Argentina Swears In New Leader

<a href=www.voanews.com>VOA News 25 May 2003, 13:50 UTC

Nestor Kirchner takes office Sunday as Argentina's sixth president in 18 months, facing the challenge of guiding his country out of economic depression.

Mr. Kirchner, a Peronist from Patagonia, must renegotiate some $60 billion in defaulted foreign debt and restore his country's relations with the international community. To jump-start the domestic economy and increase employment, he has promised a multi-billion dollar public works program.

As a three-term governor of sparsely populated Santa Cruz province, the new president is untested on the national and world stages. He has criticized U.S. policies on free trade, the embargo on Cuba and the war in Iraq.

Several regional leaders, including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, will watch as Mr. Kirchner takes the oath of office and receives the presidential sash.

Mr. Kirchner is the first elected president to take power since December 2001, when five leaders ruled in two weeks. He was thrust into office earlier this month when his rival, former President Carlos Menem, dropped out of a run-off election.