Carlos Menem

Carlos Saúl Menem (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaɾlos ˈmenen] ; 2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine politician who served as the president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 2001 and again from 2001 to 2003), and his political approach became known as Menemism.

Born in Anillaco, La Rioja, to a Syrian family, Menem was raised as a Muslim, but later converted to Roman Catholicism to pursue a political career. Menem became a Peronist during a visit to Buenos Aires. He was elected governor of La Rioja in 1973, deposed and detained following the 1976 Argentine coup d'état, and re-elected in 1983. He defeated the Buenos Aires governor Antonio Cafiero in the primary elections for the 1989 presidential elections. Hyperinflation and riots forced outgoing president Raúl Alfonsín to resign early, shortening the presidential transition.

Menem's presidency supported the Washington Consensus and tackled inflation with the Convertibility plan in 1991. The plan was complemented by a series of privatizations and was initially a success. Argentina re-established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom, suspended since the 1982 Falklands War, and aligned itself with the United States. Under his administration, the country participated in the 1991 Gulf War and suffered two terrorist attacks: an attack on the Israeli embassy in 1992 and the 1994 AMIA bombing. The Peronist victory in the 1993 midterm elections allowed him to persuade Alfonsín, by then leader of the opposition party Radical Civic Union, to sign the Pact of Olivos for the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution. This amendment allowed Menem to run for re-election in 1995, winning a second, four-year term. A new economic crisis began, and the opposing parties formed a political coalition, winning the 1997 midterm elections and the 1999 presidential election.

Menem was investigated on various criminal and corruption charges, including illegal arms trafficking (he was sentenced to seven years in prison), embezzlement of public funds (he was sentenced to 4+1⁄2 years to prison), extortion and bribery (he was declared innocent of both charges). His position as senator earned him immunity from incarceration.