Brasilia, 1 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said Thursday - at the closing of a congress of Brazilian commercial associations in Brasilia - that the basis of the nation's economic development in the past decade was democratic stability. He stressed that this stability was bolstered by the normal relations of electoral processes and by the intense participation of the Brazilian Congress in these changes.

Cardoso emphasized that, in the last 7 years, the National Congress passed 31 Constitutional amendment proposals. According to him, a dynamic endeavor such as this was only achieved during the New State declared by President Getulio Vargas from 1937 to1945. He pointed out, however, that "at that moment in history, the country was under a dictatorship. In a democratic system, changes are more consistent." (MW)