Ecuador appoints new ambassador to UN

QUITO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Ecuadorian government had appointed former Foreign Minister Francisco Carrion as its ambassador to the UN, one of the steps to restructure its foreign service, Foreign Minister Fander Falconi announced on Monday.

Falconi said Carrion would replace Maria Fernanda Espinoza, who will return to the country to take an important job at Ecuadorian government.

Till Monday, Carrion had been ambassador of Ecuadorian environmental initiative ITT, which aims at preserving the oil fields located in Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (ITT) areas. The Ecuadorian government agreed not to exploit them in exchange for international economic compensation in order to preserve the environment in the Amazon region.

Falconi also announced that Rene Vargas, ambassador to Venezuela and Universi Zambrano, ambassador to Cuba would be removed from their positions.

The Ecuadorian Presidency Office said there would also be changes at the Ecuadorian representation to the Organization of American States, but gave no details.