Sawt Falasteen - Orsi takes office, returning Uruguay to leftist rule

Uruguay, one of Latin America's most prosperous and stable countries, on Saturday celebrated four decades of uninterrupted democracy.

"The good health of democracy is closely associated with the achievement of certain standards of well-being," Orsi, 57, said in a speech after his inauguration in Montevideo's Legislative Palace.

He also paid a warm tribute to his 89-year-old mentor, the beloved former president Jose "Pepe" Mujica, who campaigned for Orsi while battling esophageal cancer.

Elected to a five-year term, Orsi promised to protect Uruguay's economy, to address drug-related crime, and to pursue "sustainable and humane" development.

He is the ninth president since 1985, when a 13-year civil-military dictatorship -- blamed for the unexplained disappearances of hundreds of Uruguayans -- came to an end.

Effects from that period linger, Orsi said, adding that it was "essential to preserve the commitment to freedom, truth and justice."

There was a celebratory mood among Orsi supporters.

"We have been waiting for this for five years," 42-year-old Cecilia Riera told AFP. "The social situation in this country has fallen quite a bit, and so has security."

Orsi takes office with a 44 percent favorable opinion among voters, according to a poll by Opcion Consultores.

His swearing in was attended by delegates from more than 60 countries, and Orsi held bilateral meetings Friday with several leaders.

He also hosted the leaders of Brazil, Chile and Colombia, all leftists, at a barbecue.

Orsi will preside over a divided parliament, with his Broad Front coalition controlling only the Senate.

But analysts say his greatest problems may come from the coalition's internal tensions, testing his reputation as a talented negotiator.

Orsi will face pressure to meet social demands without increasing the budget deficit, at a time when sustained drought is cutting into growth estimates of three percent this year.

But fundamentally, said economist Arturo Porzecanski, "Orsi inherits an economy and a country whose fundamentals are very solid."

R.Shaban--SF-PST