Peronist is named Argentina’s new President

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.

In a speech before a joint session of Congress that voted him president, Duhalde vowed to steer the country on a new economic course.

‘‘This is the moment of truth: Argentina is worn out. The country is broke,’’ he said, laying the blame on an economic model ‘‘that destroyed our middle class, destroyed our industries and pulverised our workforce’’.

The Peronist-controlled congress, which had voted 262-21 with 18 abstentions to name Duhalde the new president, cheered him wildly. MPs scrapped their original plans for a March presidential election, signalling Duhalde would remain in office until 2003.

Duhalde, 60, who hails from the left wing of the Peronist party, was elected after five hours of debate. He is to complete the unfinished term of Fernando de la Rua, who left power on December 21 amid street riots.

A former two-term governor of Buenos Aires province, who also served as Argentina’s vice president in the early 1990s, Duhalde takes up the fourth caretaker government since rioting and looting forced de la Rua to resign.

‘‘Viva Argentina! Viva Peron!’’ hundreds of supporters chanted outside Congress as Duhalde rose to power.

Duhalde promised to protect the savings of Argentine depositors who have millions of dollars locked in their bank accounts since restrictions limiting cash withdrawals to dlrs 250 (£165) a week were imposed on December 1. He promised to restore the peace after weeks of unrest, create one million jobs and a social safety net for the unemployed.

But even amid cheers, it was a tense day in Argentina as riot police tightly guarded Congress, erecting tall iron fences around the ornate rotunda in downtown Buenos Aires.

In a brief outburst of violence hours earlier, hundreds of rival political demonstrators fought with slingshots, stones and paving blocks.

Although the violence was quelled by police firing tear gas and rubber bullets, the street brawling was a clear sign of Argentines’ simmering anger at their politicians, whom they blame for a crippling recession of nearly four years.

Waving red flags, student supporters of more extreme left-wing groups battled with the Peronist demonstrators. At least two injuries were reported.

Guarding against a return to the widespread street violence that has shaken Argentina in recent weeks, hundreds of police also stood guard outside the Plaza de Mayo, a major city square surrounded by the government’s central offices.

The abrupt resignation of interim President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa on Sunday left the country of 36 million without any clear leadership and, even worse, without an economic plan to save Argentina - long Latin America’s most prosperous country - from bankruptcy and social chaos.

Argentina plunged into political turmoil on December 21 as de la Rua resigned his presidency after days of rioting, protests and looting across the country that left 28 people dead.

Rodriguez Saa was chosen by politicians to serve until new elections in March, but he quit when political support withered after one week in office. Protests in the capital continued as Argentines grew increasingly angry over strict banking restrictions, political infighting, and his appointment of Cabinet members widely seen as corrupt.

Two other men have also served briefly as acting president since de la Rua’s resignation, both reluctantly - former Senate leader Ramon Puerta inherited the job when de la Rua quit, and Chamber of Deputies leader Eduardo Camano took over on Monday from Rodriguez Saa.

Duhalde, who ran second to de la Rua in the October 1999 election, is a fierce critic of the free-market reforms Argentina has undertaken over the last 10 years.

His province, home to a third of the country’s population and politically the most powerful, ran up millions of dollars in debt under his administration, which was also plagued with accusations of corruption.

Duhalde, who has made no secret of his presidential aspirations, now faces the unenviable task of reviving an economy that has ground to a virtual standstill.

It is the worst crisis since the interruption of democracy by a 1976-83 military dictatorship. The restoration of democracy sent the military packing to the barracks and left Argentina’s political elites to feud for power, but there have been no rumblings from the military in the current crisis.

Almost immediately after his swearing-in, Rodriguez Saa announced Argentina would halt payments on its $132bn (£116bn) debt burden. He also proposed creating a new currency to circulate alongside the peso, now pegged one-to-one with the dollar.

As the crisis has deepened over the last year, consumer confidence has plummeted, the banking system is being stretched and Argentina is coming under pressure to devalue its currency.