Lapenna introduced a "prestige policy", for which he was willing to spend considerable funds. This included signature campaigns for Esperanto and efforts to make UNESCO support Esperanto in a moral way, which Lapenna accomplished in 1954 at the UNESCO conference in Montevideo, Uruguay. This made him famous in Esperanto circles as the "hero of Montevideo". After having served for more than 30 years on the board of UEA, Lapenna left the association in 1974 and created a rival organization ("Neŭtrala Esperanto-Movado").