Carlos Saul Menem was a renowned lawyer and driven politician who served as Argentina’s 44th president from 1989-1999 and as Senator of his beloved La Rioja Province from 2005 until his recent death. Menem was born to two Syrian refugees who immigrated to Argentina before his birth. Raised Muslim, Carlos later converted to Roman Catholicism. As a liberal Peronist, his political strategies came to be known as “Menemism”. The leader was captured and deposed during the 1976 Argentine coup d&apo... moreCarlos Saul Menem was a renowned lawyer and driven politician who served as Argentina’s 44th president from 1989-1999 and as Senator of his beloved La Rioja Province from 2005 until his recent death. Menem was born to two Syrian refugees who immigrated to Argentina before his birth. Raised Muslim, Carlos later converted to Roman Catholicism. As a liberal Peronist, his political strategies came to be known as “Menemism”. The leader was captured and deposed during the 1976 Argentine coup d'état, but was later elected to the position of Governor of La Rioja in 1983. Complications from a urinary tract infection claimed Mr. Menem’s life after two months in a drug-induced coma, which doctors had placed him under due to kidney failure.
