New Argentine President Mauricio Macri calls for unity as Fernandez skips ceremony

Although the road ahead will be tough to navigate, many observers are hopeful Macri’s policies can distance the country from those of his combative predecessor, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Tensions intensified between the two after Fernandez accused Macri of disrespecting her in an argument over the location of the inauguration ceremony.

Mr Macri has arrived at Congress carrying out a horseback parade that passed a large number of men and women who have been lining the roads.

Macri, the previous mayor of Buenos Aires who hails from certainly one of Argentina’s richest households, took the oath of workplace in Congress in entrance of legislators, a number of Latin American heads of state and different dignitaries, together with former Spanish King Juan Carlos I. Incoming Senate speaker Federico Pinedo, the acting president since midnight, administrated the oath of office.

Oscar Parrilli, who leads the Federal Intelligence Agency, told reporters late Tuesday that the meeting fell apart.

Mr Macri, who won a run-off election last month, has pledged to jettison policies in a bid to revive an economy that has, for decades, fallen short of its potential.

His victory delivered a hammer-blow to the Peronist movement that has dominated Argentine politics for much of the past 70 years and which will be ready to pounce on him if his planned reforms to the fragile economy unleash a new crisis. “With Macri, this will come to an end”, said supporter Agustin Toledo.

But Macri has also signaled the end to protectionist import restrictions, a reduction in taxes on agricultural exports and an end to the official exchange rate supporting the Argentine currency, the peso.

The ceremony was attended by regional presidents including Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and Evo Morales of Bolivia, one of Fernandez’s staunchest allies.

Following the ceremony, Macri and his entourage arrived at the executive mansion and presidential headquarters Casa Rosada, where the president and his family will be residing for the next four years.

“Macri needs to get some immediate points on the board to justify the confidence that exists”, said Gary Kleiman, of Kleiman International Consultants in Washington.

He also said he would improve relations with the United States and the worldwide financial community.

Inflation is pushing 30 percent, foreign reserves are low and a long-running dispute with USA creditors has marginalized Latin America’s third largest economy from worldwide credit markets.

Argentina will change its way of relating to the world, according to the country’s new President.

Mr. Macri preferred to revert to the traditional system, but Ms. Fernández insisted on sticking to the more recent practice, and refused to relent.

The Buenos Aires Herald says Ms Fernandez’s last day showed her “at both her best and her worst” with a “display of petty political mischief” but with “a grip on the popular imagination”.