Rafael Correa vows radical changes as he swears in

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."

Leftist Rafael Correa became Ecuador's eighth president in a decade on Monday 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 U.S.-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 U.S. 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 No. 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.