Tabare Vazquez took the oath of office as Uruguay’s new president on Sunday at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, the Latin American Herald Tribune reports.
Raul Sendic was sworn in as vice president, with the oath of office being administered to both officials by Sen. Lucia Topolansky.
Vazquez, who served as president from 2005 to 2010, succeeds Jose Mujica, whose term ran from 2010 to 2015.
Mujica urged Uruguayans to support Vazquez, a fellow member of the leftist Broad Front coalition.
“This is a day of national unity, you have many thanks from me for everything the Uruguayan people have given me,” Mujica told reporters as he left Montevideo’s Independence Plaza.
The 75-year-old Vazquez, for his part, said his administration would focus on the values of “liberty, self-determination and integration” inspired by Jose Artigas, considered the father of the South American nation.
