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"Honor and glory to the people's heroes who recovered democracy," said Bolivian President Luis Arce at the beginning of his inaugural speech.
In his first speech as president, Arce criticized the management of the de facto government, which destroyed Bolivia's economy.
The new president of Bolivia also promised to rebuild the South American country, after the de facto government during a year of administration destroyed the economy and its democracy.
"In one year, all the conquests of the Bolivian people were reversed", President Arce's diagnosed, in overviewing the figures with which the de facto government left to the Bolivian State.
"The de facto government left an economy with figures that were not even seen in one of the worst crises that Bolivia suffered under the UDP (Democratic and Popular Unity) government in the decade of the 80s of the last century. Unemployment, poverty and inequalities have all increased," he warned.
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In his first message as President of Bolivia, Arce commented: "Today we are here, to send a message of hope to all the nations that make up Bolivia, to those brave women and men who go out every day to fight to overcome this difficult situation."
"We must put an end to fear in Bolivia. I believe in justice, not in fostering an atmosphere of resentment and revenge that does not respect diversity of thought, where being from another party or political color makes you an object of hate. That has to stop," said Arce.
"As minister I sacrificed many things to serve the country. Today I ask you for five more years of patience and tolerance. Death, fear and discrimination were sown, racism was intensified and the pandemic was used to extend an illegitimate government," he said.
�� #ÚLTIMO
— Senado de Bolivia (@SenadoBolivia) November 8, 2020
Luis Arce Catacora jura como Presidente del Estado Plurinacional de #Bolivia y recibe la banda y medalla presidencial. pic.twitter.com/JNqMed4mHz
"We will govern with responsibility and inclusion... with the objective of returning Bolivia to the path of stability, hoping to be like the Bolivian government of the people that rose to recover democracy," he promised.
"We want to start a new stage of our history. Our government will seek to rebuild our homeland in unity to live in peace," said the president.
"We will defeat the pandemic and the economic crisis, as we did before", promised the economist, who in his message exposed a battery of indicators to illustrate the critical state of the Bolivian economy.
#LIVE | Luis Arce has been sworn in as President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. "We are going to work together to recover the levels of growth that the de facto government shattered," Arce pledged to the nation. pic.twitter.com/DmIQCwldsc
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) November 8, 2020
"The pandemic was used to extend an illegal and illegitimate government," he denounced, again alluding to the regime of the self-proclaimed President Jeanine Áñez who, in his words "mutilated" the fundamental democratic rights and liberties in the country.
"It is not hatred that drives our actions, but a passion for justice," he exclaimed, paraphrasing the words of socialist leader Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz.
"We are committed to rectify what was wrong and deepen what was right," he said.
At the beginning of his message, Arce thanked his family for their patience during his term as Economy Minister and asked for "five more years," now as president of Bolivia.
The inauguration of socialist president Luis Arce which will take place later this morning marks the restoration of constitutionality. Bolivia's movements and government intend to continue of the Process of Change initiated under Evo Morales. @teleSURenglish pic.twitter.com/ID7qhIYUPi
— Camila (@camilateleSUR) November 8, 2020
He also remembered the victims of the massacres of Senkata, Sacaba and El Pedregal, which occurred a month after the coup d'état against then President Evo Morales, and stressed that they are symbols of dignity and resistance.
"By your mandate, I assume the presidency with much humility and responsibility as I look at the past and find everything we lived through and overcame. I raise my eyes and see hope," he admitted and then closed with a call: "Let's walk in peace, side by side to achieve it. Let's move forward," he said.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, Vice President Choquehuanca called the special commission to accompany President Arce to the Casa Grande del Pueblo, where he received the international delegations that came to the inauguration ceremony.
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