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Timeline
May 1989 – Carlos Menem of the Justicialist Party (PJ—Partido Justicialista, also known as the Peronist Party) is elected president, soundly defeating Eduardo Angeloz of the Radical Party (UCR—Unión Cívica Radical).
December 1990 – Menem grants a blanket amnesty to military officers and leftist insurgents involved in Argentina's "dirty war" of 1976 to 1983.
January 1991 – Following a public complaint by the U.S. Embassy that an unnamed official had demanded a bribe from an American company, Menem purges a number of ministers and aides, including half of his cabinet. The left-leaning newspaper Página 12 alleges that Menem's brother-in-law had demanded the bribe.
September 1991 – Página 12 reports that Italian businessmen gave Menem a 300,000 peso (US$100,000) Ferrari while pursuing a one billion peso (US$345 million) contract to refurbish state airports.
December 1993 – Following a month of closed-door negotiations, Menem and Radical Party leader Raúl Alfonsín sign a power-sharing agreement known as the Olivos Pact obligating their parties to push forward with a number of constitutional changes. Menem and Alfonsín agree to a number of checks on presidential power (a goal of the UCR) while providing for immediate re-election of a sitting president (a goal of the incumbent Menem). Other changes include the formation of a special commission to appoint judges, limits on federal control over state affairs, allowing direct vote by the president and vice president, and providing a second round of presidential voting if no candidate earns a clear mandate.
April 1995 – In the first such statement by a high-level military official, army chief of staff General Martín Balza publicly apologizes for abuses committed during Argentina's "dirty war." Balza's unexpected admission reignites debate about the issue.
May 1995 – Menem earns a second term as president. Shortly thereafter, PJ earns a majority in both houses of Congress and wins 10 of 14 governorships.
September 1996 – Judge Guillermo Tiscornia condemns the "parallel customs service" that brings billions of dollars worth of illegal merchandise into Argentina. The smuggling has cost the government an estimated nine billion pesos (US$3 billion) in lost tax revenue.
November 1996 – Former defense minister Oscar Camilión is indicted for failing to prevent—and subsequently covering up—an illegal arms transfer to Ecuador. Camilión is the first cabinet member to be indicted during Menem's presidency.
January 1997 – Photographer José Luis Cabezas of Noticias magazine is murdered after photographing the reclusive multimillionaire Alfredo Yabrán, a close friend of Menem who is alleged to have mafia connections. Yabrán commits suicide as the police attempt to arrest him in May 1998, leading to speculation that he had been murdered to avoid future embarrassment for Menem or that the suicide had been faked to avoid arrest.
October 1997 – In legislative elections, PJ loses its majority in the lower house. The Alliance, a partnership of the opposition parties UCR and FREPASO (Frente País Solidario) based on an anti-corruption platform, surges ahead to balance power in Congress.
June 1998 - Police arrest former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla in connection with the abduction of five babies during his regime, which stretched from 1976 to 1981. In November, former military ruler Emilio Massera is similarly arrested for two kidnappings orchestrated during his reign. An estimated 200 to 400 babies were stolen from their detained mothers and given to loyalist military and police families during the "dirty war."
October 1998 – Marcelo Cattáneo, the brother of a former Menem aide and a key witness in a bribery scandal, is found dead in an abandoned shack in Buenos Aires from what police rule a suicide but which subsequent leaks indicate might have been foul play. The scandal involved alleged bribes totaling 65 million pesos (US$21 million) from IBM to state-run Banco de la Nación in order to obtain a 770 million peso (US$250 million) government contract.
October 1999 – Fernando de la Rúa, a UCR member representing the Alliance, ends 10 years of PJ control by winning the presidential vote. The election leaves Argentina politically fractured, with an Alliance president countering a Peronist Congress.
August 2000 – Vice President Carlos Álvarez demands a federal investigation into allegations by an Argentine newspaper that the government bribed senators to vote for a labor reform act in April. Eleven senators are accused of receiving some 15 million pesos (US$5 million) in bribes in exchange for their votes. Álvarez resigns in October, citing a lack of support from de la Rúa to investigate the bribery charges. The inquiry remains dormant until new evidence surfaces in December 2003.
June 2001 – In a 600-page indictment charging him with authorizing illegal arms shipments to Croatia and Ecuador, Menem is ordered to remain under house arrest pending investigation. Some 6,500 tons of weapons scheduled for sale to Panama and Venezuela for 308 million pesos (US$100 million) were rerouted to Croatia—then under a United Nations arms embargo—and Ecuador, at the time engaged in a border dispute with Peru mediated by Argentina. Menem is released from house arrest in November after being cleared by the Supreme Court.
October 2001 – Swiss authorities freeze two accounts linked to Menem pending an investigation into money laundering. One account, opened in the name of his former wife and daughter before Menem was president, holds about 1.8 million pesos (US$600,000). A second account, opened while Menem was president and controlled by his former secretary, is said to hold about 18 million pesos (US$6 million).
December 2001 – After two days of bloody rioting and protests against his administration, President de la Rúa resigns two years before his term expires. In the 10 days following, Argentina sees four presidents assume power, with Senator Eduardo Duhalde finally assuming control on New Year's Eve after being appointed president by the legislature.
February 2002 – Some 20 bankers are ordered to remain in Argentina during an investigation into illegal money transfers.
April 2002 – Former economic minister Domingo Cavallo is arrested in connection with the Croatia-Ecuador arms scandal. In early June, the charges are dismissed by a panel of judges due to lack of evidence.
June 2002 – Congress passes a campaign finance reform law that limits campaign spending and requires parties to disclose contributions and expenditures.
May 2003 – Peronist Néstor Kirchner becomes president. Kirchner launches an aggressive new anti-corruption initiative that includes a crackdown on tax evasion and a campaign to oust the so-called "automatic majority" of Menem-appointed judges on the Supreme Court. Kirchner replaces 20 army generals, 15 navy admirals, and 12 air force brigadiers—more than half of the military's senior leadership—and fires 80 percent of the Federal Police commanders, including 10 of the 11 top officials.
June 2003 – Supreme Court President Júlio Nazareno resigns after Congress begins investigating him on corruption charges. Nazareno had been accused of leading the "automatic majority."
August 2003 – The Senate joins the lower house of Congress in annulling two laws granting amnesty to members of the military dictatorship, paving the way for their prosecution for crimes committed during the "dirty war." In June 2005, the Supreme Court backs up Congress by ruling the amnesty laws unconstitutional.
October 2003 – Justice Guillermo López of the "automatic majority" tenders his resignation from the Supreme Court minutes before his impeachment trial is set to begin in the lower house of Congress.
December 2003 – The Senate votes to remove Justice Eduardo Moliné O'Connor from the Supreme Court. O'Connor was accused of upholding a decision to award 416 million pesos (US$135 million) in state funds to a private company when there were no legal grounds for the judgment and failing to open a smuggling case against a private firm. The Senate had compiled more than 360 pages of accusations against O'Connor.
December 2003 – Former Senate secretary Mario Pontaquarto confesses his role in the Senate bribes scandal, admitting that he personally delivered 15 million pesos (US$5 million) to nine senators on behalf of President de la Rúa in April 2000. The revelation reopens the investigation, and a federal judge orders travel bans on de la Rúa, Pontaquarto and 11 former senators. Despite such seemingly solid evidence, a Buenos Aires court throws out the charges against Pontaquarto, former intelligence chief Fernando de Santibanes and former senators Jose Genoud and Emilio Cantarero in July 2004.
May 2004 – María Julia Alsogaray, former secretary of the environment under Menem, is convicted of illegal enrichment during her government service and sentenced to three years in prison.
December 2004 – Former President Menem returns from self-imposed exile in Chile after two arrest warrants issued on charges of tax fraud and embezzlement are cancelled.
April 2005 – Ex-naval officer Adolfo Scilingo becomes the first "dirty war" participant to be convicted abroad for his crimes when a Spanish court finds him guilty of killing political prisoners during the 1976-1983 military regimes.
September 2005 – The Senate finds Supreme Court Justice Antonio Boggiano guilty of malfeasance in office and removes him from the court, ousting the last of Menem's "automatic majority."
October 2005 – Legislative elections give President Kirchner a stronger position in Congress.
March 2006 – Defense Minister Nilda Garre announces the public will have unrestricted access to all secret military archives compiled during the "dirty war" years.
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