LIMA, Peru — Ollanta Humala, the leftist military man who won Peru's presidency after abandoning a radical platform, promised in his inaugural address Thursday to make his priority the one in three Peruvians still mired in poverty.
The 49-year-old former army lieutenant colonel charted a plan for spreading the wealth from Peru's mineral boom beyond Lima, where it has been concentrated among a small elite, to long-neglected hinterlands.
"Peru's peasants and the poor in the countryside in general will be the priority," Humala said in remarks before a newly installed Congress and dignitaries who included 11 presidents, almost all from South America.
He quoted South Africa's anti-apartheid hero and former president, Nelson Mandela, in arguing there can be no democracy where misery and "social asymmetry" persist.
Humala's will be a daunting juggling act: He also signaled his intention to maintain the business status quo and honor all international pacts, including a raft of free-trade agreements enacted by his predecessors.
To reassure foreign investors, Humala retained the incumbent central bank chief, Julio Velarde, and named as finance minister Luis Miguel Castilla, a deputy finance minister for the past year and a half in the outgoing government of President Alan Garcia.
The Cabinet is dominated by moderate technocrats but also includes, as culture minister, the renowned singer Susana Baca. She is Peru's first black Cabinet member.
Humala didn't explain how he planned to pay for the generous social programs he catalogued Thursday, most of which he promised during the campaign, though he has said he intends to seek taxes on windfall mining profits.
The pledges include modest old-age pensions for Peruvians at age 65, beginning with the neediest; raising the minimum monthly wage in two stages from $218 to $270 by next year; free preschools in Peru's poorest districts, college scholarships for top-performing needy students and building hospitals in 50 cities where they're lacking. The first minimum wage increase — $27 — is slated for next month.
Humala also promised to invest in public transportation in the traffic-choked capital of Lima; to expand highways and railways; to rebuild Peru's merchant marine and to re-establish a national airline. Aeroperu went bankrupt in 1999.
He said he would dedicate more natural gas from the Camisea field for domestic use rather than export, and has promised to lower natural gas prices, though he did not mention a target price.
Humala won't have an easy time in Congress, where his party has just 47 of 130 seats and will have to depend on lawmakers from the Peru Posible party of former President Alejandro Toledo for a majority.
The main opposition in Congress comes from the Fujimori camp, the second-biggest voting bloc. Humala narrowly defeated Keiko Fujimori, daughter of imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori, in a June 5 runoff.
The Fujimoristas tried to shout down Humala when, during his swearing-in, he said he was assuming power in the spirit of the 1979 constitution.
That was a snub to the 1993 magna carta passed under the autocratic regime of Alberto Fujimori, who is serving a 25-year prison term for authorizing death squads and corruption. The 1993 constitution specifies a reduced state role in the economy, justifying Fujimori's wave of privatizations of state-owned companies.
Humala got warm greetings from fellow leftist Presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Cristina Fernandez of Argentina. The United States sent Dan Restrepo, the top Western Hemisphere official in the White House.
The nascent UNASUR union of South American nations met later Thursday and agreed to proposal by President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia to convene its finance ministers in Argentina, likely on Aug. 10-11, to discuss a possible collective response to the European and U.S. debt crises. The value of some regional currencies against the U.S. dollar and the euro have risen to levels that are hurting exports. Santos said Mexico was invited to participate.
Analysts said Mr. Humala's remarks contained no big surprises. The 49-year-old former military officer started his political career as a populist in the mold of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. But he moved toward the center this year and pleased financial markets last week by naming U.S.-trained technocrats to major economic posts.
"Mr. Humala's speech contained what was expected, and most importantly didn't include any radical changes, which should be a positive for markets and adds credibility to what he has been saying since the June 5 run-off vote," said Cesar Perez, a managing director with Celfin Capital.
Bulltick Capital Markets had a similar reaction. "In his inauguration speech today, where presidents-elect historically give their vision of how their administration will take shape, Humala maintained the generally market friendly tone," it said.
Mr. Humala reiterated that he would maintain the basic tenets of Peru's economic policy, which has produced 12 consecutive years of growth. He said his government would ensure "healthy economic growth and macroeconomic standards," as well as "respect for the fiscal rules to confront external crises or natural disasters."
He also said he wants Peru's economy to be well integrated with those of its neighbors. "We don't want an autarkic economy that stays within itself, isolated from the process of globalization," he said. "Rather, we want an economy that's integrated—first of all integrated with the region and especially with our Andean and South American neighbors."
Mr. Humala also repeated his view that the country must do more to ensure equitable wealth distribution. To that end, he announced the creation of a new cabinet ministry, "The Ministry of Development and Inclusion."
One moment of controversy in the inauguration came when Mr. Humala said he would abide by the principles of Peru's previous constitution of 1979, not its current one, drawing jeers from supporters of former president Alberto Fujimori. Mr. Fujimori replaced the earlier constitution in 1993 in an act that Mr. Humala contends was illegal since it followed a coup by Mr. Fujimori in which he closed Congress and the courts. The latter constitution, however, was written by a constituent assembly and approved in a referendum.
Mr. Fujimori is now in prison for his role in a massacre that occurred while he was president. Mr. Humala defeated Mr. Fujimori's daughter, Keiko, to win the presidency in June.
Mr. Humala will serve a five-year term succeeding the centrist Alan Garcia. Mr. Garcia boycotted the swearing-in ceremony, saying he feared that members of the new Congress would give him an unfriendly reception.
