SANTIAGO - Conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera takes office as Chile's new president on Thursday, tasked with rebuilding the country after one of the worst earthquakes ever recorded killed hundreds of people less than two weeks ago.
Chileans hope the Harvard-trained economist can use his renowned business skills to help one of Latin America's most stable economies rebound from the quake, which was followed by a tsunami that devastated coastal villages.
"He is a businessman ... and that is what we need right now. Someone who can create jobs for our kids," said Carlos Fuentes, a 47-year-old fisherman who lost his home and boat when giant waves rolled over the town of Curanipe after the 8.8-magnitude quake.
"He's got a tough job," Fuentes said while untangling fishing nets with a knife.
Even though mines were mostly unscathed in the world's top copper producer, the quake seriously damaged key wine, fish and paper pulp industries near the epicenter in south-central Chile. Some analysts see the losses shaving half a point off this year's economic growth.
Pinera, a former senator, made a fortune on a credit cards business and an airline, becoming one of the world's wealthiest people according to Forbes magazine, which estimates his fortune at $2.2 billion.
To fund reconstruction, the new leader is likely to issue international bonds and dip into the country's copper savings.
"We hope the Pinera does a better job helping us than the (outgoing) government," said Claudio Escalona, 42, a construction worker and volunteer fireman whose coastal home was ravaged after giant waves battered the coastal town of Pelluhue following the quake.
The handover of power from popular center-leftist Michelle Bachelet was celebrated at an austere midday ceremony, toned down out of respect for those still mourning the dead. Still, it was rocked by a strong aftershock of 7.2 magnitude near Chile's capital Santiago, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Officials have identified 497 dead from the Feb. 27 quake and tsunami, after revising down an earlier death toll of 802, which mistakenly included lists of the missing.
Pinera's election marks a shift to the right in Latin America where a generation of center-left and socialist leaders are in power.
Fellow conservative presidents Alan Garcia of Peru and Alvaro Uribe of Colombia were scheduled to attend the inauguration along with leftist leaders such as Argentine President Cristina Fernandez and Bolivia's Evo Morales.
Pinera and Morales, a soccer fanatic, played together in a friendly soccer match the day before the inauguration, putting aside their countries' historic dispute over landlocked Bolivia's access to the sea.
Bachelet, a pediatrician-turned-politician, is leaving office with a record high 84 percent approval rating even after criticism of delays in government aid for victims.
She was honored with a final bugle call at the presidential palace on Thursday morning ahead of the handover.
The government was also slammed for a faulty tsunami warning system, the botched death toll estimates and hesitating to send in troops to quell violent looting. Pinera has promised a total overhaul of the country's emergency response office.
The agency's head tendered her resignation on Wednesday, defending its record in the face of widespread criticism and Pinera's overhaul vow.
"What more do they want? Blood?" Carmen Fernandez said after tendering her resignation to Bachelet. "What else do they want me to say? That I will sacrifice myself in public?" (
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