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OAS TO MONITOR ECUADOR'S UPCOMING ELECTIONS

  September 20, 2002

A team of Organization of American States monitors will be sent to cover the October 20 general elections in Ecuador, under an agreement signed in Washington today with that country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

Secretary General César Gaviria signed the agreement with the Electoral Tribunal's President, Carlos Aguinaga. Ecuador's Alternate Representative to the OAS, Efraín Baus, signed a separate agreement, on behalf of his government.

Noting how the Ecuadorian electoral process would further benefit from the involvement of an OAS observation mission, the Tribunal's President recalled the ongoing presence of the OAS in Ecuador, especially during the 1998 and 2000 elections. He reassured the OAS that the upcoming elections would be free, fair, and conducted in accordance with the law.

Edgardo Reis, Principal Specialist with the OAS Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD), has been named as chief of this OAS Electoral Observation Mission.

Reference: E-187/02