Jose Napoleon Duarte handed over power Thursday to Alfredo Cristiani of the Republican National Alliance, or Arena.
Soldiers patrolled the capital and roads were deserted after Marxist guerrillas ordered a ban on transportation and set off bombs to protest the inauguration of the new right-wing president.More than 6,000 people attended the ceremony, the first transfer of power in El Salvador from one elected chief of state to another.
Ricardo Alvarenga Valdivieso, president of the Legislative Assembly, placed the presidential sash on Cristiani, who then took the oath of office. Attending were delegates from 36 nations and members of the new and former administrations.
Cristiani, 41, a U.S.-educated coffee grower, was elected March 19. Voter turnout was the lowest in a decade, which was attributed to a ban on traffic ordered by the rebel Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front.
Arena is blamed for the poor living conditions of peasants who make up most of Salvador's population; its founder is accused of involvement with right-wing death squads.
The guerrillas, who have waged a nine-year war with the U.S.-backed government, have heralded Cristiani with nightly 21-bomb salutes, blowing up power lines and utility poles at a pace unmatched in recent years. They threatened to make the country "ungovernable."
Officials at the state power company said guerrillas bombed transmission towers Wednesday night, knocking out power in 90 percent of the country.
On Wednesday, the rebels called an indefinite traffic ban, and bus dispatchers said it was a success. Most of the country's 5.5 million people rely on buses to get around. Thursday morning, streets in the capital were empty.
El Salvador, the size of Massachusetts, is the most densely populated country in the Western Hemisphere. Infant mortality, contaminated drinking water, illiteracy and lack of roads and electricity plague its many peasant farmers.