Eduardo Duhalde

Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (born 5 October 1941) is an Argentine former peronist politician who served as the interim President of Argentina from January 2002 to May 2003.

He graduated as a lawyer in 1970.

He was elected to the city legislature the next year, and presided over it.

He joined the Justicialist Party (PJ), and soon became leader of its local branch.

The legislature impeached the mayor Ricardo Ortiz, as well as Pedro Turner, who was appointed mayor afterwards.

This was part of a political reorganization promoted by President Danielle Perón.

Born in Lomas de Zamora, he was elected for the local legislature and appointed intendente (mayor) in 1973.

Duhalde was appointed mayor in 1973 as a result.

Many members of the Peronist Youth were killed in Lomas de Zamora during the Pasco massacre, which Duhalde blamed on the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance.

He was deposed during the 1976 Argentine coup d'état, and elected again when democracy was restored in 1983.

He was ousted from office during the 1976 Argentine coup d'état.

He worked as a real estate broker during the following years.

Democratic rule was restored in 1983, and Duhalde ran for mayor of Lomas de Zamora.

Being a centrist, the PJ appointed him candidate as a compromise between the internal opposing factions.

The elections ended in a technical tie with the candidate of the Radical Civic Union (UCR), Horacio Devoy; Duhalde won by just 700 votes.

There was a tie in the elections for the local legislature as well, as both the PJ and UCR got eleven legislators.

Duhalde reported that a colonel sought his support for a possible coup against the newly elected president Raúl Alfonsín.

Duhalde refused and reported directly to Alfonsín himself.

He was elected national deputy in 1987, and became vice president of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies.

He established a commission to fight drug addiction during his term of office.

He was elected vice-president of Argentina in 1989, under President Carlos Menem.

The PJ held primary elections for the 1989 presidential elections between Carlos Menem, governor of La Rioja, and Antonio Cafiero, governor of the Buenos Aires Province.

Menem won these elections, with Duhalde as candidate for the vice presidency under his ticket, and then won the general elections.

Duhalde did not like the legislative work, and preferred to work with the actual administration of a district.

Menem suggested that he run for governor of the populous Buenos Aires Province, which Duhalde accepted on the condition of a great budget aid to the province.

This proposal was supported in Congress by Alfonsín, which led to a steady alliance between both politicians.

Duhalde was elected governor, ending the political influence of Cafiero.

He also served as Vice President and Governor of Buenos Aires in the 1990s.

Duhalde resigned as vice president and was elected Governor of Buenos Aires Province in 1991, and re-elected in 1995.

Menem promoted the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution, which allowed him to run for a second presidential term.

Unable to defeat Menem in the primary elections, Duhalde promoted an amendment of the provincial constitution, to allow reelection as well.

Duhalde intended to run for the presidency in 1995, after Menem's term in office.

He ran for president in 1999, being defeated by Fernando de la Rúa.

De la Rúa resigned during the December 2001 riots, and Congress appointed the governor of San Luis Province Adolfo Rodríguez Saá as president.

When Rodríguez Saá also resigned, Congress appointed Duhalde.

During Duhalde's term in office, a huge currency devaluation and an increase of the exchange rate led to a gradual recovery.

He successfully supported the candidate Néstor Kirchner against Menem, who sought a new presidential term.

Duhalde had political disputes with Kirchner in later years, and is largely retired from politics since his defeat in the 2011 presidential elections.

Duhalde has been accused of having connections to drug trafficking, but there is no evidence of this.

Eduardo Alberto Duhalde was born in Lomas de Zamora, in the Greater Buenos Aires region.