Argentine ex-president Carlos Menem forming new party for another election bid [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Argentine ex-president Carlos Menem forming new party for another election bid
The Associated PressPublished: February 5, 2007


BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: Former president Carlos Menem, who governed Argentina from 1989 until 1999 for the Peronist party, announced through a spokesman Monday that he is forming a new party to back a bid for a third term in October elections.

Menem, who previously announced he is running, has begun the process of registering a new national political party called "Loyalty and Dignity" with federal authorities, said Nicolas Martinez, a spokesman for the candidate.

Menem, a pro-U.S. free market advocate, had no comment on the announcement.

Now 76, Menem rose to power from the right wing of the long-dominant Peronist party and held two terms in office. But excessive borrowing and public spending during his final term preceded a deep 2001-2002 economic crisis that critics say has tarnished his efforts at a comeback.
(snip/...)

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/05/america/LA-GEN-Argentina-Menem.php



This ex-President of Argentina is a _Bush family friend. He provided immunity for the Argentinian military junta members who were responsible for the disappearance of up to 30,000 suspected "leftists."

The "disappeared" prisoners were tortured, and thrown from airplanes and helicopters.

The junta also stole the babies of the prisoners who were pregnant, who were kept until they gave birth, then killed, and their infants given to other Argentinian military officers and their wives. The mothers of the prisoners still protest the theft of their grandchildren, and have been trying all these years to learn where they are now.

Menem's "immunity" to the military right-wing killers was later overturned during the current administration led by Nestor Kirchner, who, himself, was tortured during that time.