Leftist takes office in Ecuador

The ex-soldier has a delicate balancing act ahead

Ecuador has inaugurated a former coup-leader, Lucio Gutierrez, as its new president.

He is the latest leader to come to power in Latin America espousing a populist political agenda, and was joined at the ceremony by veteran left-wing leaders such as Cuba's Fidel Castro, Brazil's Lula and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

The left in power

Ecuador: Lucio Gutierrez, son of a jungle riverboat salesman

Cuba: Fidel Castro, veteran communist revolutionary

Brazil: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, former shoeshine boy and metalworker

Venezuela: Hugo Chavez, former army officer and admirer of Castro

The 45-year-old retired army colonel won the state's presidential election in November on pledges to fight corruption and poverty.

Correspondents predict that he will have a short-lived political honeymoon in office given his lack of experience in government in oil-rich but poverty-stricken Ecuador.

Thousands of police and troops guarded Congress in the capital, Quito, as the inauguration took place.

Guests also included Washington's special envoy for Western hemisphere initiatives, Otto Reich - a veteran anti-communist.

The new president was expected to hold talks after the swearing-in ceremony with the other Latin American leaders present - including the presidents of Colombia, Chile, Peru and Bolivia - with the focus on Venezuela's political and economic crisis.

'Change ahead'

Speaking to the press before his inauguration, Mr Gutierrez described himself as a "product of the people's unsatisfied aspirations".

"People want change. They said: 'Enough of the same old leaders'," he told El Comercio newspaper.

In a speech to parliament, he promised "ethical values, moral values... and social justice".

Before last year's election, he rose to fame for leading a successful coup to topple then-President Jamil Mahuad in 2000 with the backing of the country's Indians.

Colonel Gutierrez had led the revolt in protest at a severe economic crisis and a freeze on bank withdrawals.

The new president has promised investors to pay the national debt and seek an International Monetary Fund loan, but he will have difficulty persuading his leftist supporters to adopt market reforms.

"He seems to have good ideas," said one Quito resident, Segundo Suasnavas. "That is, if they let him govern."