UPDATED: 1999 Argentina Video: “Menem Lo Hizo”
*This post has been updated to better reflect the more nuanced perspective which I wished to convey in the original post.
It’s been almost exactly 10 years since this advertisement hit Argentina’s airwaves. It was in many ways a triumphant moment for Carlos Menem, the former president. At the same time, it was a low point, with his approval rating hovering below 30% despite years in power.
Though detractors easily forget or simply – though often fairly and accurately – dismiss his achievements, Menem accomplished many positive things for the country.
Menem is now demonized in black and white terms that are unfair to both him and the nation. That’s not to say, of course, that Menem was a saint. Clearly, he wasn’t. Not all of his actions benefited the country. Indeed, some of them actively damaged the country in ways that still have repercussions today. His legacy has been forever tarnished by allegations of corruption, illegal arms trading and a host of other excesses.
But like so many things in history, Menem’s presidency cannot be fairly critiqued in binary terms. He was in power for about decade, longer than any other president in Argentine history, during which time he radically transformed the Argentine economy, the country’s infrastructure, and the world’s view of Argentina.
Argentina’s modern, functioning telecommunications, transportation and hospital infrastructure networks exist today largely because of policies pursued by Menem. And yet much of Menem’s legacy and reputation – perhaps rightly so – have come undone in recent years.
Yet it doesn’t benefit the country to dismiss Menem’s presidency in blanket terms. Doing so provides us with only part of the picture and therefore hinders our ability to learn from Menem’s achievements – and yes – his mistakes. His privatization policies brought great reform but also at great cost to the government’s credibility because of questions about how the privatizations were carried out.
To learn from Menem’s legacy, it would behove all of us to study it objectively, acknowledging what went wrong but also what went right.
It may well be that the negatives outweigh the positives. But we can only know this if we fairly evaluate the Menem legacy from beginning to end. To paint his government in simpleton terms does justice to no one. It merely perpetuates partisan bickering that lead us nowhere positive.
Few presidents, like few humans, are entirely black or white creatures. Our achievements, as well as our moral compasses, sometimes point in different directions and are sometimes better understood in terms of degrees or shades of color instead of in black and white. To deny this is to deny human nature.
This video is a preview to the next post, which will look at how Argentine presidents tend to attack and undo everything done by their predecessors.
For a fascinating and more detailed look at Menem’s presidency, check out this 1999 Newsweek article.
1999? Isn’t that rather selectively preceding a rather important Menem induced event (ie: the other side of that hallowed silver dollar)?. You lament ‘how Argentine presidents tend to attack and undo everything done by their predecessors’ dios mio, if only it was so easy. This would be comical if it was just the ignorant ramblings of a foreigner in BA, unfortunately your blog is also a reflection of the blinkered views of so much of the Argentine media. It’s odd that on your pages (like the pages of Clarin and La Nacion strangely) there’s no outrage against the policies of Mauricio Macri (eg: UCEP collecting homeless people and depositing them on the streets of Avellaneda, the proposed evictions and closures of more than 10 barrio cultural centres, theatre workers, technicians, talleristas, social workers unpaid by his government for months, the decent folk he has attempted to appoint as chiefs of psychiatric institutions and his Metro cops, the seizure of public facilities for the Metro cops, the termination of the hotel voucher scheme putting thousands on the streets without any proposed plan other than dumping them in el conurbano, his attempt to block investigations into the links between owners and employees of private security firms and acts of state terrorism during the dictatorship even in the face of a court order, it goes on…) you even attempt to blame the Kirchners for matters that come under provincial jurisdiction. Little wonder you chose to make your living in Argentina where this kind of pap can easily pass as journalism.
It will take a lot more work but hopefully Menem’s legacy will be entirely undone in the coming years. Unfortunately I fear the kind of lobotomised journalism you mimic will help deliver us a Macri, Reutemann, or De Narvaez as our next president.
I am shocked that you can live in Argentina and still be so brainwashed. I suggest your readers educates themselves by watching “Memoria Del Saqueo”. You can view it in full on YouTubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH6_i8zuffs&feature=PlayList&p=C46D4D71A019C91E&index=0&playnext=1
English version: “Argentina’s Economic Collapse”
Menem sold off the country piece by piece. He should be behind bars for the rest of his life.
I remember explaining to my wife how Dick Nixon’s campaign slogan “Nixon’ the One” came back to bite him during the time when everyone was wondering who was behind the Watergate scandal. She began to laugh and told be about “Memem Did It.”
The almost post-Soviet style of dismantling formerly state-owned industries along with the same sort of crony-capitalism is enough to keep President “Mendez’” reputation down. If you add what his administration called their “carnal” relationship with the US and its IMF and World Bank, there’s not much left to brag about.
Very interesting times. You could fill several books with the events of those days.
Mike
I think my favourite is the stable peso… its like Chamberlain proclaiming peace. Ja ja ja!
Sam and Greg,
Thanks for your comments, sort of. You could have done without the insults, which undermined what I assume is your desire to make a broader point. It would have been much more impressive had you been able to make your broader points without resorting to ad hominem personal attacks.
Such attacks reveal more about you than they do about me or my capacities as a journalist. Had you stuck to ideas, or better yet, cogently formed arguments, perhaps you could have been able to shift my perspective. Now, however, it’s not entirely clear what your points were. Was your main aim to insult me or to insult Menem? Or perhaps bot, and to what effect?
The point of this post was 1) to share an interesting video, which itself is an interesting piece of Argentine political history; and 2) to highlight the fact that Menem’s presidency is indeed controversial, but that it is in some ways unfairly evaluated by many people. Argentines, in particular, tend to view their history in black and white terms. I’m convinced that this doesn’t benefit anyone except for partisan zealots.
My aim here is neither to promote Menem nor his legacy. Even if I liked Menem, I wouldn’t do that here for a number of reasons. Rather my aim is simply to shed a bit of light on it by offering, even if extremely briefly, a bit more of a balanced look at Menem and his achievements – as well as his failures.
The purpose of this second point is to show that by studying history in black and white terms, we end up learning little. This is because when we do this – collectively – we all ended up putting “blinkers” on, impeding our ability to see things for what they really were, including all the shades of good and bad.
Taos
To me, Menem did it. THE ONES WHO LASTED AFTER HIM, AS MUCH AS ACOOKIE JAR IN FRONT OF AS school patio, are really the ones to blame.
Thanks to Menem Argentina as a place in the g 20′s and g7 conferences….Argentina was again considered internationally….
The ones following Menem are the ones who left the nation with all the money.
And yes, because I did not live for 35 years in my land, it doesn’t mean I can not see things from a different perspective. like Taos or as many others who had to emigrate
Any one can have a say, and there is no point in making derogative remarks, insulting , abrassive , demeaning remarks .
Argentines, where all shopping while Menem was in charge, and shopping in USA. With plenty of money and time to spend, while I was there watching THEM TO SPEND, and having had to go back to my job and work as a mule for 12 hours in order to be able to put food on my table.
anonymous
Now we can barely go out to do some shoppings in the supermarkert on adaily base.
Whether the people blindly criticising Menem and Taos here are Argentine or not, their views are way Argentine – black and white, and full of spite (wow, nice rhyme!)
You can’t get a decent, rational conversation out of most Argentines, unfortunately. Especially not on a topic like Menem.
Face it Argentina – you loved Menem while you were busy shopping in Miami. What happened next was YOUR fault just as much as his. It isn’t the politicians that make things go wrong in Argentina. It’s the Argentines (after all, the politicians themselves are Argentine, and they can’t ALL be unrepresentative of the rest of the population, surely?)
Hola Taos,
Menem vendio el pais.
Menem regalo nuestros recursos naturales
Menem trajo la desocupacion mas grande que hasta ese momento hayamos conocido
Menem nos puso a hablar en Ingles, el idioma del imperio
Menem y Domingo Cavallo inventaron el sistema por el cual hacian la magia de un peso igual a un dolar
Menem regalo terrenos fiscales por monedas y negocios sucios
Menen prefierio hacer aparecer a su esposa como “loca” en vez de ocuparse por esclarecer el asesinato de su hijo
No se puede hablar de los logros de Menem porque fue una desgracia para nuestra nacion todo lo que hizo
Menem representa el saqueo a los argentinos en manos de los buitres internacionales y el imperio.
Menem indulto a los culpables de terror de estado
Menem destruyo la industria argentina
Con Menem los colegios dejan de ser establecimientos educativos para convertise en comedores escolares
Nuanced is the way to go on this subject, imho, from the French word for whisper or, at least, speak softly. Although, I could never count myself in the Nixon nor “Mendez” (there is a superstition here about even saying his name) camps …recognizing progress where you find it is something we should all do.
However, a greater measure would be, “is the place better than it would have been had you not been in charge.” In growing economies, things grow. It’s hard even in hindsight to know if things would have grown better under different policies given that they actually did grow under both of those two administrations.
Both the Argentine and yanqui, mentioned above, are fading into history and the newfound distance of time gives people pause as to whether they were judged fairly and if we think differently today.
Born and bred US Democrat that I am, I must admit that I feel very differently about Dick Nixon today than I have most of my life.
Although even after 6 years in Argentina I can’t count myself qualified to speak about politics here, it wouldn’t surprise me if Argentines might begin to think differently about their own former president too.
Forgive: why not? Forget: no. Remember: of course. Stop thinking about what is the right national course: never.
You always keep us thinking, Taos. Thanks.
Mike
Taos,
I did not misunderstand your piece at all. It is obvious that you have not left behind the mindset you brought with you from the U.S. I don’t consider “brainwashed” an “ad hominem personal attack”, just a statement of fact in this case. It is quite clear that you really have no idea how offensive it is to suggest we reevaluate Menem at this time. If you wrote this fifty years in the future, it might be different. Instead of being personally insulted, perhaps you should regard the sentiment of the majority of the commenters here and focus on the substance not the emotion.
Hi Sam,
Thanks for your remarks. My comments were directed to both you and Greg,who was the main culprit.
I appreciate your explanation, though I would still say that your tone isn’t helpful because, at the end of the day, it is an insult, even if you don’t want to characterize it that way. It’s not an insult along the lines of those hurled by Greg, but it’s far from an inviting tone.
Moreover, your application of the term brainwashed is entirely inappropriate. I’m trying to see Menem’s government, as well as those of his successors, for what they really were/are: the good, the bad and the ugly. Someone who is brainwashed would see only the good, only the bad or only the ugly. Someone who is brainwashed cannot properly process, appreciate and balance countervailing points.
In contrast, I welcome them fully so that I can learn and grow in my own perspective. When it comes to evaluating history, my loyalty is to the truth, not to emotion or sentiment or partisan predilection.
You make an interesting point about your own “offended” reaction to all of this. I can certainly understand that. To some extent, it also makes sense. My feeling is simply that Argentina can’t wait another 50 years to thinking objectively about history.
The country is plagued with emotional baggage that impedes people’s ability to work together and set aside partisan disputes. Just look at former president Alfonsin’s funeral. Even then, past and present presidents did everything to avoid coming together to honor the man. They let their bickering prevent them from coming together in a way that could have helped to unify the nation, even if just for a moment. It was a missed opportunity in every sense.
To say that Menem was a combination of good and bad traits shouldn’t be offensive to anyone. It’s just a fact. Was he more good than bad, or, as most people would assert, more bad than good? That’s a conversation I’d like to have, and it’s one that the nation could benefit from having.
I recently met with a group of hospital administrators who talked about how convertibility allowed them to buy vital medical equipment and X-Ray machines that, according to them, they couldn’t possibly have obtained without a strong peso under convertibility. That equipment, they told me, saved lives and continues to do so today. Does this mean convertibility in its entirety was a good thing? No, not necessarily. Moreover, it alone doesn’t mean that Menem was a good president. But it does mean that we should consider convertibility – as well as Menem’s administration – in all of its details. Doing so will help us make a fair evaluation of what was done well and what went wrong. And this, I think, would be helpful – and educational – to all of us, including myself.
The whole point is this: My post has nothing to do with my American mentality. It has everything to do with logic, judgement and growth. It seems to me that it is your emotions, not mine, which prevent you from focusing objectively on the Menem administration and what we can learn from it.
Saludos,
Taos
“It seems to me that it is your emotions, not mine, which prevent you from focusing objectively on the Menem administration and what we can learn from it.”
Respectfully, It seems to me you`re lacking of a comprehensive info in order a balanced analysis of Menem administration. Despite the old tv propaganda, your statements sounds provocative and biased.
The achievements you mention : a) Comunications : M. left two monopolies after a dark selling of the national telecomunication company (Entel) B) There was no other age where public health was so attacked and private health grew geometrically. For each tomograph bought, perhaps 1.000.000 cheap umbrellas besides other goods were sold leaving argentine industry close to nothing.
I can tell 10 more
examples but it bores me to much.
I don´t demonize Carlos. He is just an almost illiterate bon vivant and if I was hindi, I would think that his spirit lived on GW Bush after he left presidency in 1999 (perhaps D. Cheney is C. Corach).
Hi Gustatvo,
I posted the video advertisement because it’s an interesting piece of political history, not because it offers a complete or objective look at Menem’s administration. It’s obviously a biased campaign-type ad. Carefully looking at the flaws and accomplishments of the 1990s would take a great more time than I have here for these smaller posts.
Thanks for your comments.
Saludos,
Taos
Being a big critic of Menem’s tenure and ethics, I think it’s great point the one you make: we should stop demonizing past leaders and instead learn from what happened, from the good, the bad and the ugly. I really don’t understand why other readers think the post is provocative. To me its’ a reflection that we Argentines seem unable to engage in facts based arguments and just prefer to stick to our own way always.
The article in Newsweek you point to is really good as well. It made me think again on Menem and the 90s. Lot to learn from revisiting that period.
Hello Taos,
I appreciate your thoughtful reply and I apologize if I let my emotions rule my words. I will admit that I am not capable of being rational regarding either menem or bush, and I don’t expect to be anytime soon (meaning I probably don’t want to). Most victims of these types of criminals don’t feel they ever have closure unless justice is done. I don’t expect any justice for either one of them, and so probably not much closure for me.
Peace
Hey Sam,
Peace to you too. Thanks very much for your thoughts here.
Take care,
Taos
…and then what happened in 2001? This is willful ignorance to turn a blind eye to the subsequent crisis that came about directly from Menem’s economic policies. The arguments about Argentines shopping in Miami and hospitals being able to buy imported medical equipment are rendered meaningless by the chaos and hardship that the convertibility produced (not to mention the selling off of swathes of the country to refresh dwindling foreign reserves in order to keep the scam going). If it is so easy to just announce that your currency is equivalent to the dollar from this day forward and then it’s beer, pretzels and DVD players for all – why doesn’t everyone do it? Anyone who has passed Economics 101 could tell you why. Referencing a glowing article from 1999 and not even mentioning the subsequent economic crisis seems to run quite contrary to the noble journalistic ideals you so vociferously claim to adhere to. You say ‘It may well be that the negatives outweigh the positives. But we can only know this if we fairly evaluate the Menem legacy from beginning to end.’ I guess from beginning to 1999, ignoring the disaster he had set in motion is close enough.
This isn’t about ideology or demonising people – the achievements you mention, as Gustavo pointed out, are, let’s say at best, rather debatable claims and nowhere do you ‘cogently form arguments’ to back up these statements.
A little look at 2001 and the traumatic and long term effects it wrought on Argentine society might be in order if you are really sincere about being balanced, nuanced and so on. Obviously I don’t believe this to be the case because a cursory review of your blog reveals it to be as black and white as the aquatic birds that the Kirchners owe their nicknames to. Have you ever asked of the current government ‘are they really as bad as the popular media portray?’. Do you ever try to take an alternate perspective and focus on some good things they’ve done? Do you ever try to portray them ‘for what they really were/are: the good, the bad and the ugly.’? No, but you try to do this with Menem of all people and then claim ‘my loyalty is to the truth, not to emotion or sentiment or partisan predilection.’ Nothing could provide a more telling indictment against the sincerity of this statement than your own ‘journalism’ on this blog.
I’ll leave you with the same question that was asked by Matias Fernando Robinson in a previous post: ‘Tell me please which government in the last 30 years has been better than Nestor’s or CFK’s?’
Greg,
Thanks for leaving out the personal insults this time. Were they necessary the first time? Are you happy about yourself for having insulted me? What was your purpose in doing so? Do you think that doing so benefits anyone, wins you friends or helps you to convince people that your ideas are correct? Politics everywhere, but especially here in Argentina, are in desperate need of people who don’t question other people’s motives or insult or hurl spurious accusations. Why not elevate the level of dialogue by showing respect and genuine interest in others? Life is too short to waste it insulting others. Seriously. Let’s move forward with a bit more consideration and respect. The entire nation needs it.
As for the rest of your comments, I’d say this. Your cursory review of this blog seems to have been just that, cursory. When I say I’m interesting in knowing all sides of the issue, I’m serious. And, of course, you’re right, evaluating Menem’s administration means we should keep in mind what its policies led to afterwards, including the economic meltdown that followed in 2001-2002.
It’s not debatable that Argentina’s functioning telephone system, its inter-province highway system, and hospital networks improve enormously under Menem’s administration. They did. This is simple historical fact. What is debatable is if these improvements, and others, counterbalanced the other negatives.
As for your other accusation, here’s a link to a post I did looking at what CFK was doing right:
http://www.argentinepost.com/2009/01/what-cristina-is-doing-right.html
Finally, it seems to me that the best way to evaluate any administration is to compare it with what it’s possible of accomplishing. Could Argentina be doing better now? That’s the most relevant question to ask, not whether the Kirchners are better or worse than Menem or De la Rua or Duhalde.
Taos
Taos wrote:
“…the best way to evaluate any administration is to compare it with what it’s possible of accomplishing. Could Argentina be doing better now? ”
No doubt about it…Thousands could be using the now extinct railway system, millions of USD would have been saved from transferring (and emptying) Aerolineas back and forth, we would have less “barrios cerrados” and more regular neighborhoods, a stronger middle class, less social and economic polarization (which is the root of most problems nowadays in Argentina), more local industry, less military represores out in the streets, less Bingos and Casinos, and on and on…I do also can’t help to compare him with GW, although Bush is directly responsible for the death of many more (while Menem’s known deaths can only be traced to the victims of the illegal arm sale to Ecuador and the AMIA bombing victims). To me the perfect example of the Menem years nonsense is that huge and extremely lot in Palermo that was used (with tax dollars) to build a multimillion dollar mesquite and muslim center. So much for separation of state and church. The place is barely used nowadays and no doubt will decay in the coming years. How about a park, hospital, etc. for the taxpayers instead? Not to mention his personal fortune increase (Kirchner style), superficial lifestyle, etc.
It is unimaginable to me to even consider that we that we would be in worse shape nowadays if Menem had never existed. I’d rather have a De la Rua, and that is a lot to say! (at least he was honest).
Cris
Look, I was able to buy an apartment for my family in the 1990s, thanks to convertibility. I was also able to save, something I can’t do now. I’m not rich, I’m of the middle class. I know Menem wasn’t all good, but for me and my family, some of the things he did really helped us out. I still live in that apartment.
I think Taos is right, we need a more balanced vision of ourselves and our governments. We’re always arguing at each other, insulting each other (like you do Greg). I’m tired of that country. I don’t want it any more. We’re all in this together.
Menem pardoned Montoneros too, keep that in mind. Look, again, I’m not saying Menem was all good, but neither was he all bad. Let’s face the facts honestly.
I think this is a reasonable, balanced post.
All new presidents like to undo what others did. Hello! Look at Obama’s policies. They all like to leave their marks. It happens all the time; it happens in business as well. Menem certainly did good things for the country — and bad things as well (e.g. bad economic policies, irrational privatization, selling weapons to Ecuador, Jewish community centers being blown up on his watch, etc)
This video is a simple political PR stunt to highlight some of Menem’s achievements — nothing wrong with that. However, it does not paint the whole picture of his tenure to make people perceive him as a hero or the good guy.
Asking what our present government could do better is valid – but we need to dig deeper than that.
Forming an absolute opinion about Menem based on this video is completely naïve, unbalanced, ignorant and bias. It shows a lack of knowledge of Argentina, its history and politics.
Hey Argie,
Well put and fully agreed. I’m pretty confident most readers are able to digest the video for what it is: campaign propaganda. It’s obviously a one-sided piece aimed at making him look great.
Stay tuned for my next post about the Kirchners and how they – and Argentine presidents in general – differ from leaders elsewhere in their proclivity to undue the work of their predecessors.
Saludos,
Taos
[...] now famous campaign slogan, as mentioned last week in this post, was “Menem Did It.” Or, in Spanish, “Menem Lo [...]
Taos, what you said about comparing ourselves against what we can be, instead of what we have done, is wise. If only we could do that as a country.
If our standard is the gutter, which is what so many of our governments have been, then almost whatever we compare to that will seem impressive, including the Kirchners. They’re not taking people up in airplanes and throwing them into the river from thousands of feet up. Does that make them an impressive government? Our standard has to be higher, for those who govern and those who are governed. We should compare ourselves against what we can achieve.
This site is great. Keep it up. My only complaint is that maybe you concede too much to those who question you. Sometimes maybe you are too diplomatic.
Menem termino de sacarle lo poco que le quedaba a la Argentina.
Pero saliendo del tema politico un poco, donde estan las parodias de esta propaganda? las que hizo Tinelli en Videomatch?!! jaja!