Guatemala's new president promises to put 'Mayan face' on govt
GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) — Guatemala's Alvaro Colom was sworn in as president Monday, vowing to fight violent crime and empower the impoverished indigenous population in a social democracy with a "Mayan face."
In a ceremony attended by 1,500 guests, Colom donned the official sash of head of state two months after his landmark election in November as the impoverished country's first social democratic leader in over a half-century.
The ceremony was witnessed by the heir to the Spanish throne, Crown Prince Felipe, and 11 heads of state or government, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, and leaders from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama.
Colom, an engineer, has pledged to push for "equality, cultural diversity and tolerance" in the impoverished country of 13 million people, where 43 percent of the population is ethnic Mayan.
Colom, one of just three non-Mayas to be made a Mayan priest, has told reporters that he plans "to convert Guatemala into a social-democratic country with a Mayan face."
"In my cabinet there will be no racists or male chauvinists. It matters not who governs, but for whom they govern and how this is done," said the 56-year-old leader known as "Sparrow Hawk."
Colom, however, has already been criticized for naming just one woman and one indigenous person to his 13-member cabinet, although the key ministries of Interior and Defense remain open.
The new president's center-left proposals have rattled Guatemala's conservative business community.
Colom has vowed to end tax breaks for the wealthy, increase the minimum wage, crack down on tax evasion and help strengthen unions.
He has also promised to slash poverty levels by 20 percent over his four year term by creating 700,000 new jobs, building 200,000 houses and achieving economic growth of at least six percent.
Gross domestic product growth is currently at five percent. Official figures indicate half the country's population lives in poverty, though non-governmental organizations put the figure at 80 percent.
Violence had been a key issue in a country where there are 16 murders a day and five kidnappings a month, according to government figures.
While outgoing President Oscar Berger had a strong pro-US tilt, Colom has said he will strengthen his ties with leftist Latin American governments while maintaining friendly ties with the United States.
He cannot turn his back on Washington, as the country's most important source of hard currency are the remittances from the 1.3 million Guatemalans living abroad -- 97 percent of whom live in the United States, the majority as undocumented migrants.
Collectively, Guatemalans living abroad sent more than four billion dollars to their homeland in 2007, according to Central Bank figures.
An industrial engineer by training who has managed dozens of textile companies, Colom served as deputy economy minister in 1991 and later headed an agency that helped people who fought or were displaced in the 1960-1996 civil war. He had failed in two previous bids for the presidency.
His vice-president is Rafael Espada, a prestigious cardiologist who said he will focus on improving the country's ramshackle public health system.
Colom won the presidency in a November 4 runoff vote over retired general Otto Perez Molina. He is the first social democratic president elected since Jacobo Arbenz, toppled in a CIA-organized coup in 1954.
Guatemala is still recovering from a bloody 35-year war with leftist insurgents that ended in a 1996 peace accord.
