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CNN TONIGHT

New Peruvian President Sworn In

Aired July 28, 2001 - 20:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: In Peru the people have a new leader this weekend. Alejandro Toledo sworn into office after a tumultuous year in politics in that country marked by crisis and chaos. CNN's Claudia Cisneros now looks at the remarkable story of the president himself, his rise from protester to president.

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CLAUDIA CISNEROS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before 11 Latin-American presidents and a dozen other international dignitaries, Alejandro Toledo became Peru's 66th president.

As the presidential sash was placed on him, Toledo left behind a year marked by social instability, political crises, and corruption that marked disgrace Alberto Fujimori's office. It was exactly a year ago in this very chamber that then-president Alberto Fujimori was sworn into what some say was an unconstitutional third term in office while civil unrest exploded in the streets for what was perceived as a rigged election.

Toledo, the man who led those protests a year ago became Peru's president for the next 5 years. A shoe-shine boy turned economist, Toledo represents the aspirations of million of Peruvians who relate to him for his indigenous decent and impoverished origins,

The first Peruvian with these characteristics to reach the presidency in a country where the majority of the population is of Andean decent, but where the white minority have mainly governed.

He started the off sharing breakfast with poor children of a Lima shanty town. During his inauguration speech Toledo asserted his campaign promises of creating 400,000 new jobs, working vigorously against poverty and rebuilding Peruvian institutions weakened during the Fujimori era. He promised a capitalist economy with a human face, announced the creation of an anti drug czar and anti-corruption czar, and pledged to comply with the commission of truth resolution, a commission that will investigate all human rights investigations.

He also announce the overhaul of all armed forces and national police allegedly involved in Fujimori's corruption scandal. At several points in Toledo's speech, three of Fujimori's remaining allies raised protest signs that read, "No to political persecution" reacting to Toledo's stance that Fujimori should be returned to Peru from Japan to face charges. President Toledo has a difficult task ahead. Peru's economy has stalled and half the population live in poverty. Analysts wonder how he will walk the line between the needs of international economic community whose aid is crucial for Peru's development and urgent social needs of the Peruvian people. Claudia Cisneros, CNN, Lima, Peru.

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