Rodriguez Saa's Cabinet offers to resign

Rioters angry about Argentina's worsening economic situation stormed the congress building early Saturday, destroying furniture and setting fire to curtains, while thousands more gathered in peaceful protest before the presidential palace. Riot police used tear gas, high-pressure hot water and rubber-coated bullets to disperse those at the congress building. The events began around midnight, when 5,000 people congregated in front of the presidential palace to protest a five-day bank freeze this week that blocked withdrawals from bank accounts. The peaceful protest, which included pot-banging, also denounced the introduction of the new currency, the Argentino, which is to start circulating in January alongside the peso and the U.S. dollar. During the protest, a small group of rioters began throwing stones at police. In one instance, a policeman in the nearby Plaza de Mayo was badly wounded after he was surrounded by three or four rioters who beat him and threw stones at his face. Argentina has been suffering an economic crisis that sent unemployment close to 20 percent and put the country on the brink of defaulting on $132 billion on its international debt. The crisis led to the collapse of the government of Fernando de la Rua this month.