Juan Manuel Santos sworn in as Colombian president
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Juan Manuel Santos has been sworn in as the new president of Colombia.
In his inaugural speech, Mr Santos said that mending relations with neighbours Ecuador and Venezuela would be one of his government's main priorities.
In response, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he would like to meet "face-to-face" with Mr Santos.
Mr Santos also told Colombia's left-wing rebel groups the door to dialogue was open, but they would have to renounce violence first.
'New dawn'
He promised to tackle the main problems besetting Colombians, saying his government would aim to lower unemployment to a single digit figure, fight corruption and reduce poverty.
He said the work of his predecessor in office, President Alvaro Uribe, had paved the way for "a new dawn for Colombia".
Mr Santos, who served as Mr Uribe's defence minister, said the former president had inspired hope in Colombians and allowed them to move freely in their own country again.
Before the official ceremony, Mr Santos met with indigenous leaders
He said it was now time the country moved from Mr Uribe's policy of "democratic security" to one of "democratic prosperity".
He asked the heads of the security forces to continue delivering results in their battle against left-wing rebels and drug traffickers.
But he made it clear to the rebels, who have been fighting a 46-year insurgency against the Colombian state, that he did not rule out dialogue completely.
"To the armed illegal groups, who invoke political reasons and now talk of dialogue and negotiation, I say my government is open to any kind of conversation which seeks to eradicate violence and build a more prosperous, equal and just society," he said.
He added that a dialogue would only go ahead if the rebels laid down their arms and stopped their campaign of kidnapping, intimidation, extortion and drug-dealing.
'Rebuilding trust'
On foreign policy, he tried to mend some of the relations which broke down during his predecessor's tenure.
In a reference to accusations by Venezuela's President Chavez that Mr Uribe had been planning an attack on Venezuela, President Santos said that the word "war" was not in his dictionary when he thought of Colombia's relations with its neighbours.
Mr Chavez broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia two weeks ago after Bogota accused him of harbouring Farc rebels.
The Venezuelan president did not attend the inauguration, but did send his Foreign Minister, Nicolas Maduro.
Speaking on live TV after Mr Santos' inauguration, Mr Chavez said he wanted to "turn over the page" in relations with Colombia.
He would be seeking a "face-to-face" meeting with Mr Santos.
The new Colombian president also appealed to Ecuador, whose president, Rafael Correa, was in the audience.
Ecuador cut its ties with Bogota after the Colombian military conducted a cross-border bombing raid on a Farc camp on Ecuadorian territory.
He said that one of his main priorities would be to rebuild trust between Colombia and its neighbours.
"Every country in our region has great strength, but together we can be a formidable power," he added.
Der Präsident von Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, wird am Dienstag den erst kürzlich vereidigten Präsidenten von Kolumbien, Juan Manuel Santos, zu einem persönlichen Gespräch in Bogotá treffen. Die Beziehungen zwischen den beiden Nachbarstaaten sind in den letzten Wochen stark abgekühlt,  nachdem die kolumbianische Regierung Venezuela beschuldigt hatte, Kämpfern der FARC Guerilla Unterschlupf zu gewähren. Daraufhin hat Chávez  Panzer an der Grenze zu Kolumbien auffahren lassen und Kolumbien am Freitag eine Klage gegen den venezolanischen Staatschef beim Internationalen Gerichtshof in Den Haag eingebracht.

Juan Manuel Santos wurde am Samstag als neuer Präsident von Kolumbien vereidigt. In der Regierung seines Vorgängers, Álvaro Uribe, war Santos als Verteidigungsminister tätig und  erfolgreich im Bemühen,  die „Revolutionären Streitkräfte Kolumbiens“ (FARC), die bereits die Hälfte des kolumbianischen Territoriums kontrollierten, zurückzudrängen. Zusammen mit den Fortschritten im Kampf gegen den Drogenhandel ist es der Regierung Uribe in den letzten acht Jahren damit gelungen, die Sicherheit im Land zu erhöhen und damit auch die Grundlage für ein solides Wirtschaftswachstum zu schaffen, das in den letzten beiden Jahren allerdings durch die Weltwirtschaftskrise etwas gedämpft wurde.

In seiner Antrittsrede hob Santos hervor, dass zu seinen vorrangigen Zielen neben der Bekämpfung der Arbeitslosigkeit und der Armut sowie der Reduzierung des Budgetdefizits vor allem die Verbesserung der Beziehungen zu den Nachbarstaaten Ecuador und Kolumbien zählt. Santos betonte, dass er ein persönliches Gespräch mit Hugo Chávez einer anderen Lösung vorziehe. Die Antwort aus Caracas ließ nicht lange auf sich warten. Chávez erklärte sich bereit, eine neue Seite in den Beziehungen zu Kolumbien aufzuschlagen und zu Gesprächen nach Bogotá anzureisen. Er betonte weiters, er sei glücklich über das bevorstehende Treffen.