Conservative billionaire Pinera sworn in as Chile president
SANTIAGO (AFP) — Conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera was sworn in Sunday to his second term as president of Chile, replacing socialist Michelle Bachelet in the office for the second time in eight years.
An emotional Bachelet helped Pinera put on the sash of office, gave him a kiss and then left Congress with members of her government.
Pinera, who was president from 2010-2014, has promised to stimulate growth and create jobs.
He made a strong call for national unity in his first speech, delivered from a balcony of the La Moneda presidential palace late Sunday, promising a “healthy culture of dialogue, agreements and collaboration.”
“We are committed to being a government of progress and solidarity, which will allow us, within eight years, to transform Chile into a developed country without poverty,” said Pinera, joined on the balcony by his wife Cecilia Morel.
The 68-year-old communications magnate is assuming the presidency just as Chile’s economy is showing signs of rebounding from a period of sluggish growth due to low prices for copper, the country’s biggest export.
“The good times are coming,” his supporters chanted after he was sworn in.
Bachelet was cheered by supporters as she capped a second term in office in which she saw through an ambitious package of reforms aimed at eliminating the institutional legacy of the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.