One middle-aged man was hit in the belly by a rubber bullet and slumped on the steps, his blood trickling down. By morning, 76 police had been injured in riots across the country as had 33 civilians. At least 16 were dead from stabbings and bullets.Some of the nation’s top businessmen viewed the Plaza de Mayo protest as a positive sign. Jose Ignacio Mendiguren, head of the Argentine Industrial Union, said: “It is a good thing that Argentines can get together and hope for the future without anyone calling them to meet.

The most important thing now is to have a plan on the table because nobody wanted the plan they were trying to implement.”Mr de la Rua met members of his Cabinet in an effort to reshuffle his administration. He called provincial governors together to form what he calls a unity cabinet, to help juggle crumbling finances. Government spokesmen announced that all his cabinet ministers handed in their resignations to give the President leeway to reorganise his government. Judge Julio Speroni slapped a travel restriction order on Mr Cavallo, alleging involvement in an old arms trafficking scandal during Carlos Menem’s rule.

The former economic minister was thus prevented from fleeing the country.In a television address to the nation, the President called for calm. He said: “Many enemies of the Argentine Republic are taking advantage of the economic and social situation to sow discord and violence, seeking to create chaos to enable them to achieve what they could not at the ballot box.” But even as he spoke, trade unionists organised more political protests and strikes.In the high-class neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires, frazzled shoppers crowded into supermarkets early, pushing loaded carts toward the cashiers in an apparent attempt to stock up on Christmas supplies before another wave of looting emptied the shelves.In the slums on the outskirts of the capital, most family-run corner stores remained shuttered. Korean shopkeepers had watched in horror as mobs besieged their locked metal doors, taking entire cases of beer and soda.With troops on alert to protect from more looting, some supermarkets attempted to cooperate with the throngs by preparing bags of groceries for distribution But they were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. At some outlets, looters simply attacked lorries before their merchandise could be unloaded at supermarkets.Scores of riot police patrolled and broke up more protests in Plaza de Mayo and irate commuters made a point of loudly honking their horns as they drove by Mr Cavallo’s apartment building on Libertador Avenue in the middle-class suburb of Palermo, in jubilation that the villain of neo-liberalism had finally stepped down.In March, the Harvard-trained economist was brought in from the opposition party as the last hope of saving Argentina’s finances as the nation struggled with $132bn (£90bn) of public debt and 18 per cent unemployment. The technocrat was credited with ending runaway inflation under the Menem government, by pegging the currency to the dollar 10 years ago. Yet Mr Menem went on to squander millions of pesos on extravagant personal spending sprees. Recession hit Argentina hard in the last two years of his administration and has not let up.Blame has also been attached to the International Monetary Fund.