Peru's new president: 'poor are my priority'

Leftist former army officer Ollanta Humala has been sworn in as president of Peru, aiming to confront the high poverty plaguing the nation despite recent years of solid economic growth.

The 49-year-old former army lieutenant colonel on Thursday charted a plan for spreading the wealth from Peru's mineral boom beyond Lima, where it has been concentrated among a small elite, to long-neglected rural areas.

"We want to erase the word 'social exclusion' from our vocabulary and our reality forever," Humala said in remarks before a newly installed Congress and dignitaries who included 11 presidents, almost all from South America. "Peru's peasants and the poor in the countryside in general will be the priority.''

Humala successfully played down his ties to Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chavez, and played up links with Brazil's more moderate left in his second campaign for the presidency, the AFP news agency reported.

He says he is inspired by Brazil's ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who was able to reduce poverty while fostering economic growth.

Read more at: Peru's new president: 'poor are my priority' - Americas - Al Jazeera English

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Depends on how he does it, it can be a good thing or a negative


Income support dependant on the childern going to school (publically funded)
Improvement in basic health care
Improvements in infrustructure outside of Lima


Would all be good things foe Peru

I am not really familiar with politics south america, but I wish him luck. Peru is a country that would benefit from a growing middle class, even the wealthy would benefit because it would mean better standards of living, medical care, cleaner cities, better technology, more jobs, more investments, etc. I hope they can overcome poverty.