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Former Argentine President Carlos Menem (C)
kisses an image of the Virgin Mary next to his brother Eduardo Menem
(L) and his nephew Adrian Menem (right/rear) as he arrives to La Rioja airport, December 22,
2004. |
Former Argentine President Carlos Menem ended 10 months of self-exile
on Wednesday, aiming to stage a political comeback in his home province
after assurances he would not be arrested on arrival.
Two judges withdrew arrest warrants against Menem last week in separate
probes into graft and tax evasion during his 1989-1999 rule.
In a highly publicized homecoming, Menem, 74, flew to La Rioja province
from neighboring Chile where he had been living with his young Chilean
wife, a former beauty queen.
He has said he plans to run for president in 2007 despite polls showing
he is widely reviled.
Dozens of supporters ran to meet the former leader on the tarmac after
he emerged from a small private plane. He later climbed into the back of a
pick-up truck, kissed a statue of the Virgin Mary, and drove off in a
motorcade.
A political rally was scheduled for later on Wednesday.
In May 2003, Menem bowed out of a presidential run-off vote when polls
showed him heading for a humiliating defeat by Argentina's current
president, Nestor Kirchner.
Both Menem and Kirchner belong to the deeply divided Peronist Party
that has dominated Argentine politics for the past half century. Although
he is unpopular, analysts say Menem pulls weight within a more
conservative strand of Peronists and could pose a threat to the
left-leaning Kirchner.
Opinion polls show 85 percent of Argentines have a negative image of
Menem. Many people, including Kirchner, blame Menem's policies for a
severe economic crisis in late 2001 and 2002, when the government
defaulted on its huge sovereign debt.
A charismatic leader who
hobnobbed with the Rolling
Stones and top fashion models, Menem turned Argentina into a textbook
example of the free-market reforms promoted by multilateral lenders such
as the International Monetary Fund (news - web sites).
But some say government spending and indebtedness spun out of control
-- along with corrupt practices.
Argentine courts are probing accusations Menem embezzled money in the
construction of two jails and that he hid a Swiss bank account from tax
authorities.
But Menem says the accusations are lies invented by his enemies to keep
him out of power.
Prior to his departure, Menem said his wife, Cecilia Bolocco, would
remain in Chile but visit him frequently.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-12-23 10:24