Former Marxist guerrilla Daniel Ortega has returned to power in Nicaragua.
REMARKABLE COMEBACK: New Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega
Mr Ortega (61) was sworn in almost 17 years after voters, tired of a vicious civil war with US-backed Contra rebels, threw him out of office.
The Sandinista leader won a presidential election in November on promises to fight the hunger, poverty and corruption that previous free-market governments have failed to end.
His election gives Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez a new left-wing ally as he defies US influence in Latin America.
Mr Ortega has dropped many radical economic policies, saying he has learned from past mistakes like land expropriations. He promises reconciliation and makes frequent references to God.
But Mr Ortega still describes himself as a socialist and counts Mr Chavez, Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Bolivian President Evo Morales as his main allies in Latin America.
It was a remarkable comeback for a man who overthrew a dictator in 1979, led his country through war and a US blockade in the 1980s and was accused of sex abuse after falling from power.
Mr Ortega first came to power in the 1979 revolution that toppled dictator Anastasio Somoza. Literacy and health care improved dramatically at first, but mismanagement and the war then plunged the country into years of economic chaos.
Mr Ortega later survived a scandal when a stepdaughter alleged in 1998 that he had sexually abused her for years. His wife Rosario Murillo stood by him, and he weathered the storm.