Spanish/Nat Enrique Pesaloza has been voted in as the new mayor for Bogota, Colombia. He replaces the eccentric Antanas Mockus who resigned the post to stand for presidency in the 1998 elections. In an interview about his new role, Pesaloza outlined some of his plans to improve the city - which include a new transport system. Enrique Pesaloza was sworn in to his new position at the start of 1998. The elections for the position of mayor took place in October 1997, after the resignation of Antanas Mockus. Mockus stepped down from his mayorship of Bogota to enable him to stand as a candidate in the presidential elections, which are due to take place in May 1998. Under Colombian law, anyone seeking to run for the presidency must resign from public office a year before elections take place. Enrique Pesaloza faces an uphill task stepping into the eccentric Mockus' shoes, and may find himself having to perform to draw the crowds. Antanas Mockus married to his wife in a circus, and during his time as mayor, he even dressed as superman when on a city cleanup operation. But Enrique Pesaloza seemed enthusiastic about the task ahead of him. As well as outlining plans for a new transport system, he explained how the taxpayer in Bogota was being shortchanged by the government. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "Another difference between Bogota and other cities in America or the rest of the world is that there has hardly been any support from the national government for the infrastructure, not for the roads, for the water channels, or for any of the infrastructure, so that each has had to be self sufficient, on top of which most of the taxes paid in Bogota are taken by the national government to pay for other regions in the country." SUPER CAPTION: Enrique Pesaloza, new mayor for Bogota He was confident that the citizens of Bogota could be revitalised by a new infrastructure. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "I hope to introduce into the city, first of all with a new confidence in it's capability to create its own direction, the forces which influence Bogota have been so violent, that people feel impotent when confronted with this" SUPER CAPTION: Enrique Pesaloza, new mayor for Bogota One of Pesaloza's main objectives is to reorganise the educational system, which he said gives young people too much spare time, sometimes leading to rebellious behaviour. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "The youth, lets say who are creating problems with types of gangs, it is better to improve the quality of their spare time. The education system in Bogota is generating a large majority of youths study for half the day. So there is a new programme in place, in which we hope that all the kids will study for the whole day, so that they do not have the rest of the day in which to roam the streets without anything constructive to do, so that the quality of the free time of the youths can improve." SUPER CAPTION: Enrique Pesaloza, new mayor for Bogota At the swearing-in ceremony, an audience of Colombian politicians applauded the new mayor as he swore to pledge allegiance to the citizens of Bogota. It remains to be seen whether he can carry out his plans in the face of the violence and corruption that continues to overshadow the present government in Colombia. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/119185f29fe622b2e2d9d0e6cb43f2a6 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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