Caracas, March 25. Today, at an extraordinary meeting, the Latin American Council of SELA adopted a programme to facilitate the payment of the debt which some of its 28 Member States have accumulated with the organization.

SELA’s maximum decision-making authority, the Latin American Council, adopted Decision 414 on the occasion of its VIII Extraordinary Meeting, which took place today. The Deputy Minister of Venezuela, Ambassador Jorge Valero, and the Permanent Secretary of SELA, Ambassador Carlos Moneta, opened the meeting.

When the Venezuelan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs took the floor, he emphasized the importance, which the government of President Hugo Chavez grants to SELA due to the "efforts it makes to formulate responses in view of the international dynamics, which calls for original and creative formulas."

In this respect, Deputy Minister Valero also assured those present that his government would "do everything possible to relaunch SELA in the framework of this international reality characterized by globalization all the while holding on firmly to our Latin American identity."

At the same time, the Minister indicated that the pertinent administrative procedures are being followed to honour the commitment that Venezuela has with the organization."

With the adoption of the five-year payment incentive programme, the outstanding debt at 31 December 1997 for a total of US$ 7,510,844 will be paid in equal annual quotas.

The Council decided to show its solidarity with those countries affected by the recent natural disasters by granting these a ten-year term to pay their debts. The countries which were granted an extended term include Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

In order to benefit from this payment incentive programme, countries will first need to be current in the payment of 1998 and 1999 quotas within the present year.

Those countries that are current in their payments through 31 December 1997, will be compensated through future quota reductions that will be financed by the monies collected by SELA Permanent Secretariat from the outstanding debt referred to earlier. This will be done once the organization has corrected its administrative situation.

Ambassador Moneta stated, in this regard, that the adopted decision would enable SELA not only to overcome its "tight economic situation" but also to fully exercise its characteristics of an international organization "that is agile and flexible in developing adequate and timely responses vis-a-vis the new international economic scenario."

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