PANAMA CITY, Panama (CNN) -- President-elect Mireya Moscoso
                  promised Monday to throw an old-fashioned Latin American street party
                  when she becomes Panama's first female president later this year.

                  "On September 1, we take power, and we're going to a stadium so the
                  Panamanian people can go with me," Moscoso said as she celebrated her
                  election win.

                  Moscoso took revenge with her victory over Martin Torrijos in Sunday's
                  election. Torrijos is the son of Gen. Omar Torrijos, who helped depose her
                  late husband, President Arnulfo Arias, in a 1968 coup.

                  With 95 percent of the vote counted Monday, Moscoso had 44.8 percent
                  to Torrijos' 37.6 percent. A third candidate, banker Alberto Vallarino,
                  garnered 17.4 percent.

                  A more personal touch

                  Both supporters and opponents predict Moscoso will lead with a more
                  personal touch then her predecessor, outgoing President Ernesto Perez
                  Balladares.

                  "I see Perez Balladares as something of a Louis XIV, the Sun King,
                  enormous ego and lots of protocol," said former President Guillermo
                  Endara, a member of Moscoso's Arnulfista Party (AP). "That style of
                  government is going to change completely."

                  But Moscoso, a self-proclaimed populist, faces a far more daunting task in
                  rescuing Panama's economy.

                  The Central American country of 2.7 million people suffers a 36 percent
                  poverty rate and 12.8 percent unemployment.

                  Canal brings burdens with revenue

                  The economy will likely benefit from the U.S. handover of the Panama Canal
                  on December 31. The canal brings in more than $500 million in revenue, but
                  also comes with the financial and political burdens of keeping the waterway
                  running efficiently.

                  The canal requires $100 million a year for maintenance and will need to be
                  expanded by 2010, when demand is expected to exceed capacity.

                  "We are going to show that we can run the canal as well as the Americans
                  did," Moscoso said.

                  The United States will also cede control of 40,000 acres surrounding the
                  50-mile route and withdraw the last of its military forces.

                  Returned from exile

                  Moscoso, a former secretary, was just 22 years old when she married
                  67-year-old Arias in 1969, a year after he was ousted in a military coup.

                  During Panama's military rule, she lived in exile in the United States with her
                  husband. Arias died in Miami in 1989.

                  After a U.S. invasion ousted military strongman Manual Noriega in 1989,
                  Moscoso returned to Panama to carry out her husband's political agenda.

                  She took over the helm of the Arnulfista Party, but lost a bid for the
                  presidency in 1994. In this year's campaign, she proposed using funds from
                  recent privatizations to create direct aid programs and social services for the
                  poor.

                  "For her, the presidency will be very painful," said Endara, who left office in
                  1994. "She will share the pain of the people who depend on her."

                           The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.