BOLIVIA: RETIRED GENERAL HUGO BANZER BECOMES NEW PRESIDENT
Spanish/Nat
Retired
General and former dictator
Hugo Banzer became
Bolivia's new
President on Wednesday.
Banzer, received only 22 percent of the vote in the June 1 election but was able to muster the necessary congressional support to become president through an alliance of four parties.
Previous to the inaugural ceremonies, demonstrators protested in dismay at the election of a former dictator.
The former dictator General Hugo Banzer may have won the presidential election in June but only on Tuesday was he finally installed in office.
Bolivia's top brass new leader did not secure an absolute majority and had to set up a coalition party and wait for the approval of
Congress earlier this week.
On Wednesday, his official swearing-in ceremony finally took place.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"
Bolivians, after 19 years of fighting for democracy and of defending without fail the high values which make up the strong bonds between brothers, today, on this day of the foundation of the republic, in fulfilling the sovereign wish of the people, I will assume the office of constitutional president. I do it in a peaceful state of mind, of one who knows what this responsibility means, conscious of the historical commitments that it represents."
SUPER CAPTION: Hugo Banzer,
Bolivian President
Top military personnel and presidents from six
Latin American countries, as well as visiting dignitaries like
Prince Felipe of
Asturias, heir to the
Spanish throne, were among those attending.
Banzer has stressed his new cabinet will exclude politicians allegedly linked to drugs - a move seen by many as an effort to appease the
United States.
Bolivia is one of the Latin American countries most tainted by international drug trafficking.
President Banzer may have lost his dictatorship 19 years ago but he remains no stranger to Bolivian politics.
He reentered the political scene under a different guise, and has participated in six elections in the past 19 years - of which he has won two, in
1985 and
1997.
He inherits a stable and growing economy, and one of the lowest inflation rates in
Latin America.
Banzer has stated he intends to maintain his predecessor's free market policy.
Wednesday was also marked by a
Catholic mass in the
Nuestra Senora de la Paz cathedral, in Bolivia's capital,
La Paz.
The service was a show of respect for the outgoing president
Gonzalo S�nchez de Lozada, for his service during four years in office, and an auspice for the new days to come.
But not everyone agrees that a new political chapter is about to begin in Bolivia's history.
Some say the change is only apparent, as the new presidential term finds the onetime dictator turned democrat General Hugo Banzer back in power.
On Tuesday, demonstrators holding signs marked '
Democracy is in mourning, the dictator has assassinated a generation' marched up and down
the capital's streets, handing out leaflets and condemning the new President.
They claim that someone who was once a dictator is always a dictator.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"
We are against authoritarianism, and we believe that memories cannot be erased and blood cannot be washed away. Banzer is a dictator. He will go down in history as being a dictator. Banzer is and will be a dictator. And we, the young people are not fascists.
Fascism has attached itself to hunger, unemployment and desperation."
SUPER CAPTION:
VOX POP
But others have welcomed the appointment to office and a new chapter is about to begin in the political history of Bolivia.
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