Thousands of Argentines beat pots and pans in front of the presidential palace and some pounded on its doors early today, venting anger at the new government's handling of a brutal recession a week after violent protests forced out a previous president.
Less than a week after interim President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa took power, a top government adviser accused of corruption in a previous job quit after Argentina's decaying middle class took to the streets and demanded his departure plus the repeal of unpopular banking curbs.
The resignation of Carlos Grosso, chief adviser to the Cabinet but widely suspected of illegal activity during a stint last decade as mayor of Buenos Aires, was accepted, a government spokesman told Reuters.
There was no sign of the violence or looting that killed 27 people last week and led Fernando de la Rua to resign as president on December 20 as frustration boiled over with a four-year recession that has impoverished thousands, closed entire industries and led the government to stop payments on its foreign debt.
But a very short honeymoon appeared to be over for Rodriguez Saa, who was appointed by Congress last Sunday as a caretaker president until elections in March but sparked anger with his proposal for a new floating currency that some fear could quickly become worthless.
"These gangsters have got to go!" yelled one woman on television as she jumped up and down and beat pots and pans, which has become a symbolic way to express anger in Argentina as social tensions rise.
Some protesters also voiced anger over the Supreme Court's decision yesterday to uphold curbs on cash withdrawals from banks, which De la Rua's government implemented earlier this month to stop a run on the beleaguered financial system.
The unpopular restrictions limiting Argentines to $1,000 in cash per month from their bank accounts have further suffocated consumer spending and led some to fear their life savings may be seized outright by the cash-strapped government.
"I put my money in the bank for them to look after it, not to be stolen," read one protester's sign.
As people streamed out of their houses on a steamy early summer night, housewives and retirees alike said they were frustrated with politicians from all parties, seen as distant and corrupt as the recession rolls on with no end in sight.