Laura Chinchilla sworn President of Costa Rica

San Jose, May 9 Laura Chinchilla is sworn in as the first woman president of Costa Rica. She has pledged to bring more peace and quality education in the country. Chinchilla sworn in at 11.39 a.m. local time (1739 GMT) Saturday, as she put on the presidential sash, at a ceremony in the capital city of San Jose.Two new vice presidents were also sworn in Saturday.

Chinchilla on assumption of office first signed an executive decree that places a moratorium on open-pit gold mining in the country.The decree suspends “indefinitely” the “exploration, extraction and processing of the materials extracted through the use of cyanide and mercury.”The new decree also repeals an executive order issued on March 18, 2008, by her predecessor, Oscar Arias, that established an “environmental safeguard” for mining in the country and laid out the basic environmental ground rules for the activity in Costa Rica.

Chinchilla, in her Presidential acceptance speech, promised to work with all of Costa Rica’s political spectrum and citizens.“Leadership consists in crafting agreements. Costa Rica is our shared home and no one should seek a monopoly on the truth,” she was quoted as saying by Xinhua.The president said she would raise the nation’s education budget.“We will work as a team for more peace in Costa Rica, with more police so that Costa Rica’s children are free to enjoy the fruits of liberty,” Chinchilla said.“We will also work to make Costa Rica more competitive, but also to make sure that the achievements of some do not conflict with the rights of others,” she said.

Presidents of Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Georgia, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Spain’s crown prince Felipe attended the ceremony.

Chinchilla won the presidential election Feb 7, 2010 with 46.8 percent of votes. Her term runs till 2014.Chinchilla also signed into law the creation of a national anti-drug commission. According to the decree, the commission will be in charge of combating drug trafficking and reducing the consumption of illegal substances in Costa Rica.