NICARAGUA: MANAGUA: PRESIDENT ARNOLDO ALEMAN BEGINS 5 YEAR TERM

Описание: (10 Jan 1997) Spanish/Nat

Right-winger Arnoldo Aleman has begun a five-year term as President of Nicaragua, facing challenges of poverty and bitter political opposition.

Aleman was sworn in at a ceremony in a Managua baseball stadium on Friday.

It was the first inauguration in Nicaragua's history where one elected president handed over power to another.

The inauguration ceremony took place at this baseball stadium in Managua Friday amid tight security.

The ceremony was attended by some 20-thousand people, including Spain's Prince Felipe and Taiwanese Prime Minister Lien Chang.

Outgoing president Violeta Chamorro arrived followed by her cabinet members.

Chamorro took over power from the Sandinistas in the 1990 election.

She served a seven-year term.

A smiling Arnoldo Aleman gave a thumbs-up gesture as he toured the stadium in a red convertible.

51-year-old Aleman beat former President Daniel Ortega in the October election, which the Sandinistas still claim was marred by fraud.

Aleman's Liberal Alliance and the Sandinistas remain sworn enemies, and analysts predict more political run-ins between the two sides.

Amid the booming of cannons and hundreds of balloons, the newly elected National Assembly president Ivan Escobar Fornos placed the blue and white presidential sash over Aleman's shoulders.

Then, it was Vice-President Enrique Bolanos' turn to take the oath of office.

Aleman promised to pull the country out of its past and into a new era of democracy and prosperity.

But the joy shared by the rich and powerful inside the stadium contrasted sharply with the disappointment of the poor outside.

Vendors, who had worked in the stadium for years, had hoped to make some money during the event.

Instead, they were not even allowed inside but forced out by riot police.

For the outraged vendors, the new government was off to a bad start.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"They don't let people work. We're trying to make a living because this is the only chance for the poor people to get some help to feed their children, but look at this beginning, we've already been evicted."
SUPER CAPTION: street vendor

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"They don't let us work and he (Aleman) shouldn't do that because we had always sold at the stadium with Daniel and Violeta. But now they won't let us work."
SUPER CAPTION: street vendor

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
(Starts over short cutaway then cuts to woman)
"We're simply selling to earn a living and we're not hurting anyone, and that's it."
SUPER CAPTION: street vendor

President Aleman inherits the second-poorest country in the hemisphere.

He will now face the monumental challenge of bringing much-needed stability to the people who put him in power.

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