ARGENTINA: A bomb concealed in a rubbish bin exploded this weekend in downtown Buenos Aires, injuring 25 people as they marched to commemorate the collapse of the government two years ago.
President Fernando de la Rua's ill-fated administration ended on December 21st, 2001, after corruption scandals and state bankruptcy sparked mass protests which were violently suppressed, leaving 37 citizens dead and hundreds more injured.
In a remarkable show of unity, unemployed groups known as "piqueteros" blocked bridges and highways while neighbourhood assemblies met to organise barter networks under the banner "que se vayan todos", literally "get rid of them all", a reference to the country's discredited political class.
Two years later Argentina's economy has shown a marked recovery, with unemployment down from 21 per cent to 14 per cent, while factories abandoned by their owners have been reopened under worker control and a new centre-left government has restored some faith in the democratic system.
Argentinian President Nestor Kichner, elected in May with just 22 per cent of votes cast, has walked a delicate tightrope between fiscal rectitude and progressive reform, satisfying 77 per cent of people who expressed approval for his government this week.
Since Mr Kirchner assumed office, he has purged the armed forces and removed unpopular judges from the supreme court, beginning a reform process that has impressed ordinary Argentinians. However, Mr Kirchner's reform programme has won enemies, as right-wing politicians accuse the president of "surrounding himself with subversives" while left-wing critics denounce him as a "servant of the IMF".
Mr Kirchner has held talks with human rights groups and ordered police to behave with discretion during public protests, an important if symbolic move in a country where dozens of unarmed youths have been killed by trigger-happy members of the security forces.
On the international stage, President Kirchner has forged close links with Brazilian president Inacio "Lula" da Silva, signing the Buenos Aires Consensus, a 20-point plan which recognises the "decisive role to be played by both nations in the construction of a free and fair continent". Mr Kirchner and Lula resolved to limit external debt repayments and rejected IMF demands for severe budget cutbacks that might endanger social stability. Meanwhile the US military cancelled planned military manoeuvres in Argentina this year, after the Kirchner administration refused to sign an immunity clause on behalf of the visiting US marines.
Last week President Kirchner exchanged harsh words with Uruguayan President Jorge Battle, after the neighbouring government appointed Capt Juan Craigdallie as naval representative to Buenos Aires. "Don't send us the torturer you intend to appoint as naval representative," said President Kirchner, "as it would demonstrate a lack of respect for the Argentinian people."
Human rights organisations have accused Capt Craigdallie of ordering the death of two Argentinian citizens, detained in Uruguay during that nation's period of military rule (1973-85).
President Kirchner's style has been described as that of "one progressive gesture for every conservative measure", as social reforms are accompanied by fiscal conservatism.