polo writes: "BUENOS AIRES -- Argentine demonstrators clashed with
police outside the presidential palace and broke down
the doors of Congress on Saturday in anger at the new
government's handling of a deep recession barely a
week after protests forced out a previous president.

At least two police were injured as they used tear
gas to break up what had been a peaceful demonstration
in which thousands of people took to the streets to
protest interim President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa's
decision to keep unpopular banking curbs and his
appointment of
some officials widely seen as corrupt.
."

Some protesters pounded on the doors of the
presidential palace, while others forced their way
into Congress, dragged out furniture and set small
fires that were quickly put out as general frustration
over a four-year recession boiled over.

"Get out! Get out!" they shouted toward the
Government House.

Carlos Grosso, chief advisor to the Cabinet but
suspected of corruption during a stint last decade as
mayor of Buenos Aires, resigned after Argentina's
decaying middle class flooded the streets of the city
to demand his departure.

"We want to send a message to the politicians that we
won't tolerate any more corruption," said Juan Carlos
Alonso, 73, before the melee broke out. "And these
banking restrictions are completely unacceptable!"

About a dozen protesters hung from the metal bars
shielding the presidential palace doors, while others
sprayed graffiti on its walls before police in riot
gear broke up the crowd, some of
which then broke windows at downtown banks and shops
before apparently returning home.

"These gangsters have got to go!" yelled one woman on
television as she and thousands of others jumped up
and down and beat pots and pans, a symbolic way to
express anger in Argentina as the recession
impoverishes thousands.

Television images showed a crowd of protesters push
one police officer to the ground and repeatedly kick
him, but the unrest appeared to be much less violent
than the riots and looting that killed 27 people last
week and led Fernando de la Rua to resign as president
on Dec. 20.

State news agency Telam said two policemen had been
injured during the protests.

Teenagers continued to throw stones at police once
the crowd dispersed.

A very short honeymoon appeared to be over for
Rodriguez
Saa, who suspended payments on part of Argentina's
$132 billion debt after being appointed by Congress on
Sunday to serve until new elections in March.

Argentina's third president this year has drawn fire
for his proposal for a new floating currency he hopes
will kick-start consumer spending but that some fear
could quickly become worthless.

Some protesters also voiced anger over the Supreme
Court's decision on Friday 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.

A bank and a McDonalds restaurant were also
ransacked, and one of the main railway stations was
attacked.

Fire fighters arriving at the scene were pelted with
stones and rubbish bins.

At least 10 police officers were injured, local
television said, including one officer who was beaten
bloody by a mob before he could be led away from the
pitched street battles outside the Government House.

Police declined to provide details on the number of
injured, but they said 33 people were arrested during
the unrest.

The BBC's Daniel Schweimler, in Buenos Aires, says
the patience of many Argentines with their political
leaders has now worn very thin.

"It is just too much," said one protester.

"All the politicians are as corrupt as each other and
all we can do is take to the streets to protest.