MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Duhalde on kidnapping of Macri's daughter.

President Eduardo Duhalde yesterday repudiated the kidnapping of Florencia Macri ? daughter of top local businessman Franco Macri ? and urged the Congress to pass a law to toughen sentences for kidnappers.

"We have to forge proper judicial tools to punish these crimes," Duhalde said.

Meanwhile, Florencia's half-brother Mauricio Macri ? running for Buenos Aires mayor ? broke the family's silence since the Tuesday abduction and used cameras outside his father's home in the city neighbourhood of Barrio Parque to send a message to her: "Hold on, Florcita, everything will be fine."

Investigators believe that one or several acquaintances of the 19-year-old girl could have given information on her activities and whereabouts to the criminals.

Separately, ex-president and current presidential candidate Carlos Menem used Macri's kidnapping as an example of the surge of crime which, according to him, has transformed Argentina into "a no man's land."

Yesterday the biggest Argentina team Boca Junior (where Mauricio Macri is a President) & Vélez Sarsfield a big blue flag was read "Leave free Mauricio's sister" on front 60,000 fans.