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Carlos Roberto Flores Facusse Is New Honduras President By: Lorenzo Dee Belveal TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, January 27, 1998 (AP) -- Vowing to tackle rising crime and endemic poverty, Carlos Flores Facusse was sworn in as president of Honduras on Tuesday before a cheering throng in a soccer stadium. With his American wife, Mary, at his side, the 47-year-old Flores Facusse accepted the presidential sash at the National Stadium in Tegucigalpa, the capital, wearing the red and black colors of his Liberal Party. About 30,000 people attended the ceremony. The new president, elected Nov. 30 to a four-year term, promised to combat the poverty afflicting 80 percent of Honduras' 5.9 million people. He also has promised to move the country beyond a painful, two-decade transition from military rule. To get the job, Flores Facusse defeated Nora Gunera de Melgar, former mayor of Tegucigalpa and widow of a former military ruler. ``Honduras is a country that does not tolerate the misery of underdevelopment,'' Flores Facusse said. ``With the help of God and the people, today we undertake a new agenda for Honduras.'' Flores Facusse, a newspaper owner and past president of Congress, succeeded fellow Liberal Party politician Carlos Roberto Reina, 71. Flores Facusse is the fifth president elected by popular vote in 17 years. The country returned to civilian rule in 1980 after nearly two decades of military regimes. He took his oath at the side of his wife, whom he met at Louisiana State University, where she earned a degree in marketing and textiles and he in industrial engineering. In his inaugural address, Flores Facusse vowed to combat rising street crime and government corruption, improve wages and stimulate investment in Honduras. He did not give specifics. Flores’ predecessor, Carlos Roberto Reina leaves office after having promised to crack down on corruption and human rights abuses he himself once suffered as a political prisoner under military rule. But prominent human rights groups charge that Reina did little to fulfill that pledge. His efforts to punish past rights abuses appear to have been hamstrung by resistance among military officers. ---------------- E N D ------------------- Lorenzo Dee Belveal, Author
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