RaUl AlfonsIn[rA-OOl´ AlfOnsEn´] Pronunciation Key (RaUl Ricardo AlfonsIn Foulkes), 1927–, president of Argentina (1983–89).
He had less success in stemming Argentina's hyper-inflation, and his failure in economic policy paved the way for the victory of the Peronist candidate, Carlos SaUl Menem, in the presidential elections of 1989.
AlfonsIn was elected to the Argentine senate in 2001.
International Labour Conference, Alfonsin dwelt a length on the debt burden of the third world and its negative impact on third world development as well as unemployment in the north.
Alfonsin also conceded at his press conference that the PLEA of the Carthegena Group for a political dialogue between creditor and debtor countries, and the appeals of the Presidents of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to the Venice Summit, had not yielded "any positive answers".
In his speech, Alfonsin noted that the ILO was often termed "the social conscience of world development" and evoked its moral authority for a joint effort to turn ethical principles into "a concrete and tangible reality in the life of men and women throughout the world".
It was also a victory for Argentine President RaulAlfonsin’s belief that the rule of law must be upheld by the institutions charged with enforcing it.
The Armed Forces, for their part, believed Alfonsin had for political reasons become the implement of international terrorism in a witch hunt which sought to prosecute military officers for acts committed by the Armed Forces in the legitimate defense of Argentina against a guerrilla insurgency.
Alfonsin had made "reconstitution of the rule of law" one of the watchwords of his campaign, and had promised justice in resolving the crimes of the Dirty War.
Argentina celebrates 20 years of democracy - PRAVDA.Ru(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
Alfonsin president of the Socialist International for Latin America and vice-president of this political organization gained world's attention when pushed ahead the trial of the juntas that ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1983, responsible for 30,000 "disappeared" people.
Alfonsin began his mandate with a strong support from the population.
In 1987, Alfonsin was forced to setback and made the Congress to pass amnesty laws that freed hundreds of low ranked officers, whose crimes remained unpunished.
December 1983-Raul Alfonsin of the Radical Party was elected president.
December 24, 1986-Bowing to pressure from the military and other powerful groups to downplay the trials Alfonsin proposed a law to Congress that established a maximum period of 60 days for the initiation of all new trials against military officers.²
The Final Stop law was passed under the guise of a reconciliation between Argentines, but the political affect of the law backfired and cases against the military officials quadrupled overnight.
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To the surprise of almost everyone, RaulAlfonsin, a fifty-seven-year-old former small-town lawyer, and his Radical Party won the election easily.
Within the first few weeks of his administration, he retired dozens of generals and, after persuading congress to nullify the military's self-amnesty law, ordered the prosecution of the junta leaders.
Alfonsin also created a blue-ribbon panel of prominent Argentines chaired by the novelist Ernesto Sabato to prove the fate of the disappeared.
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Alfonsin, former president of Argentinia, speaks on campus
RaulAlfonsin, former president of Argentina, will speak on “Human Rights and Transitions to Democracy” to celebrate the 50
Alfonsin’s administration commissioned the world’s first “truth commission” to investigate war crimes and human rights abuses committed during Argentina’s military dictatorship, often referred to as the “dirty war.” His administration conducted the first war crimes trials since Nuremberg, successfully convicting several high-ranking military officials of having committed human rights abuses during the war.
President Alfonsin and distinguished guests and ladies and gentlemen, it's a great pleasure for me to welcome you to the White House.
I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate President Alfonsin, who is, on behalf of the Argentine people, accepting the international democracy prize from the Center for Democracy.
President Alfonsin, you've already demonstrated to your countrymen and to all the world that you're willing to live up to the enormous trust that you hold in your hands.
During Argentina's eight-year military dictatorship the industrial city of Quilmes, near Buenos Aires, was known as the "capital of repression," so harsh was the brutality against workers there.
But after the ruling junta was replaced by a centrist government, in late 1983, the people of Quilmes shared the conviction of newly elected President RaulAlfonsin that the nightmare was over.
The repression continues, although it is more selective than in the days of the "dirty war," with its mass arrests and disappearances.
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Within a week, four presidents had been deposed, factories and workplaces were put under workers' control, and popular neighbourhood assemblies organised demonstrations all over the country.
The real motor force behind the uprising were the piqueteros: groups of workers who had lost their jobs under the neoliberal globalisation process started during the 1970s military dictatorship and accelerated under presidents RaulAlfonsin and Carlos Menem in the 1980s and 1990s.
The piqueteros movement started outside of big cities, particularly in the northern region of the country, where industry had been mainly under state control until brutal privatisation resulted in massive job losses.
National commission on the disappeared (CONADEP) handed its shocking report to the newly elected democratic government, led by president Raul Alfonsín, a process of bringing the responsible for the horrors to a court of law began.
As the legal proceedings were taking place, enormous military pressure was building upon the democratic government.
