Carlos Menem

Argentinean president between 1989 and 1999

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Argentina rank#190
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Lived 1930–2021, aged 91Argentina

Argentina PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
65 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in Argentina
#190
Politicians
Era
1930–2021
Aged 91
Awards
21
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-06-21

He converted from Islam to Catholicism to clear a path into Argentine politics, then held the presidency for a full decade — presiding over an economic plan that tamed hyperinflation before collapsing into scandal, arms-trafficking convictions, and a legacy that splits the country down the middle.

Biography

About

Born in 1930 to a Syrian family in La Rioja and raised Muslim, Menem became a Peronist after a trip to Buenos Aires and won the governorship in 1973, only to be jailed after the 1976 coup. Re-elected governor in 1983, he rose to the presidency in 1989 as hyperinflation forced his predecessor to resign early. His answer was the Convertibility plan of 1991 — pegging the peso to the dollar, privatizing state industries, and aligning Argentina with Washington and the Gulf War coalition — which worked until it didn't. Constitutional reform in 1994 let him win a second term in 1995, but a fresh econ…

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