Ecuador's new president names cabinet
The newly installed Ecuadorian President Alfredo Palacio announced Thursday the list of his cabinet members after he officially took office.

The new ministers, some of whom Palacio said are not politicians, but technicians and officials, were sworn in on the same day.

Palacio, who was named by the congress as the country's president on Wednesday, took the oath in the building of the International Center for Superior Studies on Communication for Latin America, where the congress had convened to fire President Lucio Gutierrez.

Following are the names of the new cabinet ministers:

Foreign Minister: Antonio Parra Gil

Interior Minister: Mauricio Gandara

Defense Minister: General (retired) Anibal Solon Espinosa

Economy and Finances Minister: Rafael Correa

Foreign Trade Minister: Oswaldo Molestina

Secretary General of Public Administration: Luis Herreria

Secretary of the Presidency: Carlos Eduardo Munoz


SACKED ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT COULD LEAVE COUNTRY SHORTLY

Brazil granted asylum to President Gutierrez on Thursday and Brazilian Ambassador to Ecuador Sergio Florencia said Gutierrez will be able to leave the country in the coming hours, heading for Brazil.

"President Gutierrez currently is in the residence of the Brazilian Embassy and we're completing procedures to get a safe passage and his trip to Brazil," the ambassador told the Colombian radio station Caracol.

Gutierrez, the third president toppled amid popular unrest in eight years in the Andean nation, fled to the Brazilian Embassy residence in Quito on Wednesday after angry crowds stopped him from leaving the country.

Florencia also said the Brazilian Embassy expects Gutierrez to leave the country as soon as possible, maybe during the day.

The now ex-president is in "good spirits," said the diplomat, who in the morning talked to Gutierrez about the necessary procedures.

The ambassador said that "the granting of asylum does not represent a value judgment, nor sympathy, rather, it does represent a contribution to a peaceful institutional solution" of the crisis.

Although his wife and children also asked for asylum, Gutierrez entered alone into the embassy, where he pledged not to "carry out political activities nor issue remarks with political contents," said Florencia.

The armed forces and the Foreign Ministry of Ecuador have also been facilitating the departure of Gutierrez and his family from the country, although there exists an arrest warrant from the attorney general's office for Gutierrez over the death of two people during the protests by his opponents.

US CALLS FOR STABILITY IN ECUADOR

The United States is following the situation in Ecuador closely and calls for constitutional stability and the rule of law in the country, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said at a briefing on Thursday.

"We want to see constitutional stability and the rule of law prevail in Ecuador. And we urge all Ecuadorians to come together to peacefully resolve these issues. And that is what we will continue to do," McClellan said.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for calm and respect for the constitutional procedure in Ecuador.

US officials were cautious when asked about recognizing the new government, but said they were working with Quito to help ensure a constitutional solution.

"There needs now to be a constitutional process to get to elections, if that is what is in the future," Rice told Fox News.

Palacio said he would consider protesters' calls for elections but would first propose constitutional reform.

REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO HELP SOLVE CRISIS

Secretary General of the Andean Community (ANCOM) Allan Wagner asked Thursday to open a "negotiation process" to overcome the crisis in Ecuador.

To a press conference prior to the opening of the Iberian-American Meeting of Sevilla, Spain, Wagner invited the Organization of American States and the United Nations to join this effort.

The ANCOM leader called on all parties to stay "calm and not to resort to violence" and urged solutions to solve the crisis "preserving the Ecuadorian constitutional order" and "guaranteeing the democratic order."

Also, the South American Community of Nations agreed Thursday to send a "troika" formed by the foreign ministers of Bolivia, Brazil and Peru to hold dialogues with the political forces of Ecuador and cooperate in the solving the political crisis there.

Argentina, which currently heads the pro tempore Secretariat ofthe Group of Rio, also agreed to join the mission.

Meanwhile, a delegation composed of foreign ministers of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru will travel to Ecuador.