a tight schedule of meetings with regional election officials, political leaders, candidates, the media and civil society organizations. A team of computer experts has also been stationed at the Supreme Electoral Council in Managua where they have been helping with the pre-election groundwork. Over the past 10 years, the OAS has conducted 53 electoral observation missions in 18 of its member states, involving more than 2,000 observers. The missions have been financed in part with contributions from OAS member states as well as Sweden, France, Finland, Japan and the Netherlands, among others. ********