Ecuadorian vice president sworn in
Alejandro Serrano was sworn in as new vice president of Ecuador, one day after he was selected by Congress.

The 72-year-old conservative politician took an oath in a ceremony led by the vice president of Congress, Cynthia Viteri.

Serrano, an engineer and businessman, is to replace Alfredo Palacio, who was elected president on April 20 when Congress ousted President Lucio Gutierrez after months of street protests. Two people died in the violent demonstrations in the capital.

The post of vice president has been important in Ecuador in recent years, and the last two elected presidents have been replaced by their deputies after being toppled.

Both Palacio and Serrano's current tenure end in January 2007.

The Social Christians and the Democratic Left, Ecuador's two major political parties, backed Serrano, but they refused to say whether they will support Palacio.

Former president Gutierrez was accused of failing to comply faithfully with his presidential responsibilities.

The demonstrators, after Gutierrez's ouster, also demanded the resignation of all the 100 lawmakers to clean up corruption, claiming that Congress was also responsible for the political crisis.