(15 Jan 2008)
1. Wide of inauguration ceremony
2. Various of new Guatemalan president, Alvaro Colom, walking in with his wife ahead of inauguration
3. Colom walking on stage then embracing official and taking a seat
4. Wide of audience
5. Outgoing Guatemalan President, Oscar Berger, arriving at ceremony
6. Various of Colom being sworn in as president
7. Various of Colom receiving sash
8. Colom receiving presidential chain
9. Various of Colom being congratulated following ceremony
10. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Alvaro Colom, President of Guatemala:
"Today is the beginning of privileges for the poor, the beginning of privileges for those without opportunities."
11. Wide pan of ceremony
12. Close up of Colom's wife seated in audience
13. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Alvaro Colom, President of Guatemala:
"We are going to fight for the unity of the country, for the harmony with our indigenous people. Today is the first time that the Mayan Council of Elders is invited to a swearing in ceremony."
14. Wide of ceremony
15. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe congratulating Colom
16. Various of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian congratulating Colom
(FIRST RUN 2230 AMERICAS PRIME NEWS - 14 JANUARY 2008)
17. Wide of dignitaries standing for national anthem
STORYLINE:
Alvaro Colom was sworn in on Monday as Guatemala's first leftist president in more than 50 years, promising to fight poverty in a nation where half the people live on less than one US dollar a day.
Colom, 56, who led Guatemala's efforts to coax thousands of refugees back home after its civil war ended, took office in a ceremony attended by world leaders including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombia's Alvaro Uribe, who recently clashed over a hostage mission.
"Today is the beginning of privileges for the poor, the beginning of privileges for those without opportunities," Colom said after receiving the presidential sash to the tune of traditional Mayan music.
Despite his ideology, Guatemala's new leader said he doesn't want to be identified with other leftist governments in Latin America, including that of Chavez.
Colom has said each country must find its own path, and that he won't accept Venezuela's offer of oil for preferential terms until he has consulted with his country's business elite.
The ceremony was attended by Mayan leaders, some wearing colourful embroidered blouses and skirts.
"We are going to fight for the unity of the country, for the harmony with our indigenous people," Colom said.
Also taking office on Monday was Vice President Rafael Espada, a former Houston Methodist Hospital heart surgeon.
Colom, an industrial engineer, has promised a broad social agenda that includes building schools and medical centres, creating jobs, and bringing security to a country where gangs behead victims and drug traffickers control much of the police forces.
But even Colom has recognised his job won't be easy.
Colom plans to recruit business leaders by having them participate in a so-called "Social Pact" to improve the economy and alleviate poverty.
Speaking to reporters before the ceremony, Chavez said Venezuela was ready to help Colom's government any way it could, including with oil at preferential terms, investment and other aid.
Colom defeated former General Otto Perez in a 4 November presidential election, becoming Guatemala's first leftist leader since Jacobo Arbenz was thrown out of office in 1954 by a CIA-orchestrated coup.
The refugees honoured him by training him as a minister in their religion.
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