Billionaire Pinera takes power in quake-hit Chile
Mar 11, 2010 at 18:28 | ReutersMinutes before he was sworn in, a series of strong aftershocks rattled the capital Santiago and Congress in the coastal city of Valparaiso. Visiting dignitaries looked nervously at the ceiling as the Congress building shuddered, and Chile's Navy issued a tsunami warning along the coast.
Chileans hope the Harvard-trained economist can use his business skills to help one of Latin America's most stable economies rebound from the quake, which was followed by a tsunami that devastated coastal villages.
The 8.8-magnitude quake on Feb. 27 killed hundreds of people and caused infrastructure damage across much of south-central Chile, threatening to undermine Pinera's election pledges to boost economic growth to 6 percent a year and to create a million jobs.
"The main challenge is to identify priorities to swiftly start the reconstruction effort. That will be the key variable that will be evaluated during his administration," said Alberto Ramos, senior economist with Goldman Sachs in New York.
"This could be the (hurricane) Katrina of President Pinera ... in terms of how the population perceives the relief and reconstruction effort."
Even though mines were mostly unscathed in the world's top copper producer, the quake seriously damaged key wine, fish and paper pulp industries near the epicenter in south-central Chile.
Some analysts see the damage shaving 0.5 to 2.0 percentage points off this year's economic growth, while others are holding to their original GDP forecasts of around 5 percent.
Survivors are praying Pinera gets it right.
"He is a businessman ... and that is what we need right now. Someone who can create jobs for our kids," said Carlos Fuentes, a 47-year-old fisherman who lost his home and boat when giant waves rolled over the town of Curanipe after the 8.8-magnitude quake.
"He's got a tough job," Fuentes said while untangling fishing nets with a knife.
Pinera, a former senator who made a fortune on a credit cards business and an airline, ranks No. 437 on Forbes' richest list, which estimates his fortune at $2.2 billion.
To fund reconstruction, the new leader is likely to issue international bonds and dip into the country's copper savings.
SOMBER CEREMONY
The handover of power from popular center-leftist Michelle Bachelet was celebrated with an austere midday ceremony, toned down out of respect for those still mourning the dead.
Officials have identified 497 dead from the Feb. 27 quake and tsunami, after revising down an earlier death toll of 802, which mistakenly included lists of the missing.
Pinera's election marks a shift to the right in Latin America where a generation of center-left and socialist leaders are in power.
Fellow conservative presidents Alan Garcia of Peru and Alvaro Uribe of Colombia attended the inauguration along with leftist leaders such as Argentine President Cristina Fernandez and Bolivia's Evo Morales.
Pinera and Morales, a soccer fanatic, played together in a friendly soccer match the day before the inauguration, putting aside their countries' historic dispute over landlocked Bolivia's access to the sea.
Bachelet, a pediatrician-turned-politician, is leaving office with a record high 84 percent approval rating even after criticism of delays in government aid for victims.
She was honored with a final bugle call at the presidential palace on Thursday morning ahead of the handover.
The government was also slammed for a faulty tsunami warning system, the botched death toll estimates and hesitating to send in troops to quell violent looting. Pinera has promised a total overhaul of the country's emergency response office.
The agency's head tendered her resignation on Wednesday, defending its record in the face of widespread criticism and Pinera's overhaul vow.
"What more do they want? Blood?" Carmen Fernandez said after tendering her resignation to Bachelet. "What else do they want me to say? That I will sacrifice myself in public?"