MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Guatemalan president promises democracy with “Mayan face”

Pte. Álvaro Colom and Vice-president Rafael Espada

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”. With a population of 13 million, 45% ethnic Mayan, more than six million Guatemalans live below the poverty line of one US dollar per day.

Over 1.500 guests attended the inauguration ceremony two months after his November landmark victory including the heir to the Spanish throne, Crown Prince Felipe, and eleven heads of state, Mexican president Felipe Calderón, Brazil's Lula da Silva, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, Colombia's Alvaro Uribe as well as those from Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama. Although Colom will be Guatemala's first left leaning leader since Jacobo Arbenz was thrown out of office in 1954 by a CIA-orchestrated coup, Colom said he doesn't want to be identified or aligned with other governments in Latin America arguing that each country must "find its own path". An industrial engineer, who led Guatemala's efforts to coax thousands of war refugees back home, has promised to build schools and medical centers, create jobs, and bring security to a country where gangs behead victims and drug traffickers control much of the police forces. Colom plans to recruit business leaders by having them participate in a so-called "Social Pact" to improve the economy and alleviate poverty. Colom is 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 even when 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% over his four year term by creating 700,000 new jobs, building 200,000 houses and achieving economic growth of at least six percent. GDP is currently growing at 5%. 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% 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. Colom managed dozens of textile companies before entering politics as a 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. Vice-president Rafael Espada, a prestigious cardiologist and former Houston Methodist Hospital surgeon, 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.