Carlos Menem

Carlos Menem
Official portrait, 1995
50th President of Argentina
In office 8 July 1989 – 10 December 1999
Vice President	Eduardo Duhalde (1989–1991) None (1991–1995) Carlos Ruckauf (1995–1999)
Preceded by	Raúl Alfonsín
Succeeded by	Fernando de la Rúa
National Senator
In office 10 December 2005 – 14 February 2021
Preceded by	Eduardo Menem
Constituency	La Rioja
President of the Justicialist Party
In office 28 November 2001 – 11 June 2003
Preceded by	Rubén Marín
Succeeded by	Eduardo Fellner
In office 10 August 1990 – 13 June 2001
Preceded by	Antonio Cafiero
Succeeded by	Rubén Marín
Governor of La Rioja
In office 10 December 1983 – 8 July 1989
Vice Governor	Alberto Gregorio Cavero
Preceded by	Guillermo Jorge Piastrellini (de facto)
Succeeded by	Alberto Gregorio Cavero
In office 25 May 1973 – 24 March 1976
Vice Governor	Libardo Sánchez
Preceded by	Julio Raúl Luchesi (de facto)
Succeeded by	Osvaldo Héctor Pérez Battaglia (de facto)
Personal details
Born	Carlos Saúl Menem (1930-07-02)2 July 1930 Anillaco, La Rioja, Argentina
Died	14 February 2021(2021-02-14) (aged 90) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Resting place	San Justo Islamic Cemetery
Political party	Justicialist
Other political affiliations	Front for Loyalty (2003) Justicialist Popular Unity Front (1989–1995)
Spouses	Zulema Yoma ​ ​ (m. 1966; div. 1991)​ Cecilia Bolocco ​ ​ (m. 2001; div. 2011)​
Children	4, including Carlos Jr. and Zulemita
Relatives	Eduardo Menem (brother) Martín Menem (nephew)
Signature
Carlos Menem's voice Recorded c. 1989–1999

Carlos Saúl Menem^[a] (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999, being the longest-serving president since the return to democracy. His presidency is known for pegging the Argentine peso with the US dollar, supporting free trade and privatization policies. 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.^[1]

Born in Anillaco, La Rioja, to a Syrian family, Menem was raised as a Muslim,^[2] but later converted to Roman Catholicism to pursue a political career.^[b] 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.^[1]

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.^[3][4]

Menem ran for the presidency again in 2003, but faced with a likely defeat in a ballotage against Néstor Kirchner, he chose to pull out, effectively handing the presidency to Kirchner. He was elected senator for La Rioja in 2005. By the time he died in 2021 at age 90, he was the oldest living former Argentine president.^[c] He is regarded as a polarizing figure in Argentina, mostly due to corruption and economic mismanagement throughout his presidency.

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