Ecuador's new President Rafael Correa (centre), accompanied by his wife Anne Malherbe and daughter Sofia, greets supporters after leaving Congress building after his inauguration ceremony in Quito yesterday. Leftist Rafael Correa, an ally of anti-U.S. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, assumed the presidency of Ecuador yesterday, vowing to bring radical change to a nation that has had eight presidents in 10 years. - Reuters

QUITO, (Reuters):

Leftist Rafael Correa became Ecuador's eighth president in a decade yesterday and vowed radical changes at a ceremony that drew presidents from a burgeoning anti-U.S. alliance.

Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez braved the thin air of the world's second-highest capital to show their solidarity with the U.S.-educated economist.

Correa has already sent shivers down Wall Street with his promises to renegotiate debt, rework oil deals that he equates with theft and end the lease on a major military base used by the U.S. military.

"I will not negotiate with anyone on the dignity of our homeland. Our homeland is not for sale," he said in a speech, wearing a traditional Andean shirt and brandishing a sword given to him by Chavez.

Correa, who comfortably won a November election run-off against a business magnate, vowed to purge the the poor Andean nation of corruption and encourage the return of emigrants.

Corruption

He also continued his rhetoric against the country's debt payments, saying some of the sovereign debt was "corrupt," and needed international arbitration. He specified the terms of a 2000 debt swap as especially "unacceptable."

The tall, charismatic 43-year-old has promised to challenge the country's political elites, largely perceived as corrupt, and reform the constitution.

Such moves could open fault lines in the highly fragile political system of South America's No. 5 oil producer, where three presidents have been ousted by congressional and political turmoil over the last 10 years.

Correa's win in the world's top banana exporter bolsters Latin America's resurgent left. He joins Chavez, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Nicaraguans President Daniel Ortega in criticising U.S. policy in the region.

Correa's anti-U.S. rhetoric has not been as harsh as that of his Venezuelan counterpart.

Although Correa said the devil should feel offended that Chavez compared him to U.S. President George W. Bush at the United Nations in September, the Ecuadorean later called Bush "noble" for congratulating him on his election win.

He also asserted independence from Chavez, insisting, "My friend does not rule in my house, I do."