30 years ago, on July 8, 1989, Carlos Menem assumed the presidency

On July 8, 1989, exactly 30 years ago, Carlos Saul Menem he became the second president of the nation in advance since the return of democracy, initiating a decade of shadows and lights for Argentina. "This national unity government that was born today is based on a basic principle, a reality that we must admit in order to defeat it," he said in his address to the Legislative Assembly after receiving the witness. and the presidential band:

"Everyone is more or less responsible and co-participates in this Argentine failure", he acknowledged, putting an end to the resounding fall of his predecessor, the radical Raúl Alfonsín. "I want my voice to reach every home, live every heart, share every table, embrace every one of the Argentinians who, in these hours, live difficult, dramatic, decisive and fundamental cases like never before".

"I do not bring easy or immediate promises in my words," continues the speech. "I do not bring the simplicity of demagoguery.I do not bring simulation or disappointment.I come with reality on my back, which is always the only truth.I can only do that. to offer my people sacrifices, work and hope. "

"Inflation reaches paralyzing limits"

Son of Syrian immigrants of Sunni religion, born and educated in La RiojaMenem was elected on May 14 by the Popular Justicialist Front (Frejupo), a coalition of the PJ with various minor parties. The election gave him 49.3% of the vote.

The presidency of Alfonsin had restored and consolidated democracy and put an end to external isolation. In six years, the country had not experienced positive growth, external debt had steadily increased and wages had fallen sharply.

The last months of the government were decisive: after the abortive uprising of the "carapintadas" led by Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín (3 December 1988), he continued the setting up of the headquarters of the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Regiment to The Tablada (23 January 1989) which ended with 39 dead.

"I do not aspire to be president of a fraction, of a group, of a sector, of a political expression, I do not want to be the president of a new frustration, I want to be the president of a united Argentina, who advances despite the differences. "(Carlos Menem, July 8, 1989)

The commotion provoked by the bloodbath at La Tablada was added to the anxiety provoked by the inflationary spiral, which added month after month two, then three, at the cumulative rate. The "Spring Plan", focused on easing the fiscal deficit, has failed due to the uncontrolled rise in interest rates, the depreciation of the Austral and the depletion of Central Bank reserves to try to maintain the national currency against the dollar, which was devalued on February 6.

In late March, the Minister of Economy, Juan Sourrouille, resigned and his successor, Juan Carlos Pugliese, held less than two months in power. The dramatic fall in the purchasing power of Argentines due to rising prices led on May 26 to "Rosariazo", which quickly spread to the country's major cities.

Early departure: "a long and painful crisis"

The violent looting of settlements and the intervention of security forces caused 14 deaths until May 29, day when Alfonsín, overwhelmed by the events, declared the state of siege for a month. On June 12, by national radio and television, Alfonsín announced that he was "resolved to resign, as of June 30, 1989, from the post of president of the Argentine nation".

On July 8, five months in advance, with the transfer of powers scheduled for December 10, Menem succeeded Alfonsin after the Rioja government to Alberto Gregorio Cavero. economic and social situation.

Although with Alfonsín Argentina, he returned to occupy a place among Western democracies, Menem inherited a rapidly decaying economy. The legacy was a recession of 6% of GDP, external debt of $ 63,000 million, and historic hyperinflation of 5,000% annually.

"Inflation reaches paralyzing limits," he acknowledged in his inaugural address. "The culture of speculation devours our work.The production is now lower than that of 1970, the investment rate is negative.Education is a luxury to which little access.The house, just a utopia of the past, hunger, money for millions of compatriots. "

"Unemployment, a disease that is affecting more and more areas of our community: pain, violence, illiteracy and marginalization, are knocking on the door of nine million Argentines, out of nine million brothers, who today do not can not even feed themselves properly, dress, learn, know about dignity.On nine million broken wills, compared to a country that has seen its standard of living drop dramatically.

"All citizens know that I am not lying, if I say that we are in a long and painful crisis, the worst, the deepest, the most extreme, the most terrible of all the crises of which we have memory. Therefore, this crisis is not an excuse.This crisis is an opportunity.This crisis is a challenge. "

Leaving aside the populist messages of his election campaign, the new president applied an extremely hard adjustment program, whose ultraliberal nature provoked the attacks of the CGT and accusations of "betrayal" by many Peronists to consider it as contrary to the social sensibility presumed by the justicialist movement.

The advance of the change of government has not calmed the crisis. The first two years of the Menem government were tragic, as the deregulation program, the general privatization of state-owned enterprises, the reduction of public spending and the wage freeze, were slow to generate the desired stability and had devastating effects on the economy. buying power of the middle and lower clbades.

Social tension began to subside only two years after the change of government precipitated at the same time that the economic program of the Minister of Economy, Domingo Cavallo, was beginning to bear fruit. Between 1990 and 1999, the national economy grew by an average of 3.3% per year, a result reinforced by the high rate recorded in 1997, 8.4%.

"This government is a government of genuine national unity, it is not a government of cronyism, it is not a government of accommodation, it is not a government turned into a party headquarters. " (Carlos Menem, July 8, 1989)

The positive behavior of GDP has been added to a dramatic inflationary trend; in 1996, this variable only contracted at 0.1% per annum, the lowest rate in the world that year, and during the decade there were quarters of negative inflation or deflation.

The two worst terrorist attacks in the country, at the Israeli Embbady in Buenos Aires (1992) and at the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (1994), the mysterious death of Menem's son, his personal scandals and a succession of acts of corruption involving government officials and the presidential family overshadowed the economic plan that had pulled the country out of the disaster and submerged it into a other.

S.D.