Argentine press sounds alarm over crisis

President de la Rua: Emergency measures

Argentina's leading newspapers have pulled no punches over the latest economic crisis, warning that the country faces a bleak future unless it pulls together.

The leading daily Clarin slammed the government and opposition for failing to come together to tackle the situation.

"The crisis demands consensus," the paper said.

Political leaders must formalize their accords quickly and get to work immediately

La Nacion, Buenos Aires

"The failure to reach an accord in recent days has only led to an increase in uncertainty, putting the country in danger of suffering an even worse crisis," it said.

Clarin warned that there was an almost unprecedented urgency in the need to put aside differences and work for the national good.

Action not words

La Nacion newspaper urged politicians to reach agreement on the emergency austerity package announced by the government and move from talk to action.

"The slow and protracted negotiations that have taken place in these past days between the government and political parties... show that deliberation, and not action, continue to be, regrettably, the hallmarks of national life," it said.

Political leaders "must formalize their accords quickly and get to work immediately."

"The insuperable fact that we have before us today is the black hole of a paralysing and destructive fiscal breach," it said.

Praise for president

One prominent commentator in the Buenos Aires daily La Razon hailed President Fernando de la Rua for his "heroic" decision to introduce austerity measures in a bid to keep the nation from defaulting on its debt.

"The president took a decision which reveals exceptional courage - a game for all or nothing, like Hernan Cortes when he burned his ships, " the columnist wrote, in a reference to the Spanish conquistador who torched his own boats to force his soldiers to forge ahead with the conquest of Mexico.

"Everything now depends on the decision taken being maintained with firmness," the commentator concluded.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.