Conservative Arnoldo Aleman took office as Nicaragua's new president Friday, vowing to ease his country's poverty and appealing for unity in a nation still scarred by civil war.
But old divisions were still evident. Police in the capital arrested two men Friday who allegedly plotted to assassinate the new president with dynamite, and troops north of the capital hunted an armed band that killed six troops in an ambush.The leftist Sandinistas complained of a new "dictatorship" and served notice they would encourage Nicaragua's poor to protest against the incoming administration.
Aleman, himself imprisoned by the Sandinistas when they ruled in the 1980s, urged his countrymen toward "a true reconciliation, with forgiveness and forgetting."
Twenty thousand supporters filled the national baseball stadium for his inaugural speech, waving the blue-and-white flag of Nicaragua and the red banner of Aleman's Liberal Alliance. They cheered as Aleman toured the perimeter of the stadium in a convertible, smiling and giving the crowd a thumbs up.
Late Friday, police announced they had thwarted an assassination attempt with the arrest of two men. Officials released few other details, but Sandinista radio said the men were carrying almost a ton of dynamite.
The radio identified one suspect as a former deputy commander in the Interior Ministry who was fired in 1992. Police spokesman Justo Ramon Zamora said one of those arrested was a former police officer.
Aleman, 51, defeated former Sandinista President Daniel Ortega in October elections. During his campaign, Aleman hit hard at abuses committed by the Sandinistas when they governed Nicaragua during the 1980s. For their part, the Sandinistas tried to link Aleman to the right-wing dictatorship of Anastazio Somoza, whom they overthrew in 1979.
U.S.- and Soviet-backed forces battled for domination throughout the 1980s.
Aleman paid an emotional tribute in his inaugural speech to his late wife, who died in 1989 while he was jailed by the Sandinistas on charges of plotting to overthrow them.
A coffee grower and lawyer, Aleman was among many landowners whose properties were confiscated by the Sandinistas.
As a young man, Aleman was a member of Somoza's Liberal Youth Organization. But he has since distanced himself from the dictatorship, calling Somoza "a murderer."
Elected mayor of Managua in 1990, Aleman won admiration from many in the capital for his honesty and efficiency. But he infuriated Sandinistas by painting over their murals and renaming streets that had honored their heroes.
Outgoing President Violeta Chamorro, whose 1990 election toppled the Sandinistas and ended a decade of civil war, declared Thursday she was leaving behind "a Nicaragua transformed and in peace."
But she was unable to undo Nicaragua's dire poverty during her term of nearly seven years, the longest ever served by a democratically elected Nicaraguan president. By law, she could not serve again.
For his part, Aleman promised to cut red tape for businesses, improve conditions for investors, lower the cost of farm supplies and try to renegotiate the country's still heavy foreign debt.
Aleman also pledged to create jobs for the poor and encouraged the return of Nicaraguans who fled the Sandinistas and who have remained wary of returning to a country where the army and police until recently were Sandinista-run.
The Sandinistas are still Nicaragua's second-largest and best-organized political force.
Sandinista officials in recent days have called Aleman "de facto" president - a reference to their claims his election was fraudulent. The Sandinista newspaper Barricada called his inauguration the beginning of "a new dictatorship."