BOGOTA, Reuter: Colombia’s new President, Virgilio Barco, 64, today begins a four-year term as President with a firm pledge to rid the nation of poverty, fight social injustice and bring peace.
The President, sworn in yesterday is a civil engineer with long experience as a public administrator; He said unemployment, now officially at 14.7 per cent, had reached its highest level in 50 years and cited the eradication of absolute poverty as one of his main challenges.
Barco said he would focus on the search for peace in the nation of 28 million beset by decades of political violence, guerrilla warfare and widespread drug trafficking.
The simple swearing in ceremony was held amid one of the tightest security operations seen in Bogota, with tanks parked at strategic locations and heavily armed troops patrolling the streets.
U.S. Secretary of State, Shultz was at the center of intense diplomatic activity, meeting Barco and three Central American presidents.
A U.S. official said the only new idea mentioned during the day came from Barco, who suggested that the organization of American States (OAS) play a role in the search for peace in troubled Central America.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 15, 1986
