A doctor took office as Uruguay's first socialist president yesterday, joining the ranks of left-leaning leaders in Latin America governing a majority of the region's people with a cautious approach to US-backed free-market policies.
In one of his first official acts, Tabare Vazquez restored full diplomatic ties with communist Cuba, more than two years after a diplomatic row divided the countries.
Thousands of Uruguayans filled Montevideo's streets for the inauguration of Mr Vazquez, a 65-year-old cancer specialist whose swearing-in ended more than 170 years of power by two moderate parties.
Mr Vazquez, elected October 31st to replace Jorge Batlle, is part of a reinvigorated but far less ideological leftist movement in Latin America whose leaders have come to power amid economic turmoil. He took the oath of office for his five-year term with many of South America's new generation of leftist leaders looking on.
"I have not come alone," Mr Vazquez said at the packed ceremony at Congress. "I take office as president of the republic with the support of hundreds of thousands of compatriots who expressed their democratic wishes for a better country for all Uruguayans."
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Argentina's Nestor Kirchner and Chile's Ricardo Lagos all looked on as the crowd cheered.
Mr Vazquez climbed into an antique car to leave the ceremony, then jumped onto the back of a pickup truck, blowing kisses to a crowd of thousands who turned out for a street fiesta.
Uruguay, long one of Latin America's most stable economies, is climbing out of a 2002 depression in which the economy shrank by 11 per cent.
The upheaval left one of every three Uruguayans below the poverty line a blow to a country where generous social benefits had for years assured one of the region's highest living standards.
Mr Vazquez's victory broke a long-running hold on power by the Colorado and National parties, which alternately controlled the presidency for more than 170 years. Their dominance was interrupted occasionally by military rule, most recently during the country's 1973-84 dictatorship.
AP