page_title: Carlos Menem
section_title: Foreign policy
hierarchical_section_title: Carlos Menem / Presidency / Foreign policy
caption_attribution_description: Español: JEFE DE GOBIERNO DE ESPAŅA, JOSE MARIA AZNAR fue recibido por el PRESIDENTE DE LA REPUBLICA ARGENTINA, DR. CARLOS SAUL MENEM
context_page_description: Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 8 July 1989 to 10 December 1999. He has been a Senator for La Rioja Province since 10 December 2005. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and economically liberal, serving as President of the Justicialist Party from 1990 to 2001, with his political approach called Menemism.
  Born in Anillaco to a Syrian family, Menem was raised as a Nusayri Muslim, but later converted to Roman Catholicism to pursue a political career. Menem became a Peronist during a visit to Buenos Aires. He led the party in his home province of La Rioja, and was elected governor in 1973. He was deposed and detained during the 1976 Argentine coup d'état, and was elected governor again in 1983. He defeated the Buenos Aires governor Antonio Cafiero in the primary elections for the 1989 presidential elections, which he won. Hyperinflation forced outgoing president Raúl Alfonsín to resign early, shortening the presidential transition.
  Menem supported the Washington Consensus, and tackled inflation with the Convertibility plan in 1991. The plan was complemented by a series of privatizations, and was a success.
context_section_description: During his presidency, Argentina aligned with the United States, and had special relations with the country. Menem had good relations with US president George H. W. Bush, and his successor Bill Clinton since 1993.
  The country left the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Cóndor missile program was discontinued. Argentina supported all the international positions of the US, and sent forces to the Gulf War, and the peace keeping efforts after the Kosovo War.
  The country was accepted as a major non-NATO ally, but not as a full member.
  Menem's government re-established relations with the United Kingdom, suspended since the Falklands War, after Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990. The discussions on the Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute were temporarily given a lower priority, and the focus shifted to discussions of fishing rights. 
  He also settled all remaining border issues with Chile. The Lago del Desierto dispute had an international arbitration, favourable to Argentina. The only exception was the dispute over the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, which is still open.
  In 1991 Menem became the first Head of Stae of Argentina to make a diplomatic visit to Israel. He proposed to mediate between Israel and Syria in their negotiations over the Golan Heights. The diplomatic relations were damaged by the lack of results in the investigations over the two terrorist attacks.
caption: Menem with Spanish Prime Minister, José María Aznar.
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