New Honduran President Manuel Zelaya promised to stamp out the gang violence that has blighted the country in recent years as he was sworn in on Friday as the leader of Honduras, Central America.
The logging magnate has appointed a former general to head the fight against the “maras,” gangs of often tattooed youths who have gone on a rampage of theft, murder and rape.
“All the policies we talked about on the campaign are going to be carried out. On security, we already have a program under General Alvaro Romero because people are not safe enough,” Zelaya said in his inauguration speech.
Zelaya takes power in Honduras at a time when much of Latin America has swung to the left, with new leaders like Bolivian President Evo Morales.
The Honduran president, who is from the Liberal Party, is more of a social democrat than a leftist, although he has several left-wing supporters in his Cabinet.
The appointment of Romero as his security minister raised a few eyebrows as Romero was an army officer in the 1980s when death squads of soldiers and police killed more than 180 suspected leftists. Romero was not implicated in any of the crimes.
Although the ex-general is likely to take a tough line against the gangs, the president has promised to set up government rehabilitation programs for ex-offenders and raise the amount of money given to faith groups that work with prisoners.
The maras defied a security crackdown by outgoing President Ricardo Maduro with a series of beheadings in 2003 and 2004, and the Mara Salvatrucha gang shot and killed 28 people on a bus in December 2004.
Zelaya has also said he will bring down fuel prices, create 100,000 jobs a year and build 200,000 homes for the poor.
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