Guatemala Inaugurates President

Via the BBC:  Jimmy Morales inaugurated as new Guatemala president

Guatemalan former TV comedian Jimmy Morales has been inaugurated as the country’s new president.

He was elected in October after huge anti-corruption demonstrations that led to the prosecution of a former president and vice-president.

Mr Morales has no previous experience in government. In his inaugural address, he promised to fight against corruption.

[…]

In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Morales praised the anti-corruption movement and said Guatemala was going through a “renaissance”.

He also promised money for health and education. “We want quality education for everyone, which prepares our children for a modern technical world.”

His critics said President Morales gave few clues as to how he was going to fight corruption and how he was going to deal with Guatemala’s high levels of violence, poverty and social inequality.

Here’s hoping Guatemala is not the leading edge of a 0% experience wave for chief executives in the western hemisphere.

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Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. Just 'nutha ig'rant cracker says:

    In addition, I will hope that he cares about the country and the people enough and is wise enough to be a good leader. (In vain at times it seems, I wish that for our country, too.)