(CNN Español) – Former Argentine President Carlos Menem died this Sunday at the age of 90, his daughter Zulema Menem confirmed to CNN. He was 90 years old.
Menem was born in the province of La Rioja in 1930. He was governor of his province through justice or Peronism from 1973 until the military coup of 1976 when he was arrested.
He was president of Argentina between 1989 and 1999. He succeeded the then ruler Raúl Alfonsín in advance.
Under his mandate, he passed state and economic reform laws, privatized some businesses, stabilized the economy and controlled inflation.
Carlos Menem, son of Syrian immigrants, promoted the constitutional reform called Pacto de Olivos, which he agreed with Raúl Alfonsín. He unsuccessfully tried to reform the constitution to obtain a third term in office. In 1999 he handed over power to the elected president Fernando de la Rúa.
Carlos Menem in 2003. Source: Quique Kierszenbaum / Getty Images
He was the most elected candidate in the 2003 presidential elections with 24.4%. However, he decided not to participate in the second round, which allowed Néstor Kirchner, who finished second in the first round, to be elected the new president. He remained active in politics as a national senator for the Justicialista party, for the province of La Rioja from 2005 to 2019, the year he joined the Peronist coalition Frente de Todos and was re-elected to the Senate until 2023.
Carlos Menem in 2019. Credit: JUAN MABROMATA / AFP via Getty Images
He was married to Zulema Yoma, then to former Miss Universe and Chilean TV host Cecilia Bolocco, and had four children.
With information from Hugo Manu Correa and Nacho Girón.