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NEW NICARAGUAN ENVOY REITERATES SUPPORT FOR
HEMISPHERIC EFFORT TO FIGHT SECURITY THREATS, POVERTY

  August 14, 2002


Nicaragua's new Permanent Representative, Ambassador Leandro Marín Abaunza, told the Organization of American States (OAS) that the administration of President Enrique Bolaños firmly supports Central American and hemispheric integration and hemispheric collaboration to fight security threats, poverty and illiteracy.

Delivering his first address to the Permanent Council today, moments after presenting credentials to Assistant Secretary General Luigi Einaudi, the Ambassador declared as well that his Central American nation is making great effort to keep democracy alive, and stands firmly behind the new hemisphere-wide crusade against corruption. He also identified globalization and the Puebla-Panama Plan among initiatives that enjoy his government's support, as are hemispheric collaborative efforts to fight threats to security, poverty and illiteracy.

Saying he was coming with a message of fraternity from the Nicaraguan people, Ambassador Abaunza reiterated that nation's commitment to the fundamental principles of the OAS and said his President was seeking OAS support for Nicaragua's "great crusade" for transparency, governance, and its unrelenting war on corruption, poverty, unemployment "and all those scourges that beset our people."

The Ambassador hailed the OAS as the premier institution for the promotion of peace, fundamental human rights, social development for the people and for combating corruption. He thanked the Organization and its member countries for their longstanding support to his country's peace processes, democracy, and in helping to ensure free and fair elections in Nicaragua.

Ambassador Roger F. Noriega, the United States Permanent Representative, chaired the meeting which also expressed condolences to the family of former Andean Pact Secretary General and distinguished Venezuelan diplomat Sebastián Alegrett and observed a minute of silence in his memory.

The Permanent Council also congratulated Bolivia and Colombia, both of which have recently sworn in a new president, and discussed proposals for a special program to mark the first anniversary of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which was adopted last September 11 in Lima, Peru.

Reference: E-166/02