MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ecuador's New President Takes Office

Lucio Gutiérrez became president of Ecuador on Wednesday, three years after leading a short-lived coup that toppled the presidency of Jamil Mahuad at the height of an economic crisis.

The retired army colonel was given the presidential sash by the president of Congress, which is expected to be hostile to his reforms - among them a reduction in the number of legislators. Many were in power when Mr Gutiérrez led army officers and indigenous protesters into Congress before marching on the presidential palace in January 2000.

Mr Gutiérrez's attempts to form a governing majority with opposition legislators collapsed last week. Social Christian party (PSC) legislators, the biggest bloc in Congress, representing the business elite of Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, did not attend Mr Gutiérrez's inauguration, in a sign of likely unwillingness to co-operate with him.

However, the president said he would urge his supporters on to the streets in coming months to push his agenda in the face of institutional opposition.

Mr Gutiérrez, who served two previous presidents as personal military attaché, refuted criticism of his lack of experience and leftist tendencies. "If combating corruption and impunity is being leftwing, then that is what I am," he said.

Fighting corruption and poverty, and boosting the country's productivity and competitiveness would be his goals, he said during his 90-minute inauguration speech. He invited foreign investment and asked Ecuador's creditors to reconsider its "overwhelming external debt" obligations.

"The enemies of Ecuador are those politicians that don't want change in this country; corruption; terrorism; the drugs trade; unemployment and illiteracy. Either we change Ecuador or we die trying," the president said to rousing applause.

Among those present at the ceremony were Fidel Castro, the president of Cuba, Lula da Silva of Brazil, and Alvaro Uribe and Alejandro Toledo from neighbouring Colombia and Peru. President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela was also expected to fly to Quito amid efforts there by other regional leaders and US officials to find a solution to the crisis in his country.

Among Mr Gutiérrez's challenges will be balancing campaign pledges to his main constituency - the poor and vociferous indigenous minority - with measures to satisfy the International Monetary Fund.

An IMF loan is considered crucial to help ease cash flow problems and would pave the way to $550m (?524m) in loans from other multilateral organisations to help Ecuador pay $2bn in public debt this year.

An IMF mission was expected in Quito on Saturday to continue talks about a $240m stand-by loan accord with Mauricio Pozo, finance minister, after his trip to Washington last week.