Monrovia, Liberia
Liberia’s new president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, promised in her inauguration speech this week to make “a fundamental break” with the country’s violent past. Liberia was embroiled in a brutal civil war from 1989 to 2003. “We know that your vote was a vote for change, a vote for peace,” said Johnson-Sirleaf, the first woman to be elected head of state in any African country. The Harvard-educated former finance minister said she would seek to stamp out corruption and increase foreign aid. U.S. First Lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attended the inauguration. Liberia was founded by freed American slaves in 1847.
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