Foreign Relations Minister Francisco Guerrero Prats used the forum of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Ecuador to thank that organization for its collaboration and support through the mission of observers dispatched to monitor the 16 May 2004 presidential election in the DR. Guerrero Prats had praise for President Hipolito Mejia for recognizing the win of PLD candidate Leonel Fernandez only four hours after the polling stations had closed. ?With that attitude, our President offered a civic example to the political forces and generated a climate of peace and tranquility that continues during the respectful and transparent transition period,? he said.
Speaking from the Ecuadorian capital of Quito, Guerrero Prats also addressed the issue of corruption, saying it had a high degree of influence in the problems that affect the institutions and governments, and thereby entailing negative repercussions in the stability of the democratic system. As reported in El Caribe, he mentioned that corruption makes the legitimacy of the governments vulnerable and corrodes democracy.