President Mejia, Cabinet Sworn In

Hipolito Mejia assumed the presidency of the Dominican Republic and repeated his promises to help the poor--promises that businesspeople fear could reverse the Caribbean nation’s recent economic boom. The 59-year-old agronomist succeeds Leonel Fernandez, whose pro-investment policies and privatization of state monopolies helped boost the economy by 40% in recent years but failed to lift most Dominicans out of poverty. The fight against corruption and poverty will be priorities for his center-left Dominican Revolutionary Party government, Mejia said at his inauguration in Santo Domingo, the capital.