Free Republic

Argentina's Congress Names Duhalde as President By Alistair Scrutton BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - Argentina's Congress on Tuesday appointed Eduardo Duhalde, a populist powerbroker in the Peronist Party, as the new president until 2003, with the task of ending recession and social chaos in Latin America's third-largest economy. Duhalde, a stocky 60-year-old who became the fifth president in two weeks, faces a nation plagued by bloody protests and looting as bankruptcies and unemployment grow and Argentina heads for a record sovereign debt default. ``My commitment from today is to finish with an economic model that has brought desperation to the ...

<p>"Elections now!" thousands of pot-banging demonstrators chanted Tuesday night as they flooded the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital. Amid an escalating economic crisis and the Argentine legislature's recent assault on democracy, their outrage is unmistakable and thoroughly justified. On Tuesday, lawmakers scrapped the March 3 presidential elections and put in place a leader of its own choosing, Sen. Eduardo Duhalde, to hold power through 2003. Yesterday, the Peronist Party leader was given a farcical inauguration ceremony, making him Argentina's fifth president in two weeks.</p>