Néstor Kirchner
President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Néstor Carlos Kirchner Ostoić (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈnestoɾ ˈkaɾlos ˈkiɾʃneɾ] ⓘ; 25 February 1950 – 27 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007.[2] A member of the Justicialist Party, he previously served as Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, and mayor of Río Gallegos from 1987 to 1991. He later served as the first ever (and still only) First Gentleman of Argentina during the first tenure of his wife, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. By the time he died in October 2010, he was First Gentlemen from 2007, President of the Justicialist Party and National Deputy from 2009, and Secretary General of UNASUR from May 2010. Ideologically, he identified himself as a Peronist and a progressive, with his political approach called Kirchnerism.[3][4]
Néstor Kirchner | |
---|---|
President of Argentina | |
In office 10 December 2003 – 10 December 2007 | |
Vice President | Daniel Scioli |
Preceded by | Eduardo Duhalde (interim) |
Succeeded by | Cristina Fernández de Kirchner |
First Gentleman of Argentina | |
In role 10 December 2007 – 27 October 2010 | |
President | Cristina Fernández de Kirchner |
Preceded by | Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (As First Lady) |
Succeeded by | Juliana Awada (As First Lady, 2015) |
Secretary General of UNASUR | |
In office 4 May 2010 – 27 October 2010 | |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | María Emma Mejía Vélez |
National Deputy | |
In office 10 December 2009 – 27 October 2010 | |
Constituency | Buenos Aires |
President of the Justicialist Party | |
In office 11 November 2009 – 27 October 2010 | |
Preceded by | Daniel Scioli |
Succeeded by | Daniel Scioli |
In office 25 April 2008 – 29 June 2009 | |
Preceded by | Ramón Ruiz |
Succeeded by | Daniel Scioli |
Member of the Constitutional Convention | |
In office 1 May 1994 – 22 August 1994 | |
Constituency | Santa Cruz |
Governor of Santa Cruz | |
In office 10 December 1991 – 25 May 2003 | |
Vice Governor | Eduardo Arnold (1991–1999) Héctor Icazuriaga (1999–2003) |
Preceded by | Ricardo del Val |
Succeeded by | Héctor Icazuriaga |
Intendant of Río Gallegos | |
In office 10 December 1987 – 10 December 1991 | |
Preceded by | Jorge Marcelo Cepernic |
Succeeded by | Alfredo Anselmo Martínez |
Personal details | |
Born | Néstor Carlos Kirchner Ostoić[1] (1950-02-25)25 February 1950 Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Argentina |
Died | 27 October 2010(2010-10-27) (aged 60) El Calafate, Santa Cruz, Argentina |
Resting place | Mausoleum of Néstor Kirchner, Río Gallegos |
Political party | Justicialist Party |
Other political affiliations | Front for Victory (2003–2010) |
Spouse | |
Children | 2, including Máximo |
Alma mater | National University of La Plata |
Profession | Lawyer |
Signature | |
Néstor Kirchner's speech for the Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice (recorded March 24, 2004) | |
Born in Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Kirchner studied law at the National University of La Plata. He met and married Cristina Fernández at this time, returned with her to Río Gallegos at graduation, and opened a law firm. Commentators have criticized him for a lack of legal activism during the Dirty War, an issue he would involve himself in as president. Kirchner ran for mayor of Río Gallegos in 1987 and for governor of Santa Cruz in 1991. He was reelected governor in 1995 and 1999 due to an amendment of the provincial constitution. Kirchner sided with Buenos Aires provincial governor Eduardo Duhalde against President Carlos Menem.
Although Duhalde lost the 1999 presidential election, he was appointed president by the Congress when previous presidents Fernando de la Rúa and Adolfo Rodríguez Saá resigned during the December 2001 riots. Duhalde suggested that Kirchner run for president in 2003 in a bid to prevent Menem's return to the presidency. Menem won a plurality in the first round of the presidential election but, fearing that he would lose in the required runoff election, he resigned; Kirchner became president as a result.
Kirchner took office on 25 May 2003. Roberto Lavagna, credited with the economic recovery during Duhalde's presidency, was retained as minister of economy and continued his economic policies. Argentina negotiated a swap of defaulted debt and repaid the International Monetary Fund. The National Institute of Statistics and Census intervened to underestimate growing inflation. Several Supreme Court judges resigned while fearing impeachment, and new judges were appointed. The amnesty for crimes committed during the Dirty War in enforcing the full-stop and due-obedience laws and the presidential pardons were repealed and declared unconstitutional. This led to new trials for the military who served during the 1970s. Argentina increased its integration with other Latin American countries, discontinuing its automatic alignment with the United States dating to the 1990s. The 2005 midterm elections were a victory for Kirchner, and signaled the end of Duhalde's supremacy in Buenos Aires Province.
Instead of seeking reelection, Kirchner stepped aside in 2007 in support of his wife, who was elected president. He participated in Operation Emmanuel to release FARC hostages, and was narrowly defeated in the 2009 midterm election for deputy of Buenos Aires Province. Kirchner was appointed Secretary General of UNASUR in 2010. He and his wife were involved (either directly or through their close aides) in the 2013 political scandal known as the Route of the K-Money, even though no judicial investigation ever found any proof of wrongdoing by Néstor or Cristina Kirchner. Kirchner died of cardiac arrest on 27 October 2010, and received a state funeral.