Argentine interim president resigns as support dissipates

Associated Press WriterBUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- For the third time in 10 days, an Argentine president has abruptly resigned, falling victim to rising social tensions and plunging the country further into political and economic turmoil.

Adolfo Rodriguez Saa quit after complaining that his Peronist party had abandoned him, leaving him unable to confront the mounting crises plaguing the South American country saddled with a $132 billion public debt.

"The wolves and political lobbies running wild don't understand the spirit of the new times," he said, lashing out at some of his party's top leaders. "They've asked me to do in seven days what hasn't been done in the last 30 years."

The swift departure of Rodriguez Saa, Argentina's third president in less than two weeks, leaves the presidency in the hands of House majority leader Eduardo Camano. Ramon Puerta, the Senate leader who served briefly as president after de la Rua's resignation, quit his post Sunday to avoid inheriting the presidency again.

Rodriguez Saa technically remains president until his resignation is formally accepted at a joint assembly of the House and Senate, scheduled to take place Tuesday afternoon.

Rodriguez Saa became interim president on Dec. 23, two days after President Fernando De la Rua was forced out amid protests and looting over the government's inability to contain an economic crisis and unemployment now topping 18 percent. The violence left 28 people dead.

On Monday, riot police barred traffic from circulating outside the Government House, or Casa Rosada, erecting metal barricades as they increased security in the adjoining Plaza de Mayo square that has been the scene of recent riots that forced the current crisis.

Police also increased patrols at shopping malls, bus stations, airports and other government buildings with the approach of the New Year holiday which normally is met with raucous street celebrations.

On Monday, long lines of Argentines seeking to withdraw cash or collect pensions formed around this South American nation. Many expressed worries about the country's future.

"All of these government changes, why what a shame," said Maria Isabel Girard, a retired woman waiting with hundreds of people in a line stretching for blocks. "I am ashamed of our political leaders and ashamed for all that's happening in our country right now."

Camano called a special legislative assembly for Tuesday afternoon to find a way out of the crisis afflicting Argentina's democratic institutions, the worst since a 1976-83 dictatorship interrupted democracy.

"We want the quickest possible solution so we can have a president who can bring the country forward," he said.

Local reports said Peronists, who control the Senate, were far from agreement Monday on whether the next caretaker government should call elections in March or serve out De la Rua's term until 2003.

Rodriguez Saa was chosen by Congress to lead Argentina until a new presidential election that was slated for March 3. His resignation left Argentina without a clear consensus on how to resolve a devastating economic crisis that has prompted rising social tensions and street protests.

"The situation in this country is at the breaking point," said Nestor Kirchner, an influential Peronist leader.

Rodriguez Saa's presidency began to unravel late Friday night as thousands of people flooded downtown Buenos Aires to demand that he lift a month-old banking freeze limiting cash withdrawals to $250 a week and remove politicians accused of corruption from his Cabinet. The protests left 12 police officers injured.

De la Rua imposed the capital controls on Dec. 1 to stem a run on the country's banks that threatened the currency, the peso, now tied one-to-one with the dollar.

Seeking to shore up political support, Rodriguez Saa called Peronist party provincial governors to a meeting Sunday on key issues including the March election to complete the two years of De la Rua's term. But it broke down as only a handful of the governors offered their support.

Some Peronist leaders were reportedly worried Rodriguez Saa was moving to extend his time in office, set at 60 days by a congressional body that appointed him a week ago.

Rodriguez Saa said he had little choice but to step down after failing to cobble together support for his caretaker administration, and blamed several members of his party for putting their presidential ambitions ahead of solving the country's pressing problems.

Announcing his resignation, he said several powerful Peronist provincial governments had withdrawn support for his presidency, singling out Jose Manuel de la Sota, who has made it known his ambitions to run for the presidency.

But de la Sota complained some in the Peronist party were not consulted by Rodriguez Saa during his brief time in office on his plans to print a new currency and launch an ambitious jobs program to inject needed money into the nation's bruised economy.