World Tour: Guatemala swears in new president

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Ohikere.

AUDIO: [Cheering applause]

ONIZE OHIKERE: Guatemala swearing-in — We start today in Guatemala where Bernardo Arévalo has assumed office as the new president after last-minute efforts to derail his appointment.

Arévalo has faced staunch legal opposition since winning an election in August. Guatemala's Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras tried to strip Arévalo and his vice president of legal immunity and annul the election.

AUDIO: [Protest]

Protesters rallied outside the Congress on Sunday as the opposition-led Congress battled over the admission of lawmakers from Arévalo’s Seed Movement party.

The debate centered around whether to install the lawmakers as independents after the top court suspended Arévalo’s party. But Arévalo’s supporters saw the move as a last-ditch effort to keep him from office.

He was sworn in more than nine hours later than expected.

AREVALO: [Speaking Spanish]

In his first speech after taking office, Arévalo vowed to work with dedication, honesty, and transparency.

AUDIO: [Cheering crowd]

Taiwan election — Next to Taiwan, where alliances are already shifting after a weekend election.

Ruling party candidate Lai Ching-te won the Saturday vote. Lai is the current vice president and rejects China’s claim of sovereignty over the island of Taiwan.

But on Monday the tiny Pacific island of Nauru switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China. That leaves Taiwan with only 12 diplomatic allies.

FOREIGN MINISTER: [Speaking Mandarin]

Taiwan’s foreign minister says here that the switch marks another attempt by China to attack Taiwan’s democracy and freedom.

China had called the election a choice between war and peace. Lai’s nearest contender was Hou Yu-ih, who trailed behind by about 6 percentage points. Hou opposes Taiwan independence and backs a “One China” principle.

AUDIO: [Fireworks and cheers]

Denmark abdication — Meanwhile, fireworks, celebrations, and historic changes in Denmark, where crowds welcomed a new king and Queen.

More than 100,000 Danes attended the Sunday festivities as King Frederik the Tenth acceded to the throne after his mother’s abdication.

AUDIO: [Cheering crowds]

The 83-year-old Queen Margrethe the second is the first Danish monarch to voluntarily relinquish the throne in nearly 900 years.

FREDERIK: [Speaking Danish]

King Frederik says here he hopes to serve as a unifying king.

AUDIO: [Welcome ceremony]

Africa Cup of Nations — We close today in Ivory Coast, where soccer fans have gathered for a month of matches for the Africa Cup of Nations.

The games are taking place in five different cities—including at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium—on the northern outskirts of Abidjan.

AUDIO: [Singing fans]

Ivory Coast defeated Guinea-Bissau in the opening game on Saturday—continuing a streak of host countries winning opening matches since 1998.

MAN: [Speaking French]

This Ivory Coast fan says he expects the team to go much further in the competition.

But attendance fell below expectations with just over 36,000 fans in the 60,000-seat stadium for the opening ceremony.

As the group stage of the games continues, Morocco and Tanzania will face-off today as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo against Zambia.

That’s it for today’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

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