Ex-Dictator Takes Office as President
From Times Wire Reports
Former military dictator Hugo Banzer took office as the new president, promising at his swearing-in ceremony to deepen a 12-year-old free market drive but adding that the failings that have left seven out of 10 Bolivians living in poverty must be corrected. Banzer, 71, who ruled as dictator from 1971 to 1978, won the general election June 1 for the rightist Nationalist Democratic Action party but failed to get an absolute majority. He was elected president by Congress on Tuesday after forging unlikely alliances with leftist and populist parties.
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