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Argentina pleads its case with Bush administration

(01/29/2002) (Agencies)

Hoping to win back IMF financing, Argentina's foreign minister met with US officials on Monday to explain the severity of the country's social and economic crisis and to ask for US support.

In the first high-level meeting between the new Peronist government and the Bush administration, Argentine Foreign Minister Carlos Ruckauf met with White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.

Ruckauf gave them the raw facts of an insolvent country where Eduardo Duhalde, the country's fifth president in just over a month, inherited mass protests and a state that cannot pay its debts. The currency has been devalued by 30 percent in the past month.

On Monday, thousands of Argentines marched against the government in Buenos Aires to demand jobs. While protests now are less violent than in December, when 27 people were killed, 20 people were injured in Monday's demonstrations.

"I bring President Bush a letter from President Duhalde describing the economic and political reality of our country," Ruckauf told reporters.

If you want to get the President's attention on economic issues ... meet with his National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice.