BUENOS AIRES, Oct 18, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Closing his presidential campaign ahead of next Sunday's election, Economy Minister Sergio Massa held out the promise of a national unity government and told supporters "the worst" of the Argentine economic crisis has passed.

"Go look for those Argentines who trust us, but above all those who have doubts. Tell them... that the worst is passing, that what is coming is much better, and that we have to do it together," he told a crowd in a stadium on the outskirts of Buenos Aires Tuesday.

The day was special for the left-wing Peronist movement, which commemorates the moment in 1945 when thousands of workers gained the release of the founder of their movement, Juan Peron, imprisoned by the government of the time.

"The blood that runs in me is Peronist, it's genetic; I support everything that has to do with this project," said Massa supporter Daniel Duran, an unemployed 45-year-old.

Like him, tens of thousands of people of all ages carried flags at the Arsenal stadium in Sarandi, a suburb south of Buenos Aires.

Many flags bore the faces of former presidents Nestor Kirchner and his wife and successor Cristina -- who is now the vice president -- as well as Che Guevara and football legend Diego Maradona.

"I am hopeful that comrade Massa wins the elections because it is the only solution that Argentina has," said 64-year-old pensioner Estela Diaz.

Massa is betting on a runoff with Javier Milei, the libertarian candidate leading in the polls, who promises to cut public spending with the forcefulness of a chainsaw.

Milei has called the Peronists in power a "parasitic caste," which is what prompted Massa's call for "a government of national unity."

Massa also pushed back on Milei's proposal for the Falklands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas, to be modeled on Hong Kong, instead insisting on Buenos Aires' sovereignty over the islands.

And he reaffirmed human rights groups' estimate of 30,000 people missing under the military dictatorship that ended in the early 1980s, something that his opponent has questioned.

"I don't like Milei because he has a feeling of hatred towards the country. He thinks Argentina is shit but he wants to govern this country. I don't like it, Argentina is the best country in the world. I hope a lot of people come this afternoon to defend all the laws that Peron and Evita gave us," said Diaz, the pensioner supporting Massa.