Alejandro Toledo sworn in as President of Peru.

Описание: (28 Jul 2001)

1. Peru's President-elect Alejandro Toledo enters Congress
2. Toledo walks onto stage
3. Congress applauding
4. Toledo and Congress President embrace
5. Cutaway of Toledo's wife
6. Alejandro Toledo on stage
7. Various of Congress
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alejandro Toledo, President-elect of Peru
"I, Alejandro Toledo Manrique, swear in God's name, on behalf of the republic and the poor of Peru, that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the republic, which has been entrusted in me by the nation for the 2001 to 2006 period. I will defend the national sovereignty, the physical and moral integrity of the republic. I will make sure the constitution and the laws of Peru are all respected. I will knowledge and respect the freedom of faith, the importance of the Catholic Church in the moral and cultural formation of Peruvians."
9. Cutaway of Toledo and Congress President
10. UPSOUND (Spanish) Congress President
"Citizen Alejandro Toledo, in the name of the Congress, I hereby bestow the Presidential Sash, in the name of the people and by their desire."
11. Toledo's wife
12. President Alejandro Toledo
13. Various of the Congress
14. President Alejandro Toledo

STORYLINE:

Alejandro Toledo, Peru's first freely elected president of native Indian descent, was sworn into office on Saturday, completing the nation's return to democracy after a decade of authoritarian rule by disgraced ex-President Alberto Fujimori.

Toledo took the oath "in the name of the poor of Peru" to the cheers of lawmakers, judges, ministers and more than two dozen foreign dignitaries in Congress, including 11 Latin American presidents, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and U-S Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.

He accepted the red-and-white sash relinquished by interim President Valentin Paniagua, the former head of Congress who assumed the presidency eight months ago after lawmakers voted to remove Fujimori on constitutional grounds of moral unfitness.

Toledo, 55, was elected last month in a close contest against former President Alan Garcia.

An economist who overcame poverty to earn a doctorate from Stanford University in the United States, Toledo took office a year after he endured smear campaigns, tear gas and death threats in a battle against Fujimori's autocratic regime.

Fujimori fled in November to Japan, his parents' homeland, as corruption scandals involving his ex-intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, ended his 10-year rule.

Toledo has said his top priority will be to improve the plight of Peru's poor, who make up half of the country's 26 million people.

To secure victory, Toledo had promised 2 million new jobs over the next five years, to lower taxes to encourage business investment, and to double salaries for underpaid teachers, police and health workers.

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