GENE RANDALL, CNN ANCHOR: In Chile, a man who gained fame fighting General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship took the oath of office today as Chile's new president. CNN's Harris Whitbeck is in Santiago.</s>HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ricardo Lagos became Chile's third democratically elected president since the end of General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. His swearing in at the seat of Congress in the port city of Valparaiso was quick and to the point. It took less than 40 minutes for the ceremony to take place. Lagos, a socialist, received standing ovations from government officials and representatives of 111 countries gathered in the Congress hall. Conspicuous in his absence was Pinochet, who returned to Chile after having been released from house arrest in Great Britain last week. As a senator for life, the former dictator had the right to attend the swearing-in ceremony, but government officials had said it would be in bad taste for the general to show up. Dealing with the divisions the Pinochet case has provoked in Chile will be one of the new president's main challenges in the weeks to come. The left wants him tried for human rights violations, while the country's still-powerful army says the retired general should be left alone. Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Santiago, Chile.
Lagos Sworn in as President of Chile; Pinochet Conspicuously Absent