MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ecuador's govt gets support from OAS

The OAS will maintain diplomatic relations with the new government of Ecuador, headed by Alfredo Palacio, the former vice president whom the nation's Congress named to replace President Lucio Gutierrez after it summarily removed the latter from office on April 20

Speaking for the group after a two-day fact-finding mission, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said at a press conference in Quito on Saturday that the South American Community does not need to recognize Palacio's government, only the Ecuadorian state. The organization plans to release a report on its visit within the next few days, he said.

His own government, Brazil, he noted, "does not engage in the practice of recognizing governments," but maintains "state-to-state relations." In Ecuador, "a government has control of the population, in the best sense of the word, and of the territory. Therefore, we will maintain a relationship with it, and we have already exchanged diplomatic notes" to that effect, he said.

Amorim refused to comment on the political events that led up to Gutierrez's removal and flight to Brazil.

"We do not want to emit a value judgment. That is a task for Ecuadorians, and for history," Amorim underscored. "Our concern is not to support one or another government. Our concern is to support Ecuador's institutional system," he insisted.

The solution to Ecuador's political problems "is a matter for Ecuadorians, and we are prepared to cooperate" in that task, he noted. "We all have to learn from our hits and misses," he continued insisting that the strengthening of democracy in Latin America must be accompanied by "social justice" and a striving to defeat poverty and unemployment.