Still unpopular Menem set to return as Argentina's president
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Carlos Menem is preparing to become president of Argentina for the third time as the country votes today, 16 months after riots forced the last elected president to flee in a helicopter.
Rival candidates, including some from his own Peronist party, attack Mr Menem as decrepit at 72, and warn voters against a return to a decadent past. He has faced charges of illegal arms dealing, amassing an illegal fortune in Swiss bank accounts, and accepting a $10m (£6m) bribe from the Iranian government to cover up its role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires in which 85 people were killed.
Yet Mr Menem, whose face is airbrushed in campaign posters to look younger, pledges a new, young team of technocrats. He deflected worries about his age by announcing last week that his 37-year-old wife, Cecilia Bolocco, a former Miss Universe, is pregnant.
"He may have got us into this mess, but he is probably the only one that can get us out of it," said Jorge Vega, a 46-year-old unemployed lorry driver, at Mr Menem's final rally in the River Plate football stadium. Fernando Bartuleschi, a 23-year-old electrican, agreed, saying: "He has to have the way out, because he has got our money in his pocket."
In March more than half the electorate said in opinion polls that they would never vote for Mr Menem, blaming his rampant corruption for the country's undoing. Even now he gets only just over 20 per cent support – but polls show the Peronist veteran will lead a second-round runoff on 18 May. His centre-right rivals are even less popular: Ricardo Lopez Murphy, an economist running as an independent, and Nestor Kirchner, a populist Peronist, are disputing the other run-off spot, with their support in the teens.
Mr Menem's free market policies in the 1990s brought fleeting prosperity to Argentina, but his bad privatisation deals, overspending and failure to collect taxes are blamed for precipitating the $141bn foreign debt default in 2001. The peso was devalued by 70 per cent and the economy crashed, leaving millions in poverty and scavenging through rubbish to survive.
In December 2001 Argentina had five presidents in 10 days – two driven out by rioting – and police repression killed 32 people. The unemployed were joined in the streets by the middle classes, whose $67bn savings had been frozen in banks, to demand an end to corrupt, short-termist politics.
Yet the political revolution failed to materialise. Savings have been unfrozen, although some people lost two-thirds of what they had and are now demanding a strong government to hang on to what is left. After shrinking by 11 per cent last year, the economy is growing again, and voters want the government to control soaring crime and settle debts with local and foreign investors.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments