Ignited by anger at government austerity measures, demonstrations that began on Wednesday and spilled over into Thursday in defiance of a state of emergency left 16 people dead and more than 150 injured, police said.
Embattled Argentine President Fernando de la Rua was in a crisis meeting early Thursday struggling to form a new government as protests continued and his entire cabinet handed in its resignation.
He is to announce a new provisional cabinet, including a new economy minister, later Thursday, Senator Carlos Maestro told reporters at the presidential palace.
Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo, the champion of free market economic policies that critics say have plunged the country into crisis, resigned after de la Rua declared a state of emergency late Wednesday in response to the street protests.
All the fatalities were victims of gunfire in clashes with police or merchants defending their shops after thousands of Argentines took to the streets Wednesday in Buenos Aires and other cities.
Police said more than 500 people were arrested in the protests against economic austerity measures designed to pull the country out of a 43-month recession and enable it to meet payment deadlines for its 132-billion-dollar foreign debt.
A main target of popular anger was Cavallo, considered the main proponent of economic austerity measures and the man who as economy minister 10 years ago under former president Carlos Menem pegged the Argentine peso to the US dollar.
The financial crisis deepened earlier this month when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delayed a crucial disbursement of 1.264 billion dollars until the government imposed promised austerity measures and tax reforms.
Last Friday, Argentina paid part of the 1.1 billion dollars required to avoid default on its public debt but is still facing an uphill battle to meet payment deadlines later this month.
In Washington the IMF said it was prepared to work with the new economic team in Argentina in the wake of Cavallo’s resignation, with IMF spokesman Thomas Dawson acknowledging Argentina’s difficulties as it seeks to implement a sustainable economic program.
US President George W. Bush expressed concern and urged Buenos Aires to continue working with the IMF.
“The president would like to see Argentina work with the IMF to be able to work through this difficult situation ... to resume sustainable economic growth,” Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.
The disruption on the streets of Argentina had little knock-on effect, however, on the international markets where traders said they had seen stormclouds brewing for some time.
On the streets, angry protesters late Wednesday shouted “We’re hungry, we need to eat,” as they stole food.
Thousands of people banging pots and chanting slogans gathered outside the presidential palace to protest the state of emergency decree and the government’s handling of the crisis.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the angry crowds.
Other groups of protesters gathered outside both houses of Congress and the homes of Cavallo and de la Rua, demanding the president too step down.
De la Rua late Wednesday declared a 30-day state of emergency, assuming special powers and suspending constitutional guarantees.
De la Rua also appealed to protesters to halt violent demonstrations and the looting of stores across the country.
However thousands filled the streets of Buenos Aires following the address, honking car horns and banging pans to express their disapproval, in protests that spilled over into Thursday.
The CGT, the country’s largest labor union with close to eight million members, urged the government to “do something before it’s too late” while the Central Workers of Argentina union said its members — teachers and state government workers — would go on strike throughout the country.
Labor unions last week held the seventh general strike since the president took office, with an eighth strike set for Christmas Eve.
Trouble began early Wednesday with looting incidents in two Buenos Aires suburbs.
De la Rua ruled out any change in the country’s currency policy as a solution to the crisis, saying one-to-one parity between the peso and the US dollar would continue.—AFP