(E-218/01) October 23,  2001   FIGHT CORRUPTION TOGETHER, NICARAGUA AMBASSADOR URGES               Nicaragua's Ambassador Lombardo Martínez Cabezas, who is Chairman of the Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics, today called on Organization of American States (OAS) member countries to fight corruption in the Americas.              The Nicaraguan diplomat issued his appeal as he opened a meeting of the Working Group, explaining that the aim of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption—adopted in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1996—was to promote and strengthen mechanisms to prevent, detect, punish and eradicate the scourge.  According to Martínez, "corruption threatens democracy by consuming and illegally diverting resources to private use, at the expense of social expenditure and economic development."  He observed that corruption also creates "a more unsafe atmosphere characterized as well by distrust which leads to more inequity and, by extension, instability."              Vowing to put "every emphasis on implementing mechanisms and incentives for member states that have not yet done so to sign, ratify and implement the hemispheric anti-corruption treaty,” Ambassador Martínez said the Working Group will continue to promote social responsibility by private enterprise, "and ensure that civil society and the private sector are consulted on a regular basis."              The Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics is responsible for developing a mechanism to monitor implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption to promote social responsibility by businesses in the Americas and to consider other issues relating to strengthening probity.              The meeting elected Chile's Alternate Representative Miguel Angel González as Vice Chairman of the Working Group, which falls under the purview of the OAS's Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs.   ******