Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (born
13 March 1927) is an
Argentine politician, who was the
President of Argentina from
10 December 1983 to
9 July 1989.
A member of the
Radical Civic Union, he was elected to the
Buenos Aires provincial
legislature in
1958. He stood for the Radical Party nomination for the
1973 presidential election but lost to
Ricardo Balbín.
After the collapse of the military
junta of the
Proceso de Reorganización Nacional in
1983 as a result of the disastrous
Falklands/Malvinas War, new presidential elections were held. Alfonsín, who had been elected leader of the party in July that year, became president.
His government prosecuted some members of the previous military regime for
human rights abuses committed during the
Dirty War (see:
CONADEP), but found resistance from the military and was plagued by economic and labour problems.
In
1984, he signed the
Peace and Friendship Treaty (
Spanish:Tratado de Paz y Amistad) with
Chile.
In
1989, the economic situation in Argentina had deteriorated to the point of causing
hyperinflation (over 200% monthly), and in some large cities (particularly
Rosario) there were
riots and
looting. Alfonsín left office six months before the end of his term, to President elect
Carlos Menem, of the
Peronists.
In
1995 Alfonsín resigned as leader of the Radical Party after their poor election performance, but continued to be an important figurehead.
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Alfonsín stamps*
Raúl Alfonsín's Project Syndicate op/eds
