Former Argentine President Carlos Menem, who died on Sunday at the age of 90, ruled Argentina for ten years (1989-1999) following an ultraliberal line, in flamboyant jet-set style, before making low profile in recent years as a senator.
Elected senator for the province of La Rioja (north-west) in 2005 and then systematically re-elected, Carlos Menem, physically diminished and hospitalized for several months for heart and kidney problems, no longer attended parliamentary sessions and kept himself away from life public.
Born July 2, 1930 into a family of Syrian emigrants, which earned him his nickname: "The Turk";
he boasted of never having lost an election.
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A law graduate, this small man with a slightly frozen smile was twice elected governor of his modest province.
At the head of the Justicialist Party, he proclaims himself heir to Peronism, a political movement of the legendary Argentine president Juan Domingo Peron, who died in 1974. He became president in 1989, then was re-elected in 1995.
"Not only did he have exceptional leadership which led him to be re-elected with 50% of the vote, but he was the last leader of a completely unified Peronism", underlines political scientist Carlos Fara.
Coming to power with imposing sideboards worthy of 19th century "caudillos" (local dictators), he then polished his appearance, cultivating an image of playboy, Ferrari driver, golf player and friend of the jet set.
Hated by the middle class for his nouveau riche flamboyance - "Pizza and champagne" as Argentines say - this lover of luxury watches aroused the adoration of the humblest and enjoyed the interested support of the wealthy.
During his tenure, he left a deep mark on Argentina because of its neoliberal policies, opposed to the classic doctrine of Peronism.
Repeated scandals
Its name remains associated with the "Argentinian miracle", a time when the parity between the peso and the dollar was synonymous with low inflation and easy money.
But this costly monetary policy is considered to be one of the factors that triggered the worst economic crisis in the South American country in 2001.
By the end of his second term, the deficit reached $ 6 billion, the unemployment rate was 14%, and poverty affected a third of the population.
His presidency has also been synonymous with corruption, repeated scandals, the ruin of the national industry, savage privatizations and social destruction.
It is also tarnished by the criticisms leveled against the presidential amnesty granted to the criminals of the military dictatorship (1976-1983).
In 2003, at 72, he tried to get a third term at the head of Argentina.
Leading in the first round of the presidential election with 24% of the vote, he finally withdrew from the second round for which the polls predicted a humiliating defeat.
His opponent Nestor Kirchner, his perfect opposite with his drab costumes, his unwavering seriousness and his lack of charisma, had finally been elected president.
From his first marriage, Carlos Menem had two children, including a boy Carlos Facundo, killed in 1995 in a mysterious helicopter crash.
He had remarried a former Chilean Miss Universe, Cecilia Bolocco, thirty-five years his junior, by whom he had a son.
Their marriage in 2001 and their separation two years later had hit the headlines.
Tried for having covered the attack against the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in 1994 in Buenos Aires, which left 85 dead, he was finally acquitted.
In 2013, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for smuggling weapons to Croatia and Ecuador, before being exonerated because of the delays in justice.
Five years later, he was sentenced to three years in prison for embezzlement, but his parliamentary immunity protected him from imprisonment.
With AFP
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