Former president Carlos Menem returned from nine months in Chile to a raucous, cheering homecoming, days after a judge struck down an arrest warrant against him.
To frenzied chants of "Viva, Carlos!," the 74-year-old former president was welcomed Wednesday by hundreds of well-wishers on his return to his native northwestern Argentine province of La Rioja.
"Many of you thought I'd never be back!" a triumphant-looking Menem said at a rally in the capital of La Rioja, some 980km northwest of Buenos Aires.
Since leaving office, Menem, who governed South America's second-largest economy for two terms from 1989 to 1999, has been dogged by scandals and investigations. He has lived in Chile for the past nine months, avoiding travel to Argentina or other countries to elude an arrest warrant. Menem was wanted for questioning in a probe involving multimillion-dollar accounts in Switzerland.
But Argentine federal judge Nestor Oyarbide recently struck down the warrant, clearing the way for Menem to return. Menem has said Swiss judge Christine Junod determined after an investigation that no accounts in his name existed while he was president, from 1989 to 1999.
In announcing his return this week from the Chilean capital of Santiago, the former leader said he was headed home to organize another presidential bid.
Menem has vowed to organize a center-right political group to oppose the government of President Nestor Kirchner, his left-of-center rival within the ruling Peronist Party. Kirchner was catapulted into office last year after Menem pulled out of the last presidential race.
His Chilean wife, former Miss Universe Cecilia Bolocco, is expected to join him Dec. 24 with their son Maximo Saul. The family, Menem said, would return to Chile on New Year's Eve.
Menem, who would be 77 by the time of the 2007 election, has said his age would not be a problem.
On Wednesday, supporters burst through airport security controls to greet Menem on his arrival in La Rioja province.
Enthusiastic well-wishers also swarmed a motorcade that took him several kilometers to what he said would be the first in a series of political rallies.
While his return was met with expected elation in his hometown, it remained unclear whether he would be able to overcome negative public opinion in mounting a serious presidential run.
Many Argentines still blame lavish public borrowing and spending through the Menem years for a deep economic crisis that came to a head in December 2001.
"Nowadays, the only place where Menem can win an election is in La Rioja," said Ricardo Rouvier, a political analyst.
After what was one of the worst financial meltdowns on record, the Argentine economy began growing again last year. But authorities have yet to consolidate a sustained recovery, as they struggle to restructure a record US$100 billion public debt default.
In 2001, Menem spent seven months under house arrest in suburban Buenos Aires in connection with a separate federal investigation into alleged arms trafficking during his administration. He was cleared of accusations of "illicit association" in that case.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of