Argentina’s first lady closed her presidential campaign by praising her husband’s achievements as the country’s leader.

Argentines today braced themselves for a painful devaluation of their Peso, after President Duhalde asked congress for emergency powers to rebuild the economy’s shattered foundations.

Eduardo Duhalde, an old-style populist from the Peronist party, was sworn in as Argentina’s fifth president in two weeks today - and immediately lashed out at the unbridled free market policies he blames for the country’s economic chaos.