Fernando de la Rua
Fernando de la Rua (born September 15 1937) is an Argentine politician. He was president of the country from December 10 1999 to December 21 2001 for the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education (a political alliance of the Radical Civic Union and Frepaso).
Born in the city of Cordoba, he attended the local Military Lyceum before entering the National University of Cordoba, from which he obtained his law degree. De la Rua became involved in politics at a young age. He first appeared in the political arena during the 1973 elections, when he was elected to the Senate, representing the city of Buenos Aires. A few months later he ran for the Vice Presidency along with the veteran politician Ricardo Balbin on the Radical ticket. His youth (running for Vice President at the age of 36) earned him the still-standing nickname of "Chupete" ('Pacifier' or 'Dummy'), as he was perceived as a "baby" in politics.
After the democratic restoration in 1983 De la Rua was elected to the Chamber of Deputies and once again ran for the Senate in 1989. He actually won the popular vote, but was outmanoeuvered in the Electoral College by the alliance between the Justicialist Party and the Ucede.
Related websites
World Briefing | Americas: Argentina: Human Rights Extraditions
"Little sympathy for Argentine president"
Argentine judge accuses ex-leader over 2001 deaths
Read the full article about Fernando de la Rua
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Fernando de la Rua
