valdanito
12-21-2001, 06:14 AM
Argentine President Fernando De la Rua resigned Thursday and left the presidential palace in a helicopter amid celebrations in the streets as the country faces what could be history's worst debt default by a sovereign nation.
His resignation followed two days of nationwide rioting and came after the opposition Peronist party refused to form a coalition government with De la Rua.
De la Rua gave his resignation letter to the president of the Senate before leaving the presidential palace for his private residence.
"I trust my decision will contribute to pacify the country and maintain the institutional continuity of the republic. I therefore ask the Honorable Congress kindly to accept it," the letter said, according to a translation by Reuters. "I salute you with my highest regards and esteem for God and my country."
Following hours of tense and violent demonstrations, demonstrators cheered and celebrated in the streets after De la Rua left.
The National Assembly has to formally accept the resignation. The president of the Senate, Ramon Puerta, is next in line but would have to be ratified by the National Assembly as interim president. National elections would have to be held within 90 to 100 days.
De la Rua was a former Buenos Aires mayor and was in the second year of his four-year term. Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo resigned earlier in the day.
Before the resignations, protesters rallied outside De la Rua's presidential palace where riot police on horseback repeatedly pushed them back with batons, water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets. Hundreds were arrested.
Across the city, rioters smashed store windows and ransacked buildings. Fires were set on street corner after street corner, in trash bins and at bus stops.
More than 2,000 people have been arrested nationwide. Reports of the number of dead cite anywhere from six to 20 people killed since the riots began Wednesday.
"I'm going to fulfill my duty to the end," De la Rua said in a speech before his resignation.
De la Rua late Wednesday declared a state of siege that suspends constitutional rights for 30 days and gives the government wide-ranging power to stop riots and other violence.
Rioters who ransacked and set fire to grocery stores and other shops around the capital Wednesday said they were hungry and complained the government has not helped them.
The government agreed to release $7 million to provide food for the neediest. Protesters waited impatiently Thursday for the food's distribution.
Looting turned to protest as tens of thousands of people beat pots and pans, clapped, waved flags and took to their cars, honking horns to protest what they saw as an insufficient reaction to the problems they face.
Firefighters rushed to extinguish fires set off around the presidential palace by incendiary devices.
Stumbling under a four-year recession and 20 percent unemployment, the Argentine government implemented stark austerity measures over the summer.
The International Monetary Fund has so far refused to release a $1.3 billion loan payment, saying the country has failed to balance its budget despite the plan.
The government owes $132 billion, mostly to bond holders.
Economists said without international help Argentina has little hope of avoiding history's worst debt default by a sovereign nation.
In Washington, a senior U.S. official said the Treasury Department would not offer immediate assistance.
The official said the U.S. government anticipated the "totally chaotic and frenzied" political drama playing out in Buenos Aires and had warned the country's economic minister and other top officials who visited Washington in August.
"We're not going to sweep in and take their debt away," a senior Treasury official told CNN. "There's not a lot we could do. The International Monetary Fund could offer $100 million in aid and I'm not sure what good it would do right now."
The official did not rule out "small, minor" assistance in the coming months, but said the Bush administration would allow the situation to play itself out
NOT GOOD NOT GOOD AT ALL!!!!!!!
His resignation followed two days of nationwide rioting and came after the opposition Peronist party refused to form a coalition government with De la Rua.
De la Rua gave his resignation letter to the president of the Senate before leaving the presidential palace for his private residence.
"I trust my decision will contribute to pacify the country and maintain the institutional continuity of the republic. I therefore ask the Honorable Congress kindly to accept it," the letter said, according to a translation by Reuters. "I salute you with my highest regards and esteem for God and my country."
Following hours of tense and violent demonstrations, demonstrators cheered and celebrated in the streets after De la Rua left.
The National Assembly has to formally accept the resignation. The president of the Senate, Ramon Puerta, is next in line but would have to be ratified by the National Assembly as interim president. National elections would have to be held within 90 to 100 days.
De la Rua was a former Buenos Aires mayor and was in the second year of his four-year term. Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo resigned earlier in the day.
Before the resignations, protesters rallied outside De la Rua's presidential palace where riot police on horseback repeatedly pushed them back with batons, water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets. Hundreds were arrested.
Across the city, rioters smashed store windows and ransacked buildings. Fires were set on street corner after street corner, in trash bins and at bus stops.
More than 2,000 people have been arrested nationwide. Reports of the number of dead cite anywhere from six to 20 people killed since the riots began Wednesday.
"I'm going to fulfill my duty to the end," De la Rua said in a speech before his resignation.
De la Rua late Wednesday declared a state of siege that suspends constitutional rights for 30 days and gives the government wide-ranging power to stop riots and other violence.
Rioters who ransacked and set fire to grocery stores and other shops around the capital Wednesday said they were hungry and complained the government has not helped them.
The government agreed to release $7 million to provide food for the neediest. Protesters waited impatiently Thursday for the food's distribution.
Looting turned to protest as tens of thousands of people beat pots and pans, clapped, waved flags and took to their cars, honking horns to protest what they saw as an insufficient reaction to the problems they face.
Firefighters rushed to extinguish fires set off around the presidential palace by incendiary devices.
Stumbling under a four-year recession and 20 percent unemployment, the Argentine government implemented stark austerity measures over the summer.
The International Monetary Fund has so far refused to release a $1.3 billion loan payment, saying the country has failed to balance its budget despite the plan.
The government owes $132 billion, mostly to bond holders.
Economists said without international help Argentina has little hope of avoiding history's worst debt default by a sovereign nation.
In Washington, a senior U.S. official said the Treasury Department would not offer immediate assistance.
The official said the U.S. government anticipated the "totally chaotic and frenzied" political drama playing out in Buenos Aires and had warned the country's economic minister and other top officials who visited Washington in August.
"We're not going to sweep in and take their debt away," a senior Treasury official told CNN. "There's not a lot we could do. The International Monetary Fund could offer $100 million in aid and I'm not sure what good it would do right now."
The official did not rule out "small, minor" assistance in the coming months, but said the Bush administration would allow the situation to play itself out
NOT GOOD NOT GOOD AT ALL!!!!!!!