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Carlos Menem

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Carlos Saúl Menem (Anillaco, La Rioja, July 2nd 1930) is an Argentine politician and lawyer. He held the position of President of the Nation between 1989 and 1999. As President, he identified as a right-wing "Federal Peronist" who supported the Washington Consensus. He implemented neoliberal economic policies which privatized many state-run industries and pegged the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar. He also pursued closer diplomatic relations with the United States, normalized diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom for the first time since the Falklands War, and made significant amendments to the Argentine Constitution in 1994 under a deal with Raúl Alfonsín's left-wing opposition. Although Menem's economic policies were initially successful, his administration's tax cuts, heavy government borrowing, and inability to maintain the peso's fixed exchange rate with the dollar eventually resulted in a severe deficit and the 1998–2002 Argentine great depression. Menem tried to run for President again in the 2003 Argentine general election but dropped out to avoid a run-off defeat to Néstor Kirchner, and was later investigated for corruption.

Quotes

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Sourced

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  • "...se va a licitar un sistema de vuelos espaciales, mediante el cual desde una plataforma que quizá se instale en la provincia de Córdoba. Esas naves espaciales, con todas las seguridades habidas y por haber, van a salir de la atmósfera, se van a remontar a la estratósfera, y desde ahí elegir el lugar a donde quieran ir. De tal forma, que en una hora y media podremos estar desde Argentina en Japón, Corea o en cualquier parte del mundo. Y por supuesto, los vuelos hacia otros planetas, el día que se detecte, de que en otros planetas también hay vida"
    • English: "...a space flight system will be leased, through which a platform that perhaps will be installed in the province of Córdoba. Those spaceships, with all current and future security measures, are going to leave the atmosphere, take off to the stratosphere, and from there choose the place where they want to go. In such a way that, in one hour and a half we can be from Argentina in Japan, Korea or any other part of the world. And of course, flights to other planets, the day we detect that on other planets there's also life"
    • Note: Opening of the 1996 school cycle of a school from Salta, a province in the north of Argentina.
  • "Pende sobre nuestras cabezas la espada de Penélope."
  • "… la transformación del sistema educativo que ya está en marcha. Se eliminarán totalmente las escuelas prima— precarias."
  • "Los pueblos que olvidan su historia, repiten la historia. Como nos olvidamos de los acontecimientos de 1955, estuvimos repitiendo esa misma historia al poco tiempo, tumbando al gobierno del Dr. Alfonsín... eh, Frondizi. Son radicales los dos."
  • "Ganamos por demolición"
    • Página 12 newspaper, May 1995..
    • English: "We won by demolition" / "We demolished the opposition".
  • "En estos momentos de turbulencia, les voy a dar dos consejos. Como lo hacía Julio César, ese emperador romano. Con el miedo de los tripulantes, los juntaba y les decía 'no temáis, vais con César y su estrella'. Y yo les digo a todos los argentinos: 'no teman, ¡van con Carlos Menem y su estrella!'."
  • "Todos, en mayor o menor medida, somos responsables y copartícipes de este fracaso argentino y entre todos, sólo entre todos, seremos artífices de un cambio a fondo y de una transformación positiva."

Said on April 28th, 2003, after winning the first election round

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  • "La segunda vuelta será un paso formal, nada más."
    • English: "The second round will be a formality, nothing more."
  • "Vamos a ganar rotundamente."
    • English: "We are going to win without question."
  • "Vamos a segunda vuelta y vamos a ganar en segunda vuelta"
    • English: "We're going to a second round and we will win on the second round"
  • "¿Por qué lo voy a llamar a Kirchner si perdió?"
    • English: "Why am I going to call Kirchner if he lost?"

Said one day before getting off the presidential elections on May 13th, 2003

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  • "A los que vienen hablando de que me voy a bajar de la candidatura, yo les digo: Ni lo piensen, no saben de la fibra de la que está hecho uno"
    • English: "To those who are speaking about me getting off the elections, I say: Don't even think about it, you don't know the fiber one is made of"
  • "Pese a todo y contra todo, seguimos remando"
    • English: "Through and despite everything, we're still going"
  • (when asked whether he planned to resign from the ballotage) "Tan sólo un borracho puede hacer tales afirmaciones"
    • English: "Only a drukard can make such statements".

From a message broadcast on May 14th, in which he explains the reasons of his resign from participating on the May 18th ballotage

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  • "A todos ellos les digo que los llevo en mi corazón, que no bajaré los brazos y que pueden tener la absoluta seguridad que no abandonaré la lucha política, que ha sido y es la razón de mi vida."
    • English: "To all of them I say that I take you in my heart, I won't put my arms down, and you can have complete assurance I won't abandon political fight, why has been and is the reason for my life".

Attributed

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  • "Mi libro de cabecera son las obras completas de Sócrates"
    • English: "My go-to book is the complete works of Socrates"
    • Note: The well-known philosopher never published any written works.
  • "Hermanos de mi patria"
    • English: "Brothers of my motherland"
    • Note: Usual way of beginning his speeches.
  • "A triunfar, a triunfar, a triunfar"
    • English: "Let's triumph, let's triumph, let's triumph"
    • Note: Said on the night of 1995's elections.
  • "Entré por la puerta grande y salí por la puerta grande"
    • English: "I entered through the big door and left through the big door".
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