Carlos Menem

He was born into a Syrian family in Anillaco, in La Rioja, a province of Argentina. He trained as a lawyer at the University of Córdoba and became a supporter of Juan Domingo Perón. He campaigned for political prisoners and was arrested in 1957 for supporting violent action against Aramburu. He was elected governor of La Rioja in 1973, a prominent post that left him exposed after the overthrown of Isabel Martínez de Perón in March 1976. He was imprisoned by the junta. In October 1983 with the overthrow of military rule Menem was re-elected as governor. In 1989 he was elected president, succeeding Raúl Alfonsín[?].

His major problem was the economy, damaged by hyperinflation and recession. Menem acted quickly: finance minister Domingo Cavallo introduced a series of reforms and linked the peso to the US dollar. The economy improved at the cost of considerable unemployment. In 1991 he helped the formation of the Mercosur customs union. His rule became tainted with accusations of corruption and instances of nepotism.

He had the constitution altered to allow him to run again in 1995 and attempted to change it again to let him run for the third time in 1999, but failed.

In May, 2001 he married the Chilean model Cecilia Bolocco[?] (Miss Universe in 1987). He was arrested over an arms export scandal in 1991 and 1996 on June 7, 2001, remaining under house arrest until November. He appeared before a judge in late August 2002 and denied all charges. Accounts belonging to him in Switzerland were found to contain $10 million.

Menem garnered the greatest number of votes in Argentina's April 27, 2003 presidential first election, but failed to get the needed votes to win an overall majority. A run-off election between Menem and Nestor Kirchner was scheduled for May 18, 2003, but knowing that he was facing a sure defeat, Menem decided to resign as candidate, automatically turning Néstor Kirchner into the new president.