Eduardo Duhalde
President of Argentina
In office January 2, 2002 – May 25, 2003
Vice President	Vacant
Preceded by	Adolfo Rodríguez Saá
Succeeded by	Néstor Kirchner
30th Vice-President of Argentina
In office July 8, 1989 – December 10, 1991
President	Carlos Menem
Preceded by	Víctor Hipolito Martínez
Succeeded by	Carlos Ruckauf
Governor of Buenos Aires Province
In office December 10, 1991 – December 10, 1999
Preceded by	Antonio Cafiero
Succeeded by	Carlos Ruckauf
Personal details
Born	(1941-10-05) October 5, 1941 (age 70) Lomas de Zamora, Greater Buenos Aires
Nationality	Argentine
Political party	Justicialist
Spouse(s)	Hilda de Duhalde
Profession	Lawyer

Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (Spanish pronunciation: [eˈðwarðo alˈβerto ˈðwalde]; born October 5, 1941) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor of public law, who also was President of Argentina from 2002 to 2003.

Biography[link]

Duhalde was born in Lomas de Zamora, in the Greater Buenos Aires. He graduated as a lawyer in 1970. He became intendent of Lomas de Zamora in 1973, but left government three years later during the National Reorganization Process military coup. Democratic rule was restored in 1983, and Duhalde was elected intendent once more. Duhalde told in 2010 at the Noticias magazine that a coronel sought his support for a possible coup against the newly elected president Raúl Alfonsín, which Duhalde would have denied and reported directly to Alfonsín himself.

Vicepresidency and governor[link]

In 1987 he became a member of the Argentine National Congress and became vice-president under Carlos Menem from 1989 to his resignation in 1991. In 1991 he won the first of two terms as governor of Buenos Aires.

1999 elections[link]

He ran for president in 1999, after a failed attempt by Carlos Menem to run for a third term, but he was defeated by Fernando de la Rúa. Duhalde came in second place with 37% of the vote. De la Rúa's government would face an economic crisis and the 2001 riots, resigning two years later. De la Rúa considered that Duhalde organized a coup d'état against him^[1] Rodolfo Terragno, De la Rúa's Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, thought instead that the crisis was the exclusive result of keeping the peso-dollar parity despite of the costs generated by it.^[2]

Presidency[link]

After de la Rúa's resignation, due to the economic crisis and the December 2001 riots, Duhalde was appointed President of Argentina by the Legislative Assembly on January 2, 2002.

Depositors protest the freezing of their accounts, February 2002. Pres. Duhalde had the freeze lifted in December.

Initially to serve for a few months, until the chaotic situation of the country could be controlled, Duhalde stayed in office during more than one year. During this time, he confirmed the default of most of the Argentine public debt, and ended peg of the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar. The latter measure triggered inflation, but at the same time helped pave the way to the substitution of imports (which could hardly be afforded with a more expensive dollar), and hence the renewed growth of national industry. The reduction of national industry effected during the 1990s (consequence of the affordability of imports made possible by the artificially low foreign currency exchange), combined with the austerity economic policies put into place in the late 1990s and early 2000s in order to service the foreign debt and satisfy foreign creditors, had resulted by 2003 in a poverty rate of slightly over 50%. However, massive discontent followed the "forced pesification" of the dollar deposits at an exchange rate of 1.40 pesos, after Duhalde had said that people who had deposited dollars would receive dollars, in what is now a famous reference in Argentine political culture. Duhalde managed to stabilize the turmoil and, under some political pressure, called for elections six months ahead of schedule.

Carlos Menem, former president, wanted to run for the presidency in the 2003 election, and Duhalde wanted to prevent him from being president again. For this purpose, he sought other candidates that may defeat Menem. Some of these potential candidates were Carlos Reutemann, José Manuel de la Sota, Mauricio Macri, Adolfo Rodríguez Saá, Felipe Solá and Roberto Lavagna, but none of those negotiations bore fruit. Finally, he chose Néstor Kirchner, governor of Santa Cruz Province, who was mostly unknown by the public. To harm Menem chances even further, the 2003 election used a variant of the Ley de Lemas for a single time. This way, Menem and Kirchner (and Rodríguez Saá, uninvolved with them) did not run for primary elections, but faced each other directly in the open election. None of the three candidates ran for the Justicialist Party, but for special parties created for the occasion. Menem defeated Kirchner in the elections, benefited by the lack of popular candidates, but gave up running for a ballotage, fearing that he may lose this special election.^[3]

After the presidency[link]

Duhalde during the 2011 campaign

Duhalde was succeeded by Néstor Kirchner on May 25, 2003. After a while, however, Kirchner became increasingly distanced from Duhalde. Duhalde's wife, Hilda Chiche Duhalde, ran a heated campaign for the National Senate representing Buenos Aires, against Kirchner's wife, Cristina Kirchner, for the October 23, 2005 legislative elections.

Duhalde announced on December 23, 2009, his intention to run again for the Presidency.^[4] For this end, he organized Federal Peronism, with members of the Justicialist party opposing Néstor Kirchner. Although the president was Cristina Fernández de Kirchner at that point, Néstor Kirchner remained a highly influential figure in Argentine politics; Kirchner died in October 2010.

Duhalde confirmed his strength among centrist and conservative Peronists as the 2011 campaign unfolded by narrowly defeating Rodríguez Saá in a Buenos Aires Federal Peronist primary in May, though both men remained front-runners for their party's nomination in August.^[5] He adopted the Unión Popular ticket, a historic neo-Peronist movement which never ran as such in a presidential race, and formally announced his candidacy for the presidency on June 9, choosing Chubut Governor Mario Das Neves as his running mate.^{[6] [7]}

Bibliography[link]

• Mendelevich, Pablo (2010). El Final. Buenos Aires: Ediciones B. ISBN 978-987-627-166-0. 
• Fraga, Rosendo (2010) (in Spanish). Fin de ciclo: ascenso, apogeo y declinación del poder kirchnerista. Buenos Aires: Ediciones B. ISBN 978-987-627-167-7. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eduardo Duhalde

• (Spanish) Official Website. Presented in Spanish
• (Spanish) Extended bio by CIDOB

v t e Heads of state of Argentina May Revolution and Independence War Period up to Asamblea del Año XIII (1810–1814) Primera Junta  · Junta Grande  · First Triumvirate  · Second Triumvirate Supreme Directors of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (1814–1820) Gervasio Antonio de Posadas · Carlos María de Alvear · Juan José Viamonte · José Rondeau · Ignacio Álvarez Thomas · Antonio González de Balcarce · Juan Martín de Pueyrredón · José Rondeau · Juan Pedro Aguirre Unitarian Republic – First Presidential Government (1826–1827) Bernardino Rivadavia · Vicente López y Planes Pacto Federal and Argentine Confederation (1827–1862) Manuel Dorrego · Juan Manuel de Rosas · Juan Ramón Balcarce · Juan José Viamonte · Manuel Vicente Maza · Juan Manuel de Rosas · Justo José de Urquiza · Santiago Derqui · Juan Esteban Pedernera National Organization – Argentine Republic (1862–1880) Bartolomé Mitre · Domingo Faustino Sarmiento · Nicolás Avellaneda Generation of '80 – Oligarchic Republic (1880–1916) Julio Argentino Roca · Miguel Juárez Celman · Carlos Pellegrini · Luis Sáenz Peña · José Evaristo Uriburu · Julio Argentino Roca · Manuel Quintana · José Figueroa Alcorta · Roque Sáenz Peña · Victorino de la Plaza First Radical Civic Union terms, after Universal (Male) Suffrage (1916–1930) Hipólito Yrigoyen · Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear · Hipólito Yrigoyen Infamous Decade (1930–1943) José Félix Uriburu · Agustín Pedro Justo · Roberto María Ortiz · Ramón Castillo Revolution of '43 military dictatorships (1943–1946) Arturo Rawson · Pedro Pablo Ramírez · Edelmiro Julián Farrell First Peronist terms (1946–1955) Juan Domingo Perón Revolución Libertadora military dictatorships (1955–1958) Eduardo Lonardi · Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Fragile civilian governments – Proscription of Peronism (1958–1966) Arturo Frondizi · José María Guido · Arturo Umberto Illia Revolución Argentina military dictatorships (1966–1973) Juan Carlos Onganía · Roberto M. Levingston · Alejandro Agustín Lanusse Return of Perón (1973–1976) Héctor José Cámpora · Raúl Alberto Lastiri · Juan Domingo Perón · Isabel Martínez de Perón National Reorganization Process military dictatorships (1976–1983) Jorge Rafael Videla · Roberto Eduardo Viola · Leopoldo Galtieri · Reynaldo Bignone Return to Democracy (1983–present) Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín · Carlos Saúl Menem · Fernando de la Rúa · Adolfo Rodríguez Saá · Eduardo Duhalde · Néstor Kirchner · Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Portal:Politics · Politics of Argentina · President of Argentina · List of heads of state of Argentina

Carlos Saúl Menem
Carlos Menem as president
Senator of Argentina For La Rioja
Incumbent
Assumed office December 10, 2005 Serving with Ada Maza Teresita Quintela
President of Argentina
In office July 8, 1989 – December 10, 1999
Vice President	Eduardo Duhalde (1989–1991) None (1991–1995) Carlos Ruckauf (1995–1999)
Preceded by	Raúl Alfonsín
Succeeded by	Fernando de la Rúa
Governor of La Rioja
In office May 25, 1973 – March 24, 1976 December 10, 1983 – July 8, 1989
Vice Governor	Bernabé Arnaudo (1983–1989)
Preceded by	Military Junta (1973, 1983)
Succeeded by	Military Junta (1976) Bernabé Arnaudo (1989)
Personal details
Born	(1930-07-02) July 2, 1930 (age 81) Anillaco, La Rioja
Nationality	Argentine
Political party	Justicialist
Spouse(s)	Zulema Yoma (1966–91) (divorced) Cecilia Bolocco (2001–07) (divorced)
Relations	Saúl Menem Mohibe Akil
Children	Zulema Menem Carlos Saúl Facundo Menem Carlos Nair Menem Máximo Saúl Menem
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholicism (born a Muslim)[1]
Signature

Carlos Saúl Menem (born July 2, 1930) is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.

Early life[link]

Carlos S. Menem was born in 1930 in Anillaco, a small town in the mountainous north of La Rioja Province, Argentina. An Arab Argentine, his parents were born in the town of Yabrud (part of the Ottoman Empire at the time, currently in southwestern Syria, near the border with Lebanon). As a young man, he joined his father as a traveling salesman dealing in feed and sundry items.^[2] Menem enrolled in the National University of Córdoba, and received the degree of "Abogado", equivalent to a Bachelor of Laws, in 1955. As a Law student, he became a vocal Peronist, and after President Juan Perón's overthrow that year, he was briefly incarcerated. He later joined the Peronist Party's successor, the Justicialist Party, and was elected President of its La Rioja Province chapter, in 1983.

Governor of la Rioja[link]

Menem after his 1973 victory.

Governor Menem in 1983.

1st term (1973–1976)[link]

Menem Carlos "el patillas" La Rioja in 1973, a prominent post that left him exposed after the overthrow of President Isabel Martínez de Perón in March 1976. Having been close to La Rioja Bishop Enrique Angelelli (a Third World Priest opposed by much of Argentina's conservative Roman Catholic Church), he was imprisoned by the military junta in Formosa Province until 1981, reportedly tortured in the process.^[3]

2nd and 3rd terms (1983–1989)[link]

In October 1983, with the collapse of military rule, Menem was elected once again as Governor of La Rioja, and reelected in 1987. During this second turn at the Governor's desk, Menem implemented generous corporate tax exemptions, attracting the first sizable presence of light manufacturing his province had ever seen. The pragmatic Governor Menem, nevertheless, kept provincial payrolls well-padded.^[4]

Election[link]

The 1989 election[link]

Campaigning as a maverick within his own party, he defeated longtime Peronist leader Antonio Cafiero in the 1988 primary elections and was elected President on May 14, 1989, succeeding Raúl Alfonsín. His campaign was centered on vague promises of a "productive revolution" and a "salariazo" (jargon for big salary increases), aimed at the working class, the traditional constituents of the Peronist Party. Jacques de Mahieu, a French ideologue of the Peronist movement (and former Vichy Collaborationist), was photographed campaigning for Menem.^[5]

Menem was originally slated to take office on December 10. However, amid a massive economic downturn, Alfonsin opted to transfer power to Menem five months early, on July 8. Menem's accession marked the first time since Hipólito Yrigoyen took office in 1916 that an incumbent government peacefully surrendered power to a member of the opposition.

Presidency[link]

Economy[link]

Presidential inaugural, July 8, 1989.

Menem assumed duties in the midst of a major economic crisis which included hyperinflation and recession. After a failed stabilization program sponsored by Bunge y Born (a leading agribusiness firm), and another one involving the conversion of time deposits into government bonds, newly appointed Finance Minister Domingo Cavallo introduced a series of reforms in 1991 and a fixed exchange rate of the Argentine peso to the US dollar. This Convertibility Plan was followed by a wholesale privatization of utilities (including the oil company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF), the post office, telephone, gas, electricity and water utilities). A massive influx of foreign direct investment funds helped tame inflation (from 5,000% a year in 1989 to single digits by 1993) and improved long-stagnant productivity, though at the cost of considerable unemployment.

Menem's successful turnaround of the economy made the country one of the top performers of the developing countries in the world. Argentina's GDP (below 1973 levels when Menem took office) increased 35% from 1990 to 1994 and fixed investment, by 150%.^[6] Negotiations with Brazil resulted in the Mercosur customs union, in March 1991, and on November 14, he addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress, being one of only three Argentine presidents who had that distinction (together with Raúl Alfonsín and Arturo Frondizi). Menem was reelected to the presidency by a large majority in the 1995 elections.

The early success of the dollar peg (when the dollar was falling) was followed by increasing economic difficulties when the dollar began to rise from 1995 onwards in international markets. High external debt also caused increasing problems as financial crises affecting other countries (the Tequila Crisis in Mexico, the East Asian financial crisis, the Russian financial crisis in 1998) led to higher interest rates for Argentina as well. At the end of his term, Argentina's country risk premium was a low 6.10 percentage points above yield on comparable US Treasuries.

In the years immediately following Menem's term, the combination of fixed-rate convertibility and high fiscal deficits proved unsustainable, despite massive loan support from the International Monetary Fund, and had to be abandoned in 2002, with disastrous effects on the Argentine economy. Though most of the State enterprises privatized during his tenure remain in private hands, perhaps the most significant economic legacy of his administration, private pension funds, have since largely been returned to the public sector. First licensed in 1994, these grew to over us$ 30 billion in assets, but suffered large losses during the 1998–2002 crisis, and by 2008, depended on subsidies to cover minimum monthly pensions. Most affiliates, moreover, had stopped making contributions.^[7] The 2008 financial crisis exacerbated the problem, and the funds were largely replaced by the public social security system in late 2008.^[8]

Politics[link]

President Menem in a 1992 address outlining his plans for the reform of the nation's educational system, as well as for the privatization of the YPF oil concern, and of the pension system.

Menem's presidency was initially bolstered by the significant economic recovery in evidence following Cavallo's appointment as Economy Minister, and his Justicialist Party enjoyed victories in mid-term elections in 1991 and 1993, as well as in his 1995 campaign for reelection. Menem's government re-established relations with the United Kingdom, suspended since the Falklands War, within months of taking office. He also earned plaudits for resolving territorial disputes with neighboring Chile, and during his administration, over 20 border issues with Chile, including the arbitration of the especially serious Laguna del Desierto dispute, were peacefully solved.

In domestic policy, programs were created for improving AIDS awareness, flood prevention, vaccination, and improving child nutrition.^[9] In addition, a Social Plan was launched which increased spending on antipoverty programs, while a number of social programs executed by other government agencies targeted poor Argentines.^[10] These policies arguably had a positive impact on poverty reduction, with the percentage of Argentines estimated to living in poverty falling during Menem's first term as president.^[11]

In 1994, after a political agreement (the Olivos Pact) with the Radical Civic Union party leader, former president Raúl Alfonsín, Menem succeeded in having the Constitution modified to allow presidential re-election, so that he could run for office once again in 1995. The new Constitution, however, introduced decisive checks and balances to presidential power. It made the Mayor of Buenos Aires an elective position (previously the office belonged to a presidential appointee and was in control of a huge budget), to be lost to the opposition in 1996; the president of the Central Bank and the Director of the AFIP (Federal Tax & Customs Central Agency) could only be removed with the Congress's approval. It also created the ombudsman position, as well as a board to propose new judicial candidates.

His tenure suffered, however, from local economic fallout due to the Mexican peso crisis of 1995, and became tainted with repeated accusations of corruption. His handling of the investigations of the 1992 Israeli Embassy bombing and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center was often criticised as being dishonest and superficial. He is suspected of diverting the investigation from the "Iranian clue", which would lead to the responsibility of that country in the attack.

One of the most criticized measures of his administration was the pardon he granted on December 29, 1990, to Jorge Videla, Emilio Massera, Leopoldo Galtieri and other leaders of the 1976–83 dictatorship convicted in the 1985 Trial of the Juntas, and some guerrilla leaders as well, on the grounds of "national reconciliation". This action sparked a protest of nearly 50,000 people in Buenos Aires. Former President Raúl Alfonsín called it "the saddest day in Argentine history."^[12] His neoliberal policies were also criticized by the majority of the population and by some in the Catholic Church, and gave rise to the Piquetero movement of unemployed workers. These mounting problems and a rise in crime rates helped lead to the president's first electoral defeat, during the 1997 mid-term elections.

With regards to the military, Menem ordered the forceful repression of a politically motivated uprising by a far-right figure, Col. Mohamed Alí Seineldín, on December 3, 1990, and thus ended the military's involvement in the country's political life. Menem also effected drastic cuts to the military budget, and appointed Lt. Gen. Martín Balza as the Army's General Chief of Staff (head of the military hierarchy); Balza, a man of strong democratic convictions and a vocal critic of the Falklands War, had stood up for the legitimate government in every attempted coup d'état throughout his senior career, and gave the first institutional self-criticism about the Armed Forces' involvement in the 1976 coup and the ensuing reign of terror. Following the brutal death of a conscript, Menem abolished conscription in 1994, decisively ending a military prerogative over society and its self-perceived role as an institution that it "made men out of boys".

Cabinet[link]

^[13]

Continuing political career[link]

Menem and U.S. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen with Cohen's wife, Janet, on November 15, 1999.

Menem's attempt to run for a third term in 1999 was unsuccessful, as it was ruled to be unconstitutional. Opposition candidate Fernando de la Rúa defeated Eduardo Duhalde, the nominee of Menem's party, and succeeded Menem as President.

Menem tried again four years later, winning the greatest number of votes, 24%, in the first round of the April 27, 2003 presidential election. This was far from the 45% required for election (or 40% if the margin of victory is 10 or more percentage points), and so a second-round run-off vote between Menem and second-place finisher and fellow Peronist Néstor Kirchner, who had gotten 22%, was scheduled for May 18.

However, by this time Menem had become very unpopular, and the consensus of most polls was that he faced almost certain defeat by Kirchner in the runoff. A few polls showed Menem losing by 40 points. Certain that he was about to face a humiliating electoral defeat, Menem withdrew his candidacy on May 14, effectively handing the presidency to Kirchner.

In June 2004 Menem announced that he had founded a new faction within the Justicialist Party, called "People's Peronism," and stated his ambition to run in the 2007 election.

In 2005, the press reported that he was trying to make an alliance with his former Minister of Economy Domingo Cavallo to fight in the parliamentary elections. The alliance was apparently frustrated; Menem said that there had been only preliminary conversations. In the October 23 elections, Menem won the minority seat in the Senate representing his province of birth. This was viewed as a catastrophic defeat, signaling the end of his political dominance in La Rioja, since the two senators for the majority were won by President Kirchner's faction, locally led by former Menemist governor Ángel Maza. It was the first time in 30 years that Menem lost an election.

Menem ran for Governor of La Rioja in August 2007, but was defeated, receiving third place with about 22% of the vote.^[14] Following this defeat in his home province, he withdrew his candidacy for president. At the end of 2009 he announced that he intends to run for the presidency again in the 2011 elections.^[15]

Corruption charges[link]

On June 7, 2001, Menem was arrested over an arms export scandal relating to exports to Ecuador and Croatia in 1991 and 1996, and remained under house arrest until November. He appeared before a judge in late August 2002 and denied all charges. It was hinted that Menem held more than US$ $10 million in Swiss bank accounts. However, the Swiss banks and authorities denied these allegations.

Menem and his second wife Cecilia Bolocco, who had had a child since their marriage in 2001, moved to Chile. Argentine judicial authorities repeatedly requested Menem's extradition to face embezzlement charges, but this was rejected by the Chilean Supreme Court, as under Chilean law people cannot be extradited for questioning.

On December 22, 2004, he returned to Argentina after his arrest warrants were cancelled. He still faces charges of embezzlement and failing to declare illegal funds outside of Argentina.

In August 2008, it was announced Menem was under investigation for his role in the 1995 Río Tercero explosion, which is alleged to have been part of the arms scandal involving Croatia and Ecuador.^[16]

In December 2008, the German multinational Siemens agreed to pay an $800 million fine to the United States government, and approximately €700 million to the German government, to settle allegations of bribery.^[17] The settlement revealed that Menem received about US$2 million in bribes from Siemens in exchange for awarding the national ID card and passport production contract to Siemens; Menem denied the charges.^[18]

On March 31, 2012, Menem was ordered to stand trial for obstruction of justice in a probe of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center that killed 85 people. Menem is accused of diverting attention away from Iran's involvement in the bombing.^[19]

Honours and awards[link]

• Knight Grand Cross with Gold Collar of the Order of Manuel Amador Guerrero (Panama)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav ("For outstanding achievements in promoting the development of friendship and fruitful cooperation in political, cultural and economic development between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Argentina, and in promoting peace, democracy, stability and international cooperation in the world based on the principles of the UN Charter and the provisions of international law." – January 5, 1995
• Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (1995)

See also[link]

• The Take (2004 film)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Carlos Menem

• Biography and tenure by CIDOB Foundation
• Launch of new faction (from the BBC)
• Chile declines extradition request (from the BBC)
• Menem arrives on Argentine soil (from the BBC)

v t e Heads of state of Argentina May Revolution and Independence War Period up to Asamblea del Año XIII (1810–1814) Primera Junta  · Junta Grande  · First Triumvirate  · Second Triumvirate Supreme Directors of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (1814–1820) Gervasio Antonio de Posadas · Carlos María de Alvear · Juan José Viamonte · José Rondeau · Ignacio Álvarez Thomas · Antonio González de Balcarce · Juan Martín de Pueyrredón · José Rondeau · Juan Pedro Aguirre Unitarian Republic – First Presidential Government (1826–1827) Bernardino Rivadavia · Vicente López y Planes Pacto Federal and Argentine Confederation (1827–1862) Manuel Dorrego · Juan Manuel de Rosas · Juan Ramón Balcarce · Juan José Viamonte · Manuel Vicente Maza · Juan Manuel de Rosas · Justo José de Urquiza · Santiago Derqui · Juan Esteban Pedernera National Organization – Argentine Republic (1862–1880) Bartolomé Mitre · Domingo Faustino Sarmiento · Nicolás Avellaneda Generation of '80 – Oligarchic Republic (1880–1916) Julio Argentino Roca · Miguel Juárez Celman · Carlos Pellegrini · Luis Sáenz Peña · José Evaristo Uriburu · Julio Argentino Roca · Manuel Quintana · José Figueroa Alcorta · Roque Sáenz Peña · Victorino de la Plaza First Radical Civic Union terms, after Universal (Male) Suffrage (1916–1930) Hipólito Yrigoyen · Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear · Hipólito Yrigoyen Infamous Decade (1930–1943) José Félix Uriburu · Agustín Pedro Justo · Roberto María Ortiz · Ramón Castillo Revolution of '43 military dictatorships (1943–1946) Arturo Rawson · Pedro Pablo Ramírez · Edelmiro Julián Farrell First Peronist terms (1946–1955) Juan Domingo Perón Revolución Libertadora military dictatorships (1955–1958) Eduardo Lonardi · Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Fragile civilian governments – Proscription of Peronism (1958–1966) Arturo Frondizi · José María Guido · Arturo Umberto Illia Revolución Argentina military dictatorships (1966–1973) Juan Carlos Onganía · Roberto M. Levingston · Alejandro Agustín Lanusse Return of Perón (1973–1976) Héctor José Cámpora · Raúl Alberto Lastiri · Juan Domingo Perón · Isabel Martínez de Perón National Reorganization Process military dictatorships (1976–1983) Jorge Rafael Videla · Roberto Eduardo Viola · Leopoldo Galtieri · Reynaldo Bignone Return to Democracy (1983–present) Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín · Carlos Saúl Menem · Fernando de la Rúa · Adolfo Rodríguez Saá · Eduardo Duhalde · Néstor Kirchner · Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Portal:Politics · Politics of Argentina · President of Argentina · List of heads of state of Argentina

Hebe de Bonafini
Born	(1928-12-04) December 4, 1928 (age 83) Ensenada, Buenos Aires Province
Nationality	Argentine
Title	President of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo
Term	since 1979

Hebe Pastor de Bonafini (born December 4, 1928) is an Argentine activist, one of the founders of the Association of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo,^[1] an organization of Argentine mothers whose children were disappeared during the Dirty War, the persecution and suppression of opposition by the military dictatorship (the self-styled "National Reorganization Process") that ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1983.^[2][3][4]

Life and times[link]

Born Hebe María Pastor in Ensenada, Buenos Aires Province, she was raised in nearby La Plata, and attended school through the eighth grade. She married Humberto Alfredo Bonafini in 1942, worked as a seamstress, and raised three children.

The Dirty War cost the life of her elder son, Jorge Omar, on February 8, 1977, of her other son, Raúl Alfredo, on December 6, and of her daughter-in-law, María Elena Bugnone Cepeda, on May 25, 1978.

As president of the Mothers Association since 1979, Bonafini has spoken out in defense of her concept of human rights, both in Argentina and abroad, gaining international recognition; she received the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 1999.

Adopting the rallying cry of Aparición con vida (Let them appear with life) in 1980, Bonafini demanded an immediate accounting of all of the forced disappearances, including her sons. Amid a gradual loosening of restrictions, she organized a March of Resistance along the Avenida de Mayo on December 10, 1982. This event marked the first time the group marched outside the namesake Plaza de Mayo, and the first time it was joined by large crowds of sympathizers.^[5]

Following the return to civilian rule in 1983, divisions began to develop in the organization relating to what they believed to be President Raúl Alfonsín's overly cautious progress in prosecuting Dirty War perpetrators. Alfonsín established the historic 1985 Trial of the Juntas; but the decision to limit the proceedings to nine leading military junta members, as well as the acquittals handed to five of these, further antagonized Bonafini, who believed the president would forego further prosecutions for political considerations. The Mothers Association split in 1986, establishing two groups of around 2,000 members each: Bonafini's Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo Association, and the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo — Founding Line. Bonafini has generally been identified with the more radical faction, choosing to justify the methods undertaken by dissident people during the last dictatorship.^[5]

On the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Bonafini generated international controversy when she defended the actions of the terrorist airline hijackers saying "I felt that there were many people in that moment who were happy and felt that the blood of so many in that moment were avenged... because the NATO bombings, the blockades and the millions of children who die of hunger in this world, that was due to this power that those men attacked, with their own bodies. And everyone knew it." Bonafini stands behind her support to organizations accused of terrorism such as FARC.^[6] Walter Wendelin, leader of the etarran Askapena organization, was invited as guest teacher in the University of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo.^[7]

Journalist Horacio Verbitsky critizied her support to the terrorist attacks, and Bonafini replied that "Verbitsky is a servant of the United States. He receives wages from the Ford Organization and, besides being jew, he is completely Americophile".^[8] She was accused of antisemitism, but denied it by saying that she merely intended to describe Verbitsky as an American agent.^[8] Verbitsky requested the tapes of the interview to the magazine that published them, and confirmed that Bonafini indeed said what the magazine had reported she said.^[8]

She generated more controversy in 2005 by stating that, as Pope John Paul II "committed many sins, he [was] going to go to hell." She added that she "didn't say more than what the Roman Catholic Church taught me."^[9]

The relationship of the Néstor and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner administrations with Hebe de Bonafini has been very close. President Néstor Kirchner received Bonafini at the Casa Rosada within days of his May 25, 2003, inaugural, and regularly consulted her during his tenure.^[10][11]

Bonafini announced on January 2006 that her organization would discontinue its annual March of Resistance out of recognition for President Néstor Kirchner's success in having the Full Stop Law and Law of Due Obedience (two Alfonsín-era measures which had effectively ended most Dirty War prosecutions) declared unconstitutional.^[12] The Association of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, led by Bonafini, has benefited from increased government funding during the Kirchner administrations, and has extended its influence through a newspaper (La Voz de las Madres), a radio station, and a university (Popular University of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo).^[13]

The association also manages a federally-funded housing program, Sueños Compartidos ("Shared Dreams"), which by 2008 oversaw construction on over 2,600 housing units earmarked for slum residents.^[14] Sueños Compartidos had completed 5,600 housing units and numerous other facilities in six provinces and the City of Buenos Aires by 2011.^[15][16] Its growing budgets, which totaled around US$300 million allocated between 2008 and 2011 (of which $190 million had been spent), came under scrutiny and generated nation-wide controversy when a suspected case of embezzlement by the Chief Financial Officer of Sueños Compartidos, Sergio Schoklender, and his brother Pablo (the firm's attorney) arose.^[16] The Schoklender brothers, who were convicted in 1981 for the murder of their parents and spent fifteen years in prison, had gained Bonafini's confidence and managed the project's finances with little oversight from either the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo or the program's licensor, the Secretary of Public Works. Their friendship ended in June 2011, however, after Bonafini became aware of irregularities in their handling of the group's finances.^[17] Following an investigation ordered by Federal Judge Norberto Oyarbide, the Secretary of Public Works canceled the Sueños Compartidos contract in August and transferred the outstanding projects to the Undersecretary of Housing and Urban Development.^[16]

Hebe de Bonafini has expressed support for figures such as Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Sandino, Yasser Arafat, Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales, and the mothers of ETA prisoners. She has declared herself against social democracy, capitalism, neo-liberalism, globalization, and the International Monetary Fund.^[13]

Awards[link]

Hebe de Bonafini (third from left) with her Human Right's Extraordinary Prize "Bicentenary of the May Revolution" with others awardees and president Cristina Fernández.

• Honorary degree of University of California (1996), University of Bologna (2007) and Experimental National University of the Yaracuy (2010).^[18]
• Honorary Medal of 70 Anniversary of the University Reform, 1988, National University of Córdoba.^[19]
• National Order of Merit of Ecuador (2006).^[20]
• Appreciation Liberarte/2006, Liberarte Fundation.^[21]
• Order Heroines of Venezuela (2007).^[22]
• Prize Don Hilario Cuadros and title Social and Cultural Ambassador of the Youth, Youth Direction of Province of Mendoza, 2008.^[23]
• Especial Prize of Veintitrés, 2009.^[24]
• Human Right's Extraordinary Prize "Bicentenary of the May Revolution", 2010, Argentine Republic.^[25]
• Rodolfo Walsh Prize of Communication and Human Rights, National University of La Plata, 2011.^[26]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hebe de Bonafini

Mario Das Neves
Governor of Chubut Province
In office December 10, 2003 – December 9, 2011
Lieutenant	Mario Vargas
Preceded by	José Luis Lizurume
Succeeded by	Martín Buzzi
Personal details
Born	(1951-04-27) April 27, 1951 (age 61) Avellaneda
Political party	Justicialist Party
Spouse(s)	Raquel di Perna

Mario Das Neves (born April 27, 1951) is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician. He is the governor of the Argentine province of Chubut.

Biography[link]

Das Neves was born in Avellaneda (Greater Buenos Aires) to Portuguese parents, and grew up in Santa Fe. He enrolled in Law School, but left after completing 80% of his course load and moved to Chubut at the age of 20 to try out as a footballer for Huracán de Trelew, though without success. Das Neves married the former Raquel Di Perna, and has two children. He became active in the youth wing of the Peronist Justicialist Party, and by 1987 he had a key role in the administration of Trelew's municipality, under Néstor Perl.^[1]

Das Neves was candidate for Mayor of Trelew in 1991 and won the first round, but lost in the second. The following year he became leader of the Chubut Justicialist Party and was elected to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies for Chubut in 1995. From his election he actively camapigned against corruption in the customs operation of Buenos Aires and headed an investigating commission that led to prosecutions. He was named "Best Deputy" in 1997. Das Neves was re-elected as a Deputy in 1999 and was the first chair of the consumer protection committee.^[1]

The interim President Adolfo Rodríguez Saá appointed Das Neves Director of Customs at the end of 2001, and he consequently resigned his seat in Congress; when a few days later Eduardo Duhalde became President, he retained Das Neves as Director of Customs. He clashed with Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna, however, and resigned.^[1]

Das Neves stood to be Governor of Chubut in November 2003 against the UCR incumbent, José Luis Lizurume. Das Neves won the support of fellow Peronist, newly-elected President Néstor Kirchner, although Kirchner and Lizurume had been close; Das Neves won by 45.6% to 41.3%. His cordial relations with Kirchnerism soured by 2009, however, and Das Neves publicly stated that Kirchner had become "arrogant" and partisan to "dividing and conquering" by way of retaining control over Peronism, adding that, despite the former president's professed support, Kirchner was "not my friend." ^[2] Das Neves later initiated the privatization of a network of provincially owned public services cooperatives.^[3]

Governor Das Neves was termed out of office in 2011, and he publicly considered endorsing his wife, Raquel di Perna, or his sister-in-law, Senator Graciela di Perna, as his successor.^[4] He ultimately endorsed the Mayor of Comodoro Rivadavia, Martín Buzzi, and his Modelo Chubut ticket, . The elections, held on March 20, were too close to call between Buzzi and the Mayor of Puerto Madryn, Carlos Eliceche (Front for Victory). Buzzi's slim margin of victory led to a recount and a judicial injunction against results in six precincts.^[5] Following a protracted recount process, as well a court-ordered re-vote held on May 29 in the six impugned precincts, Buzzi was officially elected Governor of Chubut.^[6]

Das Neves unsuccessfully sought the Federal Peronist nomination for the Presidency in 2011.^[7] He was later nominated by Popular Union candidate Eduardo Duhalde as his running mate.^[8]

External links[link]

Media related to Mario Das Neves at Wikimedia Commons

• Profile, La Nación, 2003-11-10
• 'Das Neves celebrates his triumph in Chubut', La Nación, 2003-11-10
• Profile at Chubut government

References[link]

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