ECUADOR: On first day in office, Peru's new defense minister lays a wreath of flowers at the crash site where her predecessor died

Ecuador swore-in the nation's new defence minister Lorena Escudero on Friday (February 2), just over ten days after a helicopter crash killed her predecessor Guadalupe Larriva, the first woman to hold the post. In her first act, Escudero laid a floral wreath at the site of the crash that took the lives of Larriva and six other people. The new minister, a 41-year-old college professor, took the oath of office in the presence of President Rafael Correa. Escudero paid tribute to her predecessor at the inauguration ceremony. "The defence of our sovereignty must look to sow flowers of peace on the road started by Guadalupe and by so many, many others, just like her they have given their life and passion to give our country security, harmony and dignity," she said. Larriva was a 50-year-old former teacher and leader of the socialist political party supporting Correa. Soon after being sworn in, Escudero travelled to Manta, 330 km southeast of the capital city of Quito, to place a floral wreath in honour of the crash victims. "My first act," she said, "was to travel to this place where a tragic event ended the life of Guadalupe Larriva, Defence Minister, her daughter Claudia and five army soldiers whose presence is missing in our lives." Larriva's death shook Correa's young government as tension escalates with Congress over his plans to rewrite the constitution in the unstable country, where three presidents have been ousted in the last decade. Correa has called for an investigation with the help of international experts into the crash of the two Gazelle helicopters after a military training session. He also fired the country's army chief after blaming him in part for the helicopter crash.

ITN Source | February 3, 2007

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