That provoked a furious riposte from the justice minister, Gustavo Beliz.

ECONOMIST: Disarray over law and order

But less so than he was: the latest polls, taken before Mr Beliz's departure, gave the president an approval rating of around 60%, down from 80% or more in March.

ECONOMIST: Disarray over law and order

While the Peronists hanker for a deal with the conservative wing of the government, Domingo Cavallo and Gustavo Beliz, former Menem ministers who have formed their own grouping, have praised Mr Alvarez's stand against old-fashioned pork-barrel politics and evidently believe they could work with the modernising wing of the Alliance.

ECONOMIST: Argentina