But only a crushing victory in the province will achieve his goal of dominating Peronism.

ECONOMIST: The battle to control Peronism

To the south, Argentina may find no better answer to its woes than another spin with Carlos Menem and Peronism.

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Mr Duhalde, the incumbent president, had been turned down by three other potential nominees from the ranks of Peronism, Argentina's hegemonic political movement.

ECONOMIST: The battle to control Peronism

Those who know him best would consider him on the moderate Right, close to that strand of popular Peronism which is hostile to liberal capitalism.

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But this is only one round in what promises to be a long and potentially explosive fight for control of Peronism and Buenos Aires province.

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Whoever wins this power struggle, unless and until Peronism unites under a new leader, or alternative political movements emerge, Argentina is likely to have a weak government.

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It emerged in the inter-war years as a split from republican liberalism, and while it became a traditional social democratic party after the fall of the Colonels regime in 1974, its forms of organisation, and mass base among civil servants and small business people, lead some to compare it to Argentine "Peronism" - that is left nationalism with a working class base.

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