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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PRESIDENT PRAISES OAS ROLE

  July 23, 2002



President Hipólito Mejía of the Dominican Republic today praised the Organization of American States for its longstanding support to the consolidation of democracy in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean nation.

Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Luigi Einaudi received President Mejía at OAS Headquarters, where they discussed a range of hemispheric issues as well as the Organization's cooperation activities in the Dominican Republic.

The President afterwards addressed the member state Ambassadors at an informal meeting, and praised the role the OAS has historically taken in assisting his country's development, citing among other notable instances the Organization's involvement in settling the problems that stemmed from the Dominican revolution of the mid-1960s. "[The OAS played] a very positive role, for which the Dominican people and the country's democracy remain very grateful," Mejía declared.

Noting the solid democracy the Dominican Republic now enjoys, the President said the important contribution of the OAS played a key role in that process. He also singled out the Organization's "decisive" role in ensuring the elections of August 16, 2000 were "clean and transparent."

Among other priorities the President outlined in his government's effort to improve the quality of life for Dominicans, he touched on the aggressive agricultural development policy as well as initiatives for better housing, environmental health and programs to combat illiteracy and unemployment.

President Mejía was accompanied by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Hugo Tolentino Dipp, and the Permanent Representative to the OAS, Ambassador Ramón Quiñones, among others.

Reference: E-147/02