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News > Argentina

Argentina's Former Neoliberal President De la Rua Dies At 81

  • In 2001, de la Rua resigned in the midst of the deepest social, economic and political crisis in Argentinian history.

    In 2001, de la Rua resigned in the midst of the deepest social, economic and political crisis in Argentinian history. | Photo: Reuters

Published 9 July 2019
Opinion

De la Rua took office in 1999 with promises to stabilize the economic situation but continued the IMF's bidding.

Former Argentinian President, Fernando de la Rua died Tuesday from heart disease. In his short term as head of state, he accentuated the economic crisis that led the country to international default. 

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The late-president was elected in 1999 after Carlos Menem's administration ruled the country for 10 years during the 1990s. Following the International Monetary Fund's structural and austerity measures the Argentinian economy was decimated.

De la Rua took office with promises to stabilize the situation but continued the IMF's bidding. His government was characterized by severe austerity measures, with salary, pension, and budget cuts.

At the climax of the 2001 crisis, the unemployment rate hit 20 percent and poverty hit 50 percent according to El Pais. This led to a bank run and a crisis known as "El Corralito" (the little barnyard), where people had to exchange products or talents for products, as the usage of cash was blocked.

One example of this crisis behavior was dentists who would exchange treatment for a bottle of oil.

The president was consequently forced to leave office in 2001, before the end of his term, and at a moment when the crisis got out of control and Argentinians massively took the streets to protest under the rallying cry of “away with them all.”

During the last days of his presidency, de la Rua decreed a state of siege to curb mass protests and looting of businesses throughout the country. The repression by state security forces left at least 39 people killed between December 19 to 21, 2001.

On December 20, he fled the presidential palace in a military helicopter.

De la Rua, was a long-time supporter of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) party, and also worked as a criminal law professor for years at the University of Buenos Aires after the March 1976 coup. Since the end of the military dictatorship in 1983, he was the only second president from outside the Peronist movement to assume power. 

Failing to finish his first term, he was also hunted by numerous charges and legal battles in the years after he quit the presidency including police violence during the protests and allegations linked to a Senate bribery scandal.

Argentina’s current President Mauricio Macri sent condolences on social media, saying De la Rua’s service deserved the “recognition of all Argentinians.”

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