Ex-Argentine President Carlos Menem Dies At 90

BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2021) Former Argentine President Carlos Menem, credited with rescuing the nation's economy from an economic collapse, has died at the age of 90, the incumbent president said on Sunday.

"With deep regret, I learned about the death of Carlos Saul Menem. Always democratically elected, he was the governor of La Rioja, the president of the nation and a national senator. The dictatorship persecuted and imprisoned him," Alberto Fernandez tweeted.

Menem died in hospital, where he was admitted for a urinary infection.

Up until his death, he held the senatorial seat in his home province of La Rioja. A son of Syrian immigrants, he began his long political career as the governor of La Rioja in 1973 and was imprisoned by the military after it took over in a US-backed coup three years later.

Menem won the presidential election in 1989 and stayed in power until 1999. He conducted a series of privatizations in a bid to rejuvenate the economy and reined in hyperinflation.