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Argentine President Quits After Deadly Riots

Photos Reuters Photo Audio/Video Riots, Looting Erupt Across Argentina (Reuters) Riots, Looting Erupt Across Argentina (Reuters)

By Stephen Brown

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - Argentina's Fernando de la Rua, undone by a popular revolt against his economic austerity measures, stepped down as president and fled his pink palace in a helicopter on Thursday, after days of unrest that has left at least 24 dead.

De la Rua submitted a brief letter of resignation to Congress before abruptly leaving in a helicopter which whisked him to the presidential residence on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

``I trust my decision will contribute to pacifying the country and maintaining the institutional continuity of the republic,'' he wrote, his last-ditch offer of a unity government with the opposition Peronists in ruins.

Senate chief Ramon Puerta, of the opposition Peronists who rebuffed De la Rua's coalition offer, is now in charge under the constitution. But he said on Thursday he would only remain in the job for 48 hours.

Congress meets at 11 a.m. (9 a.m. EST) on Friday to study who will assume the presidency.

De la Rua departs half way into his four-year term as one of the most unpopular elected leaders in the country's history. His palace was threatened by thousands of protesters angry at relentless belt-tightening drives that have impoverished many in Latin America's No. 3 economy.

URBAN BATTLEGROUND

Earlier, the center of the Argentine capital was a battleground where five people were killed and two banks and a McDonalds fast food outlet set on fire in clashes between police and rioters demanding that De la Rua step down.

Emergency services said the five dead were all elderly men who fell to the ground during street battles with police. The nationwide death toll amid the unrest rose to 24 after a Korean couple committed suicide after their shop in a suburb of Buenos Aires was ransacked.

Protesters, many from leftist groups and waving the blue-and-while Argentine flag, shouted slogans against De la Rua as they gathered in the Plaza de Mayo in front of the palace, a traditional spot for political demonstrations.

After De la Rua's resignation, jubilant Argentines celebrated in the shattered streets of the capital. ``I'm not so much happy as relieved. I hope the new government provides jobs,'' said an unemployed woman of 23.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said the Bush administration was ``monitoring the events in Argentina.''

A 30-day state of siege, declared late on Wednesday, failed to halt the violence, leaving the country of 36 million people in the throes of one of its worst crises since the last brutal military dictatorship ended in 1983.

De la Rua, a 64-year-old lawyer with little charisma and a hesitant style that cost him dear, threw himself on the mercy of the Peronists who ruled from 1989-99 and dominate Congress.

 

Photos Reuters Photo

His hurried exit recalled ignominious departures in recent Argentine history. Isabel Peron, widow of legendary leader Juan Peron, was whisked off by helicopter after being ousted in 1976 by a military coup. Thirteen years later, Raul Alfonsin left office early after food riots similar to those this week.

The four days of looting and protests, with many of the dead shot or stabbed by shopkeepers defending their stores, brought to a head a grueling political and economic crisis that has dragged on for more than a year.

A recession in its fourth year, 18.3 percent unemployment, relentless pay cuts and tax hikes to service the public debt, plus draconian new limits on cash withdrawals to stop a run on the banks, finally broke the patience of ordinary Argentines.

Hungry slum-dwellers, the impoverished middle class and merchants ruined by the cash controls joined in the protests, which ranged from violent looting to banging pots and pans.

Every day 2,000 people drop below the poverty line and children and pensioners increasingly go hungry and a country known for its beef and wheat. One of the wealthiest nations in the world in the early 20th century, Argentina still has the highest incomes and largest middle class in Latin America.

'BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT'

``The best Christmas gift the president can give us is to quit,'' one man said in Plaza de Mayo.

Trade unions called a general strike from midnight on Thursday until the state of siege is lifted. In the suburbs shopkeepers with guns and dogs guarded against looters.

Housewives and bond traders alike scrambled to protect themselves from what many now see as an inevitable default on Argentina's $132 billion debt or currency devaluation, either of which would bankrupt thousands and deepen the recession.

Fearing their savings could be wiped out or confiscated by the cash-strapped government, Argentines poured what money they had into anything they could find with real value -- stocks, real estate, and jewelry. Others hid dollars under mattresses.

De la Rua's fate was sealed when unpopular Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo quit earlier on Thursday. Wall Street's darling a decade ago for beating hyperinflation by pegging the peso to the dollar, Cavallo lost his magic the second time around.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said it was ``quite clear'' Argentina could not service outstanding debts: ``They're working through the difficult options that a sovereign nation has to look at to put itself on a sound financial footing.''

The International Monetary Fund (news - web sites), which this month held back $1.3 billion in aid because of missed fiscal targets, said it was ``concerned'' about Argentina, but fears earlier this year that it could trigger a worldwide market rout have faded.