Ecuador inauguration draws anti-US leaders

QUITO, Jan 15 (Reuters) Leftist Rafael Correa became Ecuador's eighth president in a decade today and vowed radical changes at a ceremony that drew presidents from a burgeoning anti-U.S. alliance such as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

Correa, a US-educated economics professor, has already sent shivers down Wall Street with his promises to renegotiate debt, rework oil deals and end the lease on a major military base used by the US military.

''The fatherland is coming back, jobs are coming back and justice is coming back,'' he said in a speech after taking the oath in a traditional Andean shirt.

Correa vowed to purge the country of corruption and encourage the return of emigrants, and continued his rhetoric against the country's debt payments, saying some of the sovereign debt was ''corrupt.'' It was unclear exactly what he was referring to but he has already threatened a moratorium on what he calls unjust debt payments.

The tall, charismatic 43-year-old has promised to challenge the poor Andean nation'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 number 5 oil producer, where three presidents have been ousted by congressional and political turmoil in 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 Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in criticizing U.S.

policy in the region.

LESS HARSH THAN CHAVEZ Correa's anti-US 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 US 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.'' It appeared earlier this month that Correa's first weeks in power would be tense, with a congressional majority opposing his constitutional reforms.

He wants the constitution changed to lessen political influence on the judiciary and make lawmakers live in the small constituencies they represent. Many legislators fear this could be a step to bypassing them.

However, an ousted president who heads parliament's second-largest party threw his weight on Thursday behind Correa, allaying the risk of the new president running into early trouble.

Now enjoying a slight majority in Congress, Correa should have a green light to call a referendum to convene an assembly with powers to rewrite the constitution.

Correa opposes a free-trade deal with the United States and instead looks to join Venezuela in the ALBA, an alternative pact grouping leftist allies such as Cuba in an axis against Washington's economic policy.

Raised at the heart of a middle-class family in the port city of Guayaquil, Correa won scholarships to study in Europe and the United States. He speaks English, French and a little Quechua, a native language of the Andes.

Reuters AB DB2308