On the morning of February 14th local time, Carlos Menem, former President of Argentina, died of illness at the age of 90 in a hospital in Palermo district of the capital Buenos Aires.
According to his family, Menem was recently sent to the hospital for treatment due to a urinary tract infection.
Argentina’s current President Alberto Fernández declared a three-day period of mourning across the country and posted a message on his personal social account to express his condolences.
Menem was born in July 1930 in the town of Anillaco, La Rioja Province, Argentina. His father is a Syrian immigrant.
After graduating from the University of Córdoba, he became a lawyer and became a supporter of the Justice Party and then-President Juan Perón.
In 1989, he led the Justice Party to the presidential election and won the election.
He pursued market economy policies and vigorously promoted the privatization of public property, reducing the inflation rate of more than 5,000% to zero in just a few years. During his ten years in office, Argentina’s national economy improved rapidly.
He was successfully re-elected in 1995, and then amended the constitution to shorten the presidential term from six to four years.
