Ecuador’s Moreno takes office vowing to heal divisions

QUITO, Ecuador – Ecuador’s incoming President Lenin Moreno is following through on a promise to try and heal divisions stirred by a decade of polarizing leftist rule by naming several people from the private sector to key cabinet posts.

Moreno was sworn into office Wednesday after narrowly defeating a conservative former banker in last month’s runoff.

Moreno announced his cabinet on Tuesday after weeks of backdoor haggling. it includes several business executives and includes a trade minister from one of Ecuador’s wealthiest families. That’s a break from his mentor and predecessor Rafael Correa’s preference for ideological loyalists.

Moreno is counting on private investment to help resuscitate the dollarized Ecuadorean economy, which is mired in recession as a result of a collapse in oil prices.