DerrocAr: The Week of Five Presidents Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Board Phase
  • Card Phase
• Game End and Winning
• Glossary of Key Terms
  • Action Cards
  • Actions
  • Against the CGT
  • Banco Central
  • Bank Run
  • Casa Rosada
  • Camaño
  • Cavallo, Call on
  • Characters
  • Conflict
  • Conflict Cards
  • Congreso
  • Deck
  • Decrees
  • Devaluator
  • Entity
  • Events
  • Funding Cards
  • Gaining Support
  • Helicopter
  • Lobby Cards
  • Ministerio de Economía
  • Operation Cards
  • Out of the Presidential Race
  • Points
  • President
  • President's Turn?
  • Promise Cards
  • Public Appearance Cards
  • Support
  • Tiebreaker Table
  • Trade
• Family Version
• Solitaire Version
  • Setup
  • Gameplay Differences
  • Board Phase
  • Card Phase
  • Normal Bot Version
  • Hard Bot Version
• Historical Appendix
  • Entities and Conflicts
  • Decrees
  • Laws
  • Events
  • Characters

Goal of the Game

You play as a politician vying to become the next President of Argentina, by having the most Support Points. If you are the President when the game ends, you win the game!

Support Tokens are positive for you, since Support Points are the basis for all three paths to victory. Try to gain them.

Conflict Tokens are negative for you and can trigger the end of the game. Avoid accumulating them. When you get 4 Conflict Tokens, you are Out of the Presidential Race.

The game will immediately end if a player meets any of the following requirements:

• Any player has 10 Support Points at the end of their Turn. That player wins.
• All 6 Debt Maturity Payments are fulfilled on the Ministerio de Economía Board. The current President wins.
• 1 player (2 players for a 4-5 player game) is Out of the Presidential Race. Then the player with the most Support Points wins.

See Game End and Winning.

Components

Except during voting on Law Proposals, all of your tokens must be visible to all players and are public knowledge. But players can never show the cards in their Hand.

Most components of the game are limited. If you are to receive a token or card and there are no more, you get nothing. But some Tokens are not limited. If you receive one of these tokens and there are no more, use any replacement that represents that token.

Market cards (all cards except Event cards are Action cards):

• Conflict Cards
• Event Cards
• Funding Cards
• Lobby Cards
• Operation Cards
• Promise Cards
• Public Appearance Cards

Character Sheets (one per Character).

Boards: Ministerio de Economía, Banco Central, Official Bulletin, Casa Rosada, Congreso, Cavallo, Camaño.

Tokens: President, Vote, Phase, Debt Paid, Money ($1M and $5M denominations), Support, Conflict (unlimited), Decrees, Dice, Law Proposals, Against the CGT / Devaluator (unlimited), Market Value ($0M, $1M, $2M, $3M, $5M, $8M, $12M), Bank Run, Crossed Casa Rosada, Helicopter.

Setup

Each player chooses 1 Character and takes the "Start with" items listed on their sheets. If several players want to use the same Character, decide at random who will use it. Duhalde and Puerta can only be used in 4 or 5 player games. We also recommend that Puerta be used by experienced players. Finally, if Ruckauf is not in play, return the "Signed Sneakers" Event Card to the box.

Place all of the Boards in the center of the table: Banco Central, Ministerio de Economía, Casa Rosada, Congreso, and Official Bulletin. Place the 4 Decrees (blue side facing up) on the Casa Rosada Board. Shuffle the Law Proposals and place them face down on the rightmost spot of the Congreso Board. Draw 3 Law Proposals and place them face up on the Congreso Board. Finally, add the Cavallo and Camaño Boards to the side.

Each player takes $10M. Leave the rest of the money within easy reach for all players, as part of the Supply.

Place the 3 Lobby IMF Cards on the left side of the Ministerio de Economía Board, and the 3 Lobby CGT Cards on the right. Note that if Duhalde is in play, there will be only 2 Lobby IMF cards on this Board. Finally, place the 3 Lobby European Companies Cards on the Cavallo Board. The remaining cards will form the Deck.

Shuffle and deal 5 cards face down to each player's Hand (with any starting cards counting towards these 5). Discard any Events received during this process and draw a new card instead. Note that you are not allowed to voluntarily show your Hand cards to another player (unless a card tells you to).

Shuffle and Deal 7 cards face up in a row on one side of the table to create the Market. Place the Deck face down to the right. A Discard pile will also form here.

Place the Market Value Tokens (on their lower value sides) over the cards in the Market, with the lowest Market Value Token placed on the leftmost card, and then continue in ascending order to the card closest to the Deck.

Place all the Conflict Tokens and Support Tokens, separated by type/Entity (color), where all of the players can reach them in the Supply. Support Tokens are best organized in an ordered row: IMF, European Companies, Agricultural Producers, Press & Media, and CGT. When tokens have two sides, put the lower value face up.

Place any remaining tokens on the table near the Supply.

Give the player to the left of De La Rúa the Phase Token, which also serves as a 1st Player Token. If nobody is playing with De La Rúa, place the President Token on the Camaño Board and randomly choose who will be the 1st player.

Gameplay

The game is played over a number of Rounds, each composed of 2 Phases: the Board Phase and the Card Phase (in this order). Starting with the 1st player and proceeding clockwise, each player takes 1 Turn. Then, the 1st player flips the Phase Token to begin the next Phase, and play continues as such until a winner is declared.

Board Phase » Flip the Phase Marker » Card Phase » Flip Phase Marker » ...

Board Phase

• B1. You may take 1 action that does not require the use of card(s) in your Hand.
• B2. You may buy as many cards as you want, and can afford, from the Market.
• B3. Discard cards from your Hand, until you have 5 cards.
• B4. Refresh the Market.

Card Phase

• C1. You may take 1 action that requires the use of card(s) in your Hand.
• C2. Draw 1 card from the Deck.
• C3. Discard cards from your Hand, until you have 5 cards.

Board Phase

In the following order:

1. Event Check

At the start of each Turn, check if there are Events in the Market. If so, resolve any new Events that may have appeared in the Market row during the Refresh, in the same way until the Market has no Event Cards in it. If the card has an ongoing effect, place it on the Official Bulletin Board. Resolved event cards are returned to the box and out of the game. If the Deck runs out, shuffle the Discard pile to make a new Deck and deal 1 Piquetes Conflict Token to each player.

2. President's Turn?

If the current player has the President Token, check if the Debt Maturities Tracks in the Ministerio de Economía Board are balanced. Follow the instructions on that Board.

3. Phase Action

Choose one action to take between the available actions on:

• Boards (including Call On Cavallo).
• Your Support Actions.
• Your Character Action (one use per game).
• Do nothing.

4. Market

You may buy any amount of cards from the Market, paying the cost indicated by the Market Value Token above the cards purchased to the Supply. Then take the card(s) into your Hand.

5. Discard

Discard cards from your Hand until you have 5 cards or less.

6. Refresh the Market

Slide any remaining cards in the Market to the leftmost slot, then draw cards from the Deck to fill the empty spaces. After all players have taken their Turn in the Board Phase, flip the Phase Token and start the Card Phase.

Card Phase

In the following order:

1. Event Check

At the start of each Turn, check if there are Event Cards in the Market that need to be resolved. If so, resolve any new Events that may have appeared in the Market row during the Refresh, in the same way until the Market has no Event Cards in it. If the card has an ongoing effect, place it on the Official Bulletin Board. Resolved Event Cards are returned to the box and out of the game. If the Deck runs out, shuffle the Discard pile to make a new Deck and deal 1 Piquetes Conflict Token to each player.

2. President's Turn?

If the current player has the President Token, check if the Debt Maturities Tracks in the Ministerio de Economía Board are balanced. Follow the instructions on that Board.

3. Phase Action

Choose one:

• Play a set of cards from your Hand. You must show the cards to all the players, before taking the action, then Discard the cards face up. See Lobby Cards, Conflict Cards, Promise Cards, Funding Cards, Operation Cards, and Public Appearance Cards for their requirements and effects.
• Trade cards with another player.
• Discard 2 cards from your Hand, then draw 1 card from the Deck.
• Do nothing.

4. Draw from the Deck

Draw 1 card from the Deck. If the card drawn is an Event Card, it may be Discarded to draw a new one. Remember that Event Cards can never be played from your Hand but may be held.

5. Discard

Discard cards from your Hand until you have 5 cards or less.

Game End and Winning

The game ends, immediately, in one of three ways:

• Any player has 10 Support Points (as President) at the end of their turn.
• All 6 Debt Maturity payments are fulfilled on the Ministerio de Economía Board. The current President wins.
• Have the most Support Points (as President) when 1 player is Out of the Presidential Race (2 players for a 4-5 player game). If the winner has joined the player with the Helicopter, they share the victory. If no players have Support Points, everyone loses and Camaño becomes President and wins. If Duhalde is the one with the most Support Points, but still has Crossed Casa Rosada Markers, he cannot win and the winner will be the player with the second most Support Points.

Glossary of Key Terms

Action Cards

See Lobby Cards, Conflict Cards, Promise Cards, Funding Cards, Operation Cards, and Public Appearance Cards for their requirements and effects.

Actions

Support Tokens provide actions you may take as your Board Phase Action. Here is a list of these actions and the Entity they are associated with:

• Common: Pay $2M to remove a Conflict Token (of a specific Entity type). This may be Negotiated with another player.
• CGT Support: If there is a "Popular" Conflict Card in the Market, you may swap its position with another card in the Market.
• IMF Support: Choice of 2 actions: Swap the position of 2 cards in the Market; or Ask for Loan: Take $3M from the Supply and remove the last token on the International Debt Maturities Track of the Ministerio de Economía. If no slot on the International Debt Maturities is covered, the country is in Default and the "Ask for Loan" action can't be played.
• European Companies Support: Discard 2 cards in the Market, then Refresh the Market. Any Event Cards that appear must be resolved.
• Agricultural Producers Support: If there is an "Establishment" Conflict Card in the Market, you may swap its position with another card in the Market.
• Press & Media Support: Pay $7M, to the Supply, to give a Bad Image Conflict Token to another player.

Against the CGT

This token represents being against the CGT — Confederación General del Trabajo — i.e. the Unions, and because of that, you will not get any help from the CGT. This token is given to the President when Cavallo becomes a Minister (a player becomes the President while being allied with Cavallo, or calls on Cavallo while President). It may also be given via a Law Proposal. When you get this token, you must keep it until the end of the game. Discard any CGT Support Tokens you have. You can no longer gain CGT Support Tokens or play Lobby CGT Cards (for any reason).

Banco Central

The Banco Central gives you 3 different actions to choose from during the Board Phase:

• Make a Deposit: Leave $XM on the Banco Central sheet and draw cards from the Deck. The money spent with this action must be placed directly on the Banco Central. If the Deck runs out of cards in the middle of this action, first deal 1 Piquete Conflict Token to each player (as normal, you included), then shuffle the Discard pile to create a new Deck. Then, draw the number of cards needed to finish the action.
• Reserved Funds: Take all the money that has accumulated on the Banco Central.
• Embezzle Funds: Take $5M from the Supply and a Bad Image Conflict Token.

Bank Run

This token represents people and companies no longer trusting the system, withdrawing their money from the banks. This condition is activated when Cavallo becomes a Minister (a player becomes the President while being allied with Cavallo, or calls on Cavallo while President). Place the Bank Run Token on the Official Bulletin: It will remain active, even if another Character becomes President, or if Cavallo is called upon by another player.

While active, the President must pay $2M at the end of each of their Turns (both Phases). If they are unable to do so, they must Discard a card from their Hand.

It is deactivated if the "Bank Holiday" or "Corralito" Decree is played by the President, covering the top of the Bank Run Token with the Decree. During this period, the President no longer needs to make the $2M payments.

It is reactivated if a Decree is removed (deactivated) from the Bank Run Token.

If the "End of Convertibility" Motion is passed, return the Bank Run Token to the box for the rest of the game.

Casa Rosada

The President may choose 1 of the available Decrees to play as their Board Phase Action. Each of the 4 Decrees may be activated once per presidency. Decree effects are resolved immediately, if applicable, then flip and leave it face down on the Casa Rosada. Otherwise, place the Decree on the Official Bulletin so its lasting effect is in view of all players.

Camaño

If no player meets the requirements to become President (for example, when nobody has any Support Points), Camaño becomes President. When this happens, put the Presidential Token on Camaño and skip the Debt Maturities balance check. Camaño remains President until someone gets what is necessary to become President (for example more Support Points than any other player).

Cavallo, Call on

A player who Calls on Cavallo becomes allied with him until another player calls upon him. The player who is allied with Cavallo takes the Cavallo Board (with any associated Lobby Cards) and puts it in front of them. As an ally of Cavallo, you gain some perks (or problems depending on how you view it):

• Free Lobby: On each of your Board Phases, take 1 of the Lobby European Companies cards from Cavallo to your Hand (if there are any left).
• 1 Free Vote: Used when law proposals are played.

Minister Appointment: If a player becomes the President while being allied with Cavallo, or calls on Cavallo while President, Cavallo becomes a Minister and these four things happen:

• Take the Against the CGT Token. As a consequence you can't play Lobby CGT Cards or have CGT Support Tokens, and you must remove any CGT Support Tokens you have. You can never get rid of the Against the CGT Token.
• Take 1 Protest Conflict Token.
• Activate the Bank Run conditions.
• Discard 10 cards from the Deck. Deal Piquetes Conflict tokens if the Deck runs out.

It is possible to lose the President Token after allying with Cavallo because you lost CGT Support Tokens. Remember, to win the game, you must have 10 Support Points at the end of your Turn.

Characters

Each Character sheet contains a few important and unique differences:

• Starts With: Lists any starting items during Setup.
• Skills: Both positive and negative, identified with a ">>" on the Character sheets. Some skills are only active when the Character is not the President (e.g., as a Senator).
• Character Action: Can be played only 1 time per game, during a Board Phase. After using the Character Action, flip your Character sheet to indicate that it is no longer available.

De La Rúa

• Starts With: President Token, 1pt Generic Support Token.
• Character Action: None.

Rodríguez Saá

• Starts With: 1 Bad Image Conflict Token.
• Skills: Wins Support Point ties.
• Character Action: Remove 1 Piquete Conflict Token from any player, including yourself. If you use it on another player you may ask for compensation but never for a Support Token.

De La Sota

• Starts With: 1 Lobby Agricultural Producer Card (part of initial 5 card draw).
• Character Action: Issue "Lecor Bonds." Take $5M from the Supply.

Ruckauf

• Starts With: Event Card "Signed Sneakers" on the table (not in Hand).
• Skills: Immune to "Looting" Event.
• Character Actions (choose only 1, then flip Character sheet): Issue "Patacones Bonds," take $5M from the Supply; or Signed Sneakers: Take a 1pt Generic Support Token and then shuffle the "Signed Sneakers" Event Card into the Deck. If this card appears in the Market, it must be activated as a regular Event Card, giving Ruckauf a Bad Image Conflict Token.

Duhalde (4-5 player game only)

• Starts With: 1 Lobby IMF Card, 1 Lobby CGT Card (part of initial 5 card draw), and 2 Crossed Casa Rosada Markers.
• Skills: Can only become President if there were 3 presidential terms before him. Discard 1 of his Cross Markers each time another player becomes President. When there are none left, Duhalde may become President (meeting standard conditions). Senator: Have 1 free vote for Motions; Immune to Entity Conflicts, except Bad Image.
• Character Action: Draw 1 Lobby Card from the Discard pile. Search for a Lobby Card in the Discard pile and take it into your Hand, after showing it to all the players. If there is no Lobby Card in the Discard pile after you look, you get nothing and must still flip your Character sheet.

Puerta (4-5 player game only, hard to play)

• Starts With: Nothing.
• Skills: When losing the President Token, you receive the Helicopter (and are Out of the Presidential Race). Wins Motion vote ties. Senator: Have 1 free vote for Motions; Immune to Entity Conflicts, except Bad Image.
• Character Action: Initiate voting for a Motion and get 3 free votes instead of 1. Following all of the standard rules of a Motion Action on the Congreso.

Conflict

Conflicts are negative for you and can trigger the end of the game. If a player receives their 4th Conflict Token, they are Out of the Presidential Race and take the Helicopter. This player permanently loses their Support Points (but keeps the Support Tokens).

Conflict	Entity Color	Entity Type
Protest	Blue	CGT
Capital Leakage	Orange	European Companies
Lockout	Green	Agricultural Producers
Bad Image	Yellow	Press & Media
Looting, Piquetes, and Cacerolazos	(colorless)	N/A

Conflict Cards

Conflict Cards are played in the Card Phase and give a Conflict Token to another player. You need to play a combination of 1 Conflict Card and 1 Lobby Card (matching an Entity color on the Conflict Card you play) to perform this action. The Conflict Token given to the player must be one corresponding with the Lobby Card played (see the table above). Note that some Conflict Cards can match both a yellow and a blue Lobby Card.

Remember that if you played a Lobby European card, it must be returned to Cavallo instead of going to the Discard pile.

Congreso

The Motion Action is available with the Congreso during Board Phases and introduces Law Proposals. Perform the following steps, in order:

1. The active player chooses one of the 3 available Motions on the Congreso.
2. All players, in Turn order starting with the active player, choose if they are for or against the Motion by openly placing the Si/No Vote Tokens in front of them. All players are encouraged to debate.
3. All players secretly cover an amount of money. This represents how many votes (matching their Vote Token) they want to buy in the Senate ($1M = 1 Vote).
4. All players simultaneously reveal the amount of votes they bought. Compare the sum spent on Si with the sum spent on No to determine if the Motion has passed, or not. (Only money counts as votes, not the Si and No tokens.) In case of a tie, the Motion is rejected. Remember to add the votes of the Senator Characters and Cavallo.
5. If the Motion passes, move the Motion to the Official Bulletin Board, if applicable, and resolve it. Laws that reward a player for "at least 1 vote in favor" are only rewarded when the player both voted Si and bought votes, or had a Character/Cavallo ability giving a free vote. If the Motion is rejected, put it at the bottom of the undrawn Law Proposals. No text on the token is applied. It may be voted on later.
6. The money spent on buying votes is discarded to the Supply.
7. Flip over a new Motion and place it face up on the Congreso.

Labor Reform — The player who initiated the Motion takes 1 IMF Support Token. All players with at least 1 vote in favor: Take 1 Lobby IMF Card (except the player that initiated the Motion who takes 1 IMF Support Token instead), the Against the CGT Token and 1 Protest Conflict Token. If you already have an IMF Support Token, you cannot get another. If there aren't enough Lobby IMF Cards for all the players, deal 1 to each player in Turn order until none are left. When players receive the Against the CGT Token, they must remove their CGT Support Tokens. Finally, Discard 20 cards from the Deck. Remember to deal Piquetes Conflict tokens if the Deck runs out.

Financial Emergency Law — The player who initiated the Motion takes a 1pt Support Token. Place a Debt Paid Token over the topmost space on the Domestic Debt Track. Note that you do not gain a Lobby CGT Card this way.

Prevention of Tax Evasion — The player who initiated the Motion takes a 1pt Support Token. Each time a player spends $4M or more on the Market, they must pay an additional $1M to the Supply.

Competitiveness Law — The player who initiated the Motion takes a 1pt Support Token. Flip all the Market Value Tokens to their higher value side (this adds $1M to each card in the Market). Then, place a Debt Paid Token over the topmost space on the Domestic Debt Track. Note that you do not gain a Lobby CGT Card this way.

Superpowers Law — The player who initiated the Motion takes a 1pt Support Token. The President can move a Debt Paid Token from one Debt Maturity Track to the other as their Board Phase Action. Place this Law on the Official Bulletin as a reminder.

Zero Deficit Law — Take a Lobby IMF Card and the Against the CGT Token. Move all the Debt Paid Tokens on the Domestic Debt Track to the International Debt Track. If there aren't enough International Debt spaces available, remove the remaining tokens.

End of Convertibility — All players get $8M from the Supply and 1 Cacerolazo Conflict Token. All players with at least 1 vote in favor of this law get the Devaluator Token and must remove their European Companies Support Tokens. Finally, return the Bank Run Token to the box, skipping Bank Run if Cavallo becomes Minister in the future.

Deck

This is placed near the Market and is used for both drawing cards and Refreshing the Market.

Whenever the Deck runs out, give each player 1 Piquete Conflict Token. Then, shuffle the Discard pile to form a new Deck. If this happens in the middle of another sequence, perform the previous steps and continue where you left off.

Decrees

Issue Lecop Bonds — The President takes $7M from the Supply and 1 Cacerolazo Conflict Token. The other players each take $2M from the Supply. Then flip the Decree token and place it on the Casa Rosada.

Bank Holiday — No player may play Funding Cards until the end of the next Card Phase. If the Bank Run Token is in play on the Official Bulletin, cover it with this Decree. At the end of the next Card Phase, return this Decree to the Casa Rosada face down. Finally, if the Bank Run was in play, it is now reactivated.

Martial Law — All players lose a Cacerolazo and Protest Conflict Token, if they have any. Then, Discard 10 cards from the Deck.

Corralito — If the Bank Run Token is in play on the Official Bulletin, cover it with this Decree. No player may take more than $3M per Turn from the Supply, for any reason. Each player takes 1 Cacerolazo Conflict Token. This Decree remains active until the President takes the "Deactivate Corralito" as their Board Phase Action, returning the "Corralito" Decree to the Casa Rosada and taking a 1pt Support Token. Then all players lose a Cacerolazo Conflict Token, if applicable. If the Bank Run was in play, it is now reactivated.

Devaluator

This token represents that you are against the "Convertibility Plan," so you no longer get assistance from the European Companies. When you get this token, you must keep it until the end of the game. Discard any European Companies Support Tokens you have. You can no longer gain European Companies Support Tokens or play Lobby European Companies Cards (for any reason).

Entity

An Entity type (CGT, IMF, European Companies, Agricultural Producers, and Press & Media) and color (blue, purple, orange, green, and yellow) are located at the top of most Support Tokens. These Entity types/colors also match Lobby Cards, Conflict Cards, and some Conflict Tokens. There are also Generic Entity-less/colorless (gray) Support Tokens.

Events

At the start of each Turn, check if there are Event Cards in the Market that need to be resolved. If so, resolve any new Events that may have appeared in the Market row during the Refresh, in the same way until the Market has no event cards in it. If several Event cards appear simultaneously, they must be resolved in lowest to highest value order. If the card has an ongoing effect, place it on the Official Bulletin. Resolved Event Cards are returned to the box and out of the game. Refresh the Market, resolving any additional Event Cards in the same manner.

Vice President Resigns — The President removes 1 of his Support Tokens, of his choice. Transfer the President Token, if applicable. If no players have any Support Tokens, place the President Token on the Camaño Board.

Racing Champion — Nobody can play Conflict Cards for 1 Round. This card must be placed on the Official Bulletin until the end of the next Card Phase.

Christmas Holiday — Nobody can play Funding Cards for 1 Round. This card must be placed on the Official Bulletin until the end of the next Card Phase.

Floods — Nobody can play Lobby Agricultural Cards for 1 Round. This card must be placed on the Official Bulletin until the end of the next Card Phase.

Lootings — All players, except Ruckauf, get a Looting Conflict Token. This Conflict Token counts as a regular Conflict but cannot be Discarded in any way.

Brazilian Devaluation — Discard all cards in the Market, then Refresh the Market. Remember to deal Piquetes Conflict tokens if the Deck runs out.

Bush's call — Flip all IMF Support Tokens to their 4pt value.

Signed sneakers — This is a special Event that Ruckauf "starts with." If nobody is playing with Ruckauf, it is out of the game. If Ruckauf's Character Action is used that provides a 1pt Support Token, shuffle this Event Card into the Deck. When Signed Sneakers is resolved in the Market, Ruckauf gets 1 Bad Image Conflict Token.

Funding Cards

Play any number of Funding Cards to get money according to the amount of cards played. If you play a set of more than 5 Funding Cards, you will get $5M extra for each card over 5 that you play.

Cards	Funds
1	$1M
2	$3M
3	$6M
4	$10M
5	$15M

Gaining Support

When you take a Support Token, you return any Conflicts from that Entity.

• CGT Support Token: This token is always displayed on its 1pt side, except when a player has more CGT Support Tokens than any other player. They must flip their CGT Support Tokens to the 2pt side at this time, but will have to flip it back if they no longer have the most.
• IMF Support Token: When you gain this token, take it on its 3pt side, unless the "Bush's Call" Event has been played. You can only hold 1 IMF Support Token at a time.

Helicopter

If a player receives their 4th Conflict Token, they are Out of the Presidential Race and takes the Helicopter.

• 1-3 player game: When 1 player is Out of the Presidential Race, the player who has the most Support Points at the end of the Turn wins. If there is a tie, check the Tiebreaker table.
• 4-5 player game: When a 2nd player is Out of the Presidential Race, the player who has the most Support Points at the end of the Turn wins. If the winner has joined the first player to receive the Helicopter, they share the victory.

For the remainder of the game, even if you lose the Helicopter to another player, you are restricted by the following things:

• Lose all Support Points. You no longer gain Support Points, but you keep and gain Support Tokens. You may still take Support Actions.
• Become discreet. You can no longer take any actions listed on Boards.
• Ally with the weakest player. You must ally with the player with the lowest Support Points, helping them to win the game. If that happens, the victory is shared. You can never give Support Tokens to another player.
• Trade. You may choose to Trade cards with another player during the Board Phase (instead of just the Card Phase).

Lobby Cards

Play a set of 3 Lobby Cards to take 1 Support Token. The majority Entity (shown as a color at top of most cards) in the set decides which Support Token you must take. If no Support Tokens of the Entity remain, use the other Entity played. If all the cards played are of different Entities, you must choose 1 Support Token of any of the 3 Entities you played in the set. After taking the Support Token, you must return all your Conflict Tokens associated with that Entity.

Remember: If you become the player with the most Support Points, you become the President.

Lobby IMF and Lobby European Companies Cards are never Discarded. Instead, once they are played, they are returned to the Ministerio de Economía or Cavallo Board, respectively. Family Version: All Lobby Cards played go to the Discard pile instead.

Ministerio de Economía

The Ministerio de Economía Board allows you to "Make a Debt Payment" on one of the two Debt Maturities Tracks as your Board Phase Action.

If all slots of one track are covered, you can't make a payment of that Debt. Whenever all 6 slots of the Debt Maturities Tracks are covered, the President wins the game immediately.

• International Debt Payment: To make a payment of the International Debt you must check the value of the topmost uncovered slot of the track, pay to the Supply the amount of money listed on it, Draw 1 of the Lobby IMF Cards on the Ministerio de Economía, and then cover the slot with a Debt Paid Token. If there are no Lobby IMF Cards on it, you do not get any for making the payment.
• Domestic Debt Payment: To make a payment of the Domestic Debt you must check the value of the topmost uncovered slot of the track, pay to the Supply the amount of money listed on it, Draw 1 of the Lobby CGT Cards on the Ministerio de Economía, and then cover the slot with a Debt Paid Token. If there are no Lobby CGT Cards on it, you do not get any for making the payment.

Operation Cards

Play any amount of Operation Cards to get the benefit described on the card(s). You decide the order in which the Operation Cards are resolved.

Intelligence Service — Look at the Hand of another player. You may tell other players what they have (and of course lie about it). If you play more than 1 "Intelligence Service" you can choose different players.

Punteros — Draw 3 cards from the Deck to your Hand. If you draw an Event Card, you can Discard it to draw a new card. Then, return 3 cards from your Hand to the top of the Deck, in any order you want. If you play more than 1 "Punteros," you must resolve them all together, drawing 3 cards from the Deck for each "Punteros" played, then returning the same amount of cards to the top of the Deck.

False Rumors — Take 1 card for free from the Market to your hand. Then, shuffle the remaining cards in the Market together with the top card from the Deck. Finally, Refresh the Market with the shuffled cards. If you play more than one "False Rumors," you must draw 2 cards instead of 1.

Blackmail — Another player must give you something (e.g., money, cards, or a promise of a future action, but it cannot be Support Tokens) you both agree upon, otherwise, they must randomly Discard 2 of their Hand cards. Any promise of a future action isn't an obligation. Remember: players cannot voluntarily show the cards in their Hands. If you play more than one "Blackmail," you must choose different players to target for each.

Out of the Presidential Race

If one of the following situations occurs before the game ends, perform the listed steps shown here, first.

If a player receives their 4th Conflict Token, they will get the Helicopter. (See Helicopter.)

When a 2nd player receives the 4th Conflict Token, this player permanently loses their Support Points (they all become 0 value). The game ends at the end of the Turn. The President wins.

Points

All Support Tokens have a Support Point value. These are required for Game End and Winning. If you are Out of the Presidential Race, you keep your Support Tokens but lose your Support Points.

President

The player with more Support Points than any other player becomes the President and takes the President Token. (If another player gets the same number of Support Points as the current president, the current President remains, except for Rodríguez Saá who wins Support Point ties.) Gain benefits and suffer restrictions as shown on the President Token:

• Lose Senator Skill.
• Can play Decrees as a Board Phase Action: See Casa Rosada.
• Cannot play Conflict Cards.
• Vulnerable to all Conflicts: You may receive all Conflict Token types, regardless of your Character Skills (your Senator Skill is inactive while President).

At Beginning of the President's Turn (Board & Card Phases)

Check if the Debt Maturities Tracks in the Ministerio de Economía are balanced. If not, see President's Turn?

At the End of the President's Turn (Board & Card Phases)

If Bank Run is activated, the President must pay $2M at the end of each Turn. Minister Appointment: If a player becomes the President while being allied with Cavallo, or calls on Cavallo while President, Cavallo becomes a Minister. See Cavallo, Call on.

If the President loses support points so that he no longer qualifies to be President, the player who now has the most Support Points becomes the President, and takes the President Token. If two or more players are tied for most Support Points:

• Rodríguez Saá wins Support Point ties.
• If Rodríguez Saá is not among tied players and if the player who just took the Support Point(s) from the president is among the tied players, that player wins the tie.
• If there is still a tie, Camaño becomes President.

President's Turn?

If the current player has the President Token, their Turns start with checking if the Debt Maturities Tracks are balanced. If there are more slots covered in the International Debt Track than Domestic, Discard 10 cards from the Deck for each additional payment. If the Deck runs out of cards in the middle of the action, first deal 1 Piquete Conflict Token to all players, then shuffle the Discard pile to create a new Deck and Discard all the cards needed to finish the action. If there are more slots covered in the Domestic Debt than International, return 10 cards from the Discard pile to the Deck for each additional payment. Then shuffle the Deck.

Promise Cards

Play a set of 3 Promise Cards to steal a Support Token from another player. It must be that player's lowest value Support Token. The token stolen must be legal for you to take (e.g., you can't steal an IMF Support Token if you already have one). After stealing the Support Token you must Discard all your Conflict Tokens associated with the Entity of the token stolen.

Remember: If you become the player with the most Support Points, you become the President.

Public Appearance Cards

You may play only 1 Public Appearance Card each Turn during the Card Phase. Resolve the effect and Discard it.

TV Nightshow — Take a Generic 2pt Support Token (Entity-less) and a Bad Image Conflict Token, and randomly choose it (for example, another player hides one in each hand and you pick one hand). All general rules for gaining Support/Conflicts apply.

Persuasive Speech — Draw 4 cards from the Deck. If you draw an Event Card this way, you can Discard it and draw a new one. You still get to draw 1 card at the end of your Turn, as normal (for a total of 5 cards that Turn!).

Support

Support, or Support Tokens, display several relevant categories of information: Entity type/color, Actions, and Points. The player with more Support Points than any other player becomes the President and takes the President Token.

Tiebreaker Table

1. Player with the President Token.
2. Player with the least Conflict Tokens.
3. Player with the most Support Token types (Entities).
4. Player with the highest value Support Token.
5. Player with the most money.
6. Player with the most cards in their Hand.

Trade

As a Card Phase Action, you may Trade with another player to gain an advantage through a short-term political alliance.

Each player needs to exchange at least 1 card. Besides that, trade partners may Trade cards, money, and/or promises of future actions, in any amount or combination. You may never Trade Conflict or Support Tokens. After the Trade is agreed upon, place the cards face down on the table together with any money and exchange them simultaneously to conclude the trade.

Note: Players do NOT have to keep their promises or tell the truth about what cards they include in the Trade.

Family Version

Changes to Setup

Use only the Cards, Support Tokens, Conflict Tokens, and money. Shuffle all the cards into the Deck (including the Lobby IMF, European Companies, and CGT Cards but leaving the "Signed Sneakers" Event in the Box).

Gameplay Differences

Play only the Card Phase, do not play the Board Phase, each Round. At the end of each Turn:

• Draw 1 card from the Deck.
• Buy cards from the Market.
• Discard until you have a maximum of 5 cards in your Hand.
• Refresh the Market.

After playing a Lobby IMF or European Companies Card, discard them as regular Cards.

Solitaire Version

You will play as De La Rúa against a BOT who will play as Ruckauf. You and the BOT will share the same Hand of cards. The BOT will have its own money, and can get both Support Tokens and Conflict Tokens.

Setup

Setup the game for 2 players. Return "Intelligence Services" Operations Cards to the box as they will not be used. The game will start with De La Rúa's (your) Turn in the Board Phase. Choose a Normal or Hard BOT difficulty level.

Gameplay Differences

The basic rules and victory conditions are the same as the original game, except:

• Out of the Presidential Race. You or the BOT lose the game when 5 Conflict Tokens are collected by that player.
• Hand Limit. If, after a BOT Turn, there are more than 5 cards in your shared Hand, Discard randomly until there are only 5 cards.
• EVENT: Vice President Resigns. If the BOT is President when this event is resolved, the BOT loses its least value Support Token. If there is a tie, choose randomly.

Board Phase

You – De La Rúa

1. Play your Board Phase Action according to the original rules except that you can play the cards "Punteros," "False Rumors," or "Persuasive Speech" instead of a Board Phase Action.
2. Buy cards from the Market.
3. Discard to the Hand limit of 5.
4. Refresh the Market.

Bot – Ruckauf

1. Play 1 action according to the BOT Board Phase Table.
2. Discard the cheapest card in the Market.
3. Refresh the Market.
4. If there are more than 5 cards in Hand, Discard randomly until 5 remain.
5. Flip the Phase Token and proceed with the Card Phase.

Bot Board Phase Table

To execute the BOT's Board Phase Action, first find the grey column that describes how many Conflict Tokens the BOT has. Then go down from the top until you find an IF statement that is currently true. Finally, perform the action that coincides with both positions.

If the BOT cannot afford the action, the action is unavailable, or the field contains an arrow, skip to the next action on the list that is also currently true. This could be the next action under the same statement (if there is one) or move to the next statement that is currently true. If the BOT plays a Law Proposal, see "Bot Plays a Law Proposal" below.

Read each row top to bottom; the first one whose condition is true (for the BOT's current Conflict Token count) is the action taken.

• If BOT has 9 Support Points: Play "Signed Sneakers" and WIN (any number of Conflicts).
• If BOT has the same Support & Conflict Token Entity: Pay $2M and remove 1 BOT Conflict of that Entity (any number of Conflicts).
• If Debt Maturities unbalanced, in favor of International Debt: Pay 1 Domestic Debt (any number of Conflicts).
• If 5 Debt Payments Paid: Pay the final Debt Payment and WIN (any number of Conflicts).
• If BOT is President and has a Cacerolazo Conflict: with 2+ Conflicts, play "Lecop" Decree; with 1 Conflict, play "Site Status" Decree.
• If BOT is President and has a Protest Conflict: with 1 Conflict, play "Site Status" Decree.
• If BOT is President: play "Bank Holiday" Decree (any number of Conflicts).
• If BOT has a Press & Media Support Token: Pay $7M to Supply and give De La Rúa a Bad Image Token (any number of Conflicts).
• If Banco Central has money: Play "Reserved Funds" (any number of Conflicts).
• Otherwise: Play "Embezzle Funds" (any number of Conflicts).
• If BOT has money: Play 1st Law Proposal (if it adds a Conflict, skip it and play the next law) (any number of Conflicts).
• Otherwise: Play Character Action "Issue Patacones Bonds" (any number of Conflicts).
• Otherwise: Pass (any number of Conflicts).

Bot Plays a Law Proposal

1. Choose the leftmost Law Proposal on the Congreso Board.
2. Decide if De La Rúa (you) will vote Si/No.
3. Decide the number of votes you will buy (1 Vote = $1M).
4. Roll a D6 to define the number of votes the BOT will buy. After the die roll, if the BOT does not have enough money, they will buy as many as they can.
5. Compare the vote amounts in favor of and against the Law Proposal. If the Law is PASSED: Execute the text on the Law. If the Law is REJECTED: Place it next to the Congreso Board to be shuffled into the draw pile later. Remember: Always pay for the votes, regardless of the outcome.

Card Phase

Remember: You and the BOT share Hand cards.

You – De La Rúa

1. Play your Card Phase as normal.

Bot – Ruckauf

1. Draw from the Deck, or Discard, until there are 5 cards in Hand, respectively.
2. Play 1 action according to the BOT Card Phase Table (according to the difficulty level, below).
3. Draw 1 card from the Deck.
4. If there are more than 5 cards in Hand, Discard randomly until 5 remain.
5. Flip the Phase Token and proceed with the Board Phase.

Blackmail Against the Bot

If you play a "Blackmail" Operation Card against the BOT, follow these steps:

1. Roll a D6 to determine X.
2. The BOT pays you $XM, indicated by the die.

If the BOT does not have enough money to pay for the Blackmail, you must discard two cards at random.

Blackmail Against You

If the BOT plays a "Blackmail" Operation Card against you, follow these steps:

1. Roll a D6 to determine X.
2. Pay the BOT $XM or discard 2 cards from your hand at random.

If the BOT does not have enough money to pay you, it must give you all the money it has.

Bot Card Phase Table

Use the table that matches the difficulty level you chose during Solitaire Setup. First, find the first Statement from the top that is currently true in the "In Hand" column. Then, execute the Action in the same row and discard the Cards listed.

Normal Bot Version

In Hand	Action
2 Lobby Cards	Take a Support Token (removing the most Conflicts, if possible). If no Conflicts exist, take Press & Media.
2 Promise Cards	Steal lowest Support Point token from De La Rúa.
1 Conflict & 1 Lobby Card	Give De La Rúa a Conflict Token.
1 "Blackmail" Operation Card	See "Blackmail Against You" above.
X Funding Cards	BOT takes money from the Supply (using all cards).
1 TV Nightshow	Play Card (skip this if BOT has 2 or more Conflicts).
None of the above	Randomly Discard 2 cards from Hand.

Hard Bot Version

In Hand	Action
1 Lobby Cards	Take a Support Token (removing the most Conflicts, if possible). If no Conflicts exist, take Press & Media.
1 Promise Cards	Steal lowest Support Point token from De La Rúa.
1 Conflict & 1 Lobby Card	Give De La Rúa a Conflict Token.
1 Conflict & 1 Support Token of the same Entity	Give De La Rúa a Conflict Token.
1 "Blackmail" Operation Card	See "Blackmail Against You" above.
Any Funding Cards	BOT takes money from the Supply (using all cards).
1 TV Nightshow	Play Card (skip this if BOT has 2 or more Conflicts).
None of the above	Randomly Discard 2 cards from Hand.

Historical Appendix

Many years have passed since the tragic days of 19th and 20th December, 2001. Those days are marked in our collective memories and still have resonance in our present political disputes. In periods of crisis (and unfortunately they have been recurrent in the last few years), the end of the year is a big challenge for our country. Come December and we start feeling the tension in the air. Heat, inflation, dollar exchange rate, unemployment, power cuts… Could it be that everything blows up in pieces again? Despite the analysts that sustain (and sometimes hope!) that all hell breaks loose, the truth is that our society is very different now, and the country has many tools for securing the peace and assisting those in need in a much bigger capacity than twenty years ago, even though the current times present themselves as very challenging. We are never in the clear. Being Argentine is quite the adventure! (You never get bored, though…)

But let's go back to 2001. How was it possible that the whole political, social and economic system collapsed in just a few days? Well, that's the thing, it was not just a few days. It all started in the 1990s, during the presidency of Carlos Saúl Menem (actually, we could trace the roots of the crisis all the way to the last dictatorship, but for clarity's sake, we will mark the 90s as our starting point). Despite being a peronist, and having promised the "salariazo" (a huge salary increase) during his campaign, Menem, or "the turk" as he was commonly called, aligned quickly with the neoliberal wave that was sweeping the world.

The heart of the economic plan of president Menem was the Convertibility, which meant that one Argentine Peso would be equal to one US Dollar. The father of the creature was Harvard's diligent pupil, Domingo Felipe Cavallo, Minister of Economy from 1991 to 1996. To implement this neoliberal reform, most of the public companies were sold, export taxes were removed and import taxes reduced. With the excuse of trying to eliminate the deficit, public spending was cut, basically laying off public employees and reducing salaries and pensions. All of these measures were very important, because the convertibility fed on dollars, and they were very hard to collect. Even though everything seemed to go great and we were considered now part of the "First World," it was all a farce. By 1996, the consequences of the neoliberal strategy came to light. In addition to the above mentioned, the unrestricted opening of imports killed the national industry, leaving thousands of people without jobs. By 1998, the recession deepened, and the future looked very grim.

In 1999 De La Rúa was elected in the hopes of a change of course. He promised fresh air, transparency, the fight against corruption and "the end of the party for a few." Aligned with the progressive wing of the political spectrum in a front called Alianza, he won the elections by 63.78% of the vote. But, as it turned out, leaving the convertibility was not that easy, it was not just a matter of political vision or simple good will. The cost of devaluing the peso was just too big, and nobody wanted to pay for it. As a popular argentine saying goes, "if we are at the ball, we might as well dance." They were dancing on the Titanic.

To maintain the convertibility and follow the IMF directions, the government continued to ask for money to pay the maturities, and to reduce spending to comply with the mandate of "zero deficit." At that point, the worker's movement and the unemployed, now turned into "piqueteros" (picketers), were constantly on strike on the streets demanding a radical change of the government policies.

But, as it always happens, the lower classes go unheard, ignored. It wasn't until Cavallo — now back in the seat of Minister of Economy — implemented the "corralito" (a restriction of the withdrawal of cash from bank accounts) and the middle class took to the streets with their pans, that the situation came to a breaking point. "Piquete y cacerola, la lucha es una sola" (pickets and pans, we are in the same fight) was a common chant at the demonstrations. Nobody had anything left to lose. A common chant was "¡Que se vayan todos! ¡Que no quede ni uno solo!" ("Everyone out! Not a single one left!").

These protests and the violence with which the police repressed them, leaving many dead and hundreds injured, forced the resignation of De La Rúa. It was hard to find someone who would clean up the mess, and that is how the country ended up having five presidents in little more than a week. The first one, Ramón Puerta, President of the Senate, was the next in line according to the law (the country didn't have a Vice President since Alvarez's resignation). Then a Legislative Assembly chose Rodríguez Saá. He was actually very enthusiastic, but he couldn't convince his fellow peronists to go on board with his government plan and his project of being a candidate for the elections that were supposed to be held, so he resigned. Puerta was supposed to take over again, but he was not willing to, so the responsibility went to the President of the Deputies' Chamber, Camaño. Finally, the main political forces reached consensus and the Assembly chose Duhalde (the peronist presidential candidate in 1999) to finish De La Rúa's term. Those agitated and violent days of December were sad and distressing: there were people trying to get personal gain from the suffering of many. But, the revolt showed the power of people united for a common goal. This might be one of the good things we can treasure from those bitter days.

Entities and Conflicts

Representing some of the main political actors of Argentina.

Agricultural Producers — Agricultural activity is the engine of our economy, so the producers had a lot of political power. The way they expressed their discomfort was with Lockouts.

Cacerolazos — The middle class was always against the unions. When they found their money locked in the banks because of the "Corralito," instead of going on strike they started to make noise with their saucepans (Cacerolas in Spanish) when they came back from their work. The night of December 19th they took the streets and continued the next day until the resignation of De La Rúa.

C.G.T. (Confederación General del Trabajo – General Confederation of Labor) — A popular graffiti of those years said: "They are pissing on us and the media says it's raining." The main Newspapers (whose owners have radio and tv networks also) have a well-defined political position and put all their efforts in maintaining the good image of their candidates, and throwing dirt to all who are against their interests, giving them a Bad Image.

European Companies — The convertibility was at the center of the economic plan of the Menem administration in the 90s. The starting point was the sale of almost all the state companies. The main investors were European Companies from Italy, France but specially from Spain. They were the most interested in keeping the relation of 1 peso = 1 dollar (Convertibility Law) that led to the crisis in 2001. In December the Spanish ex-president Felipe González came to show his support to De La Rúa but was too late, some say that he came to make sure that the peso didn't devalue before the arrival of 2002. The crisis started a great Capital Leakage.

I.M.F. (International Monetary Fund) — Our country has a close relationship with the IMF. When De La Rúa assumed, the only way he found to keep the convertibility was asking Loans to this entity. The most famous was the "Blindaje" (Blindage) that consisted in u$s 40,000 Millones to avoid the Default. On November 29th 2001, the IMF refused a debt refinancing request leading to deposit withdrawals of the main investors and later to the biggest Bank Run of our history.

Looting — In the province of Mendoza, groups of unemployed people started to stop trucks that carried food to loot them, telling the drivers that if they didn't resist they would keep the truck in perfect condition and the insurance would cover the cost of the lost merchandise. This began to be repeated in different provinces of the country but it took on another degree of relevance in the zone called Gran Buenos Aires. Suddenly the supermarkets started to be razed in liberated zones, even the smallest commerces found themselves in poor vs poor battles. The rumors said that looters were carried in vans after the tv cameras were set in front of the shops. De La Rúa asked for a report to the intelligence service that said punteros of Governor Ruckauf were behind the organized looting. Some years later Ruckauf was called to declare by the justice for this cause, but he was never formally charged.

Gran Buenos Aires is an urbanized zone that surrounds the city of Buenos Aires. If you see from the sky you cannot find where the limit is between them. Even when they could be considered part of the same city, politically they are very different.

Piquetes — The unemployment reached its highest historical level in 2001. The unemployed, without the possibility of going on strike, decided to take the streets and started blocking roads (an action known as "piquetes").

Press & Media — A popular graffiti of those years said: "They are pissing on us and the media says it's raining." The main Newspapers (whose owners have radio and tv networks also) have a well-defined political position and put all their efforts in maintaining the good image of their candidates, and throwing dirt to all who are against their interests, giving them a Bad Image.

Money — There was always accusation of embezzlement of funds related to the use of money of the provinces to make campaigns. Argentinian history is full of these corruption cases. That's why the money that players hold represent a mix of the money of the state and the personal money of the characters.

TV Nightshow — On December 21th, 2000, exactly one year before the resignation, De La Rúa visited the most popular TV Show of Argentina. The program was a mix of hidden cameras, musicals and imitations of celebrities and politicians. The imitation most required by the public was the one of the president, that showed him slow and lost in a very humoristic way. The idea behind the visit of the President to the show was to contrast the image projected by the imitator with the real personality of him. But things went wrong from the beginning: A man eluded the security and questioned the president about some prisoners on hunger strike. To make matters worse, the president confused the name of the presenter's wife (who was known by the audience) and called her "Laura" instead of "Paula." Finally, he started going in circles trying to find a way out of the TV studio. All this and more on Live TV! Years later, De La Rúa accused the showrunner of "unfair" sustaining that that night was decisive for the destabilization of his government but said: "I take responsibility for going to the program, which was detrimental to preserving my function."

Decrees

Bank Holiday — The Bank Holiday is a tool that is used when new economic directives need to be installed. But at the end of 2001 the Bank Holiday was used to stop the chaos in each branch office caused by the "Corralito" and the angry people trying to get their savings back.

Corralito (Playpen) — Corralito was the name used to call the economic measure that restricted the withdrawal of money from banks applied to stop the Bank Run. Today we use almost no paper money but in 2001 argentinians used to pay all in cash and 40% of our economy was informal. This was like a spark on the gas station, all the banks collapsed with the middle class in rage trying to reach their savings before the devaluation arrived. Another problem was all the informal salaries that could not be paid and the homeless that didn't receive alms or charity. Corralito was the main reason why De La Rúa turned his voters against him.

Lecop — Facing lack of reserves and the impossibility of printing money to maintain the convertibility, the "solution" was to issue bonds to be used to pay state wages and contracts as a second currency. The national government released bonds named "Lecops," but almost all provinces issued their own, being the "Patacones" and "Lecors" the most remembered.

Martial Law — When looting went out of control, Martial Law was declared, but that didn't stop anything. On December 19th, when people were protesting in Plaza de Mayo (where Casa Rosada and Economy Ministry are located) a brutal repression started, excused by the Martial Law. This led to dozens of dead. On December 20th, because the protests were far from over, De La Rúa asked the Gendarmerie chief H. Miranda for support but he refused, saying that he would get involved only if the Congress approved it. That decision saved many civilian lives but also made De La Rúa realize that the only way out of the conflict was his resignation.

Laws

Listed in chronological order.

Labor Reform (Ley N°25.250) — The labor reform meant the workers losing many of the rights they had conquered through the years. For example, the trial period for the new employees was extended, the companies were permitted to renegotiate salaries independently (before this, salaries were negotiated by trade or type of activity). All of these reforms were part of the demands of the IMF, so the government had to deliver. The law was so prejudicial to the workers that some legislators were accused of taking bribes to vote in favor of it. Since the Alliance won the election under the promise of transparency and the end of corruption, the scandal of the bribes led to the resignation of Vice President "Chacho" Alvarez and the end of the Alianza.

Financial Emergency (Ley N°25.344) — This law declared the economic and financial emergency of the argentine state. This declaration allowed the government to take extreme measures, such as laying off large numbers of public employees to cut expenses, use bonds to cancel pension debts and debts with military contractors, and review all the contracts that the State had with private companies.

Prevention of Tax Evasion (Ley N°25.345) — The "anti-evasion plan" was a set of measures aimed at reducing high tax evasion, which was, at the time, around 25 billion pesos. The plan was also accompanied by the creation of a special force dedicated to fighting smuggling, which was another major source of evasion. In those years, almost half of the argentine workers were unregistered and pension evasion exceeded 80% in some provinces.

Competitiveness (Ley N°25.413) — Through the law, a 0.6% tax was created on financial movements in checking accounts and the obligation to pay with checks was created for all operations over 1,000 pesos. The tax reform also contemplated tariff increases on imports of consumer goods from outside MERCOSUR (The Southern Common Market, "Mercado Común del Sur" in Spanish) and reductions in those levied on imports of capital goods. The main objective was to create a tool to solve the deficit problem and promote growth and development.

Superpowers (Ley N°25.414) — The "Superpowers" law meant the possibility to delegate some of the legislative attributions to the Executive Power. This was also meant to give the president and the Minister of Economy the possibility to take swift action to control the economic crisis. The downside is that the Congress lost the capacity to debate and dispute those decisions.

Zero Deficit (Ley N°25.453) — The law established that public spending could not exceed collection. If that were the case, all expenses had to be reduced, including items such as pensions and salaries. Behind that law, among others, were the then Minister of Economy, Domingo Cavallo and Patricia Bullrich, who was in charge of the Ministry of Labor. Within the framework of that law, the salary of public employees (including teachers and health workers) were reduced and pensions were cut by 13%. In 2002, the law was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

End of Convertibility (Ley N°25.561) — In 2002 convertibility came to an end, although certain key points of the law remained in force. It was Jorge Remes Lenicov, the former Minister of Economy under President Eduardo Duhalde, who promoted the approval in the National Congress of a new "Economic Emergency Law," through which Argentina abandoned the equivalence "one peso, one dollar."

Events

Vice President Resigns — The only way that De La Rúa found to win the presidential elections in '99 was joining with a new party called Frepaso, composed by ex-peronists against Menem. The new front formed by the union of UCR and Frepaso was called "Alianza" (Alliance) and the presidential ticket was De La Rúa for President (UCR) & Chacho Alvarez for Vice President (Frepaso). One of the main points of the campaign was the fight against corruption. When the "bribes in the Senate" case appeared, Chacho Alvarez decided to resign. This fact means the start of the political aspect of the crisis. In our system the Vice President also fulfills the role of President of the Senate; so the resignation of Alvarez made that the Senate was to elect a new President of the chamber and the chosen one was the opponent Ramón Puerta.

Brazilian Devaluation — Brazil is the biggest country in South America and since the signing of the Mercosur alliance our economy is linked, that's why when they devalued, the pressure around the Convertibility plan was raised.

Floods — With the provinces without funds and broke, the lack of infrastructure improvements was in evidence when heavy rains fell leading to several floods that impacted the agricultural economy.

Lootings — See Looting, above.

Racing Champion — Football (known as Soccer in a few countries) is the main passion in Argentina with a role so important that sometimes it occupies half of the newspaper covers. Several times it was used by the government as a screen to divert the attention of the people, being the biggest example of that when the Junta Militar brought the World Cup in '78 and made sure Argentina reached the final. In 2001 Racing (one of the "Big Five" clubs) had real chances of becoming champion after more than 40 years without titles, and almost everyone was hoping they didn't miss the opportunity. Racing finally was Champion that year but the rumors said that a few days after the fall of De La Rúa, Grondona (AFA's President) was visited by people of the government to ensure the result to relax the tension.

Christmas Holidays — The period with five different Presidents was from December 20th until January 2nd, so it included Christmas and New Year holidays.

Bush's Call — In his inauguration speech, Rodríguez Saá said that Argentina will keep the Convertibility and will not pay the international debt. That was exactly the opposite of what the IMF wanted to hear, so Bush himself had a telephone call with Rodríguez Saá to tell him what he must do. The result was the resignation of Rodríguez Saá to the presidency 6 days after being assumed.

Characters

De La Rúa — Is the protagonist of this tragicomic story. A person with a reputation for being slow, boring and without personality who showed he was not prepared to be president of the nation. In addition to that, he was ill advised, which led him to become more and more isolated instead of maintaining his alliances.

Cavallo — He was the father of the Convertibility plan (1991). A man prepared in Harvard who was part of the Junta Militar (the de facto government of the 70s), Minister of Economy in the Menem administration and finally called by De La Rúa to keep the plan going. But the plan was beyond salvation. After the IMF refused to refinance the debt, the only way Cavallo found to keep the plan alive was to install the Corralito (explained before). This move made De La Rúa lose the support of the few who still followed him. Some weeks after Cavallo assumed as De La Rúa's minister people started to realize that if the father of convertibility couldn't get out of it, the outbreak was inevitable. That made a lot of people take out their money from the banks.

Puerta — He was the Senator representing Misiones province for the Peronist party. After the resignation of Chacho Alvarez, Puerta was the one elected by his colleagues to be President of the Chamber. That meant that in the absence of the president, he would take his place. To have a man of the opposition as second in line after the president was something unprecedented for our country. He was a Provisional President in charge for 2 days (December 21st & 22nd) until Rodríguez Saá was defined as the one who would be president until elections were held. Six days later (after the Call from Bush and the failed meeting in Chapadmalal) Rodríguez Saá quit and that meant that Puerta had to take the Provisional Presidency again. But that never happened. During December 30th & 31st everyone was looking for Puerta but he couldn't be reached. After that Puerta resigned to the Presidency of the Senate citing health problems.

Rodríguez Saá — He was the governor of San Luis province since the return of democracy in '83 and the leader of a coalition formed by the governors of several small peronist provinces. In the 90s he was involved in a strange case (denounced by himself to the President) where he was supposedly kidnapped, drugged and filmed in a sex party to be extorted. A journalist of the main TV news program was sent to investigate and she found several irregularities, with a close relation between the governor and the judicial system. When De La Rúa fell, Rodríguez Saá was the one elected by the peronist governors (and after that by a Legislative Assembly) to rule the country until elections were held. On December 23rd he took office and gave a persuasive speech that urged to keep Convertibility, the cessation of international payments and the creation of a 2nd currency, among other things. As explained in the "Bush's Call" section, this didn't sit well internationally and forced him to call a meeting with the governors in Chapadmalal (a town in Buenos Aires beach coast) to ask for their support. The meeting was a failure, the governors of the main provinces found excuses not to go to the meeting and the message was clear. On December 30th he presented his resignation to the National Presidency.

Camaño — He was the President of the Deputies Chamber and the next in line after Puerta when Rodríguez Saá resigned. An ally of Duhalde, he ended up being President on December 31st and January 1st, only to wait until the New Year holidays passed.

Duhalde — Is the antagonist of this story. Mayor of Lomas de Zamora before and after the dictatorship of 1976-1983, National Deputy in '87, Vice President under Menem in '89, Governor of Buenos Aires province in '91 for eight years, opponent of De La Rúa in the Presidential elections of '99 and National Senator from December 11th 2001 until January 2nd 2002 (yes, only 22 days), he was the first to express that Argentina needed to end the Convertibility Plan gradually during the Menem administration. This is one of the bizarre things that happen in Argentina: the candidate of the party in office sustained opposed ideas to the president, while the opposition candidate wanted to continue with the same economic plan as the outgoing President. Meanwhile, the crisis continued to deepen through 2001 (with Menem in house arrest for illegally selling weapons to Ecuador). Duhalde was the main voice of the Peronist Party and that's why the people close to De La Rúa accused him of being responsible for the crisis and causing the fall of the President. He himself declared a few years ago "It might be true that I had to do with the fall of De La Rúa." He knew that some unpopular measures had to be taken to get out of the crisis after De La Rúa's fall, so the idea was to stay in the 2nd line waiting for the elections, while someone else did the dirty work. But when Rodríguez Saá decided to go in a different direction, the situation became untenable. On January 2nd of 2002 Duhalde ended the "Five presidents week" assuming as President, promising that "The one who deposits Dollars, will receive Dollars," in reference to the end of the Convertibility plan. Some days later (after the devaluation) he "pesified" all dollar accounts, in a clear break of this promise. Duhalde was in charge until December of 2003 (when De La Rúa should have ended his mandate).

Ruckauf — He was the Governor of the Buenos Aires Province and part of the Peronist party. In an attempt to proselytize, he used provincial funds to distribute sneakers signed with his name among the people in need. This was denounced on the news and it ended up harming his image instead of helping his campaign. Once, in December of 2001, he was accused by De La Rúa of being behind the Lootings in Gran Buenos Aires. When Duhalde assumed the presidency in 2002, Ruckauf was designated Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina.

De La Sota — He was the Governor of the Córdoba Province (someone could say that is the 2nd most important of the country). Having been the first Peronist to win in Córdoba since the 1950s, he was well positioned in the presidential race. During the crisis, he issued bonds called "Lecors" to pay salaries. In 2002 he was fully immersed in the campaign for the presidential election of 2003 but he didn't get to be a candidate.