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Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman who served as the President of Argentina from 10 December 1983, to 8 July 1989. Born in Chascomús, Buenos Aires Province, he began his studies of law at the National University of La Plata and was a graduate of the University of Buenos Aires. He was affiliated with the Radical Civic Union (UCR), joining the faction of Ricardo Balbín after the party split. He was elected a deputy in the legislature of the Buenos Aires province in 1958, during the presidency of Arturo Frondizi, and a national deputy during the presidency of Arturo Umberto Illia. He opposed both sides of the Dirty war, and several times filed a ''Habeas corpus'', requesting the freedom of victims of forced disappearances, during the National Reorganization Process. He denounced the crimes of the military dictatorship of other countries, and opposed the actions of both sides in the Falklands War as well. He became the leader of the UCR after Balbín's death, and was the Radical candidate for the presidency in the 1983 elections, which he won. When he became president, he sent a bill to the Congress to revoke the self-amnesty law established by the military. He established the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons to investigate the crimes committed by the military, which led to the Trial of the Juntas and resulted in the sentencing of the heads of the former regime. Discontent within the military led to the mutinies of the ''Carapintadas'', leading Alfonsín to appease them with the ''full stop law'' and the ''law of Due Obedience''. He also had conflicts with the unions, which were controlled by the opposing Justicialist Party. He resolved the Beagle conflict, increased trade with Brazil, and proposed the creation of the Contadora support group to mediate between the United States and the Nicaraguan Contras. He passed the first divorce law of Argentina. He initiated the Austral plan to improve the national economy, but that plan, as well as the Spring plan, failed. The resulting hyperinflation and riots led to his defeat in the 1989 presidential elections, which was won by Peronist Carlos Menem. He continued as the leader of the UCR, and opposed the presidency of Carlos Menem. He initiated the Pact of Olivos with Menem in order to negotiate the terms for the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution. Fernando de la Rúa led a faction of the UCR that opposed the pact, and eventually became president in 1999. De la Rúa resigned during the December 2001 riots, and Alfonsín's faction provided the support needed for the Peronist Eduardo Duhalde to be appointed president by the Congress. Alfonsín died of lung cancer on 31 March 2009, at the age of 82, and was given a large state funeral. == Early life and career == Alfonsín was born on 12 March 1927, in the city of Chascomús, 123 km (76 mi) south of Buenos Aires. His parents were Serafín Raúl Alfonsín Ochoa and Ana María Foulkes. His father was of Galician and German descent and his mother was of Irish descent.〔Lagleyze, p. 8〕 Following his elementary schooling, he enrolled at the General San Martín Military Lyceum, graduating after five years as a second lieutenant. He did not pursue a military career, and began studying law instead. He began his studies at the National University of La Plata, and completed them at the University of Buenos Aires, graduating at the age of 23. He married María Lorenza Barreneche in 1949. They moved to Mendoza, La Plata, and returned to Chascomús. They had six sons, of whom only Ricardo Alfonsín would also follow a political career.〔Lagleyze, pp. 9–10〕 Alfonsín bought a local newspaper (''El Imparcial''). He joined the Radical Civic Union (UCR) in 1946, as a member of the Intransigent Renewal Movement, a faction of the party that opposed the incorporation of the UCR into the Democratic Union coalition. He was appointed president of the party committee in Chascomús in 1951, and was elected to the city council in 1954. He was detained for a brief time, during the reaction of the government of Juan Perón to the bombing of Plaza de Mayo. The ''Revolución Libertadora'' ousted Perón from the national government; Alfonsín was again briefly detained and forced to leave his office in the city council. The UCR broke up into two parties: the Intransigent Radical Civic Union (UCRI), led by Arturo Frondizi, and the People's Radical Civic Union (UCRP), led by Ricardo Balbín and Crisólogo Larralde. Alfonsín did not like the split, but opted to follow the UCRP.〔Lagleyze, pp. 10–13〕 Alfonsín was elected deputy for the legislature of the Buenos Aires province in 1958, on the UCRP ticket, and was reelected in 1962. He moved to La Plata, capital of the province, during his tenure. President Frondizi was ousted by a military coup on 29 March 1962, which also closed the provincial legislature. Alfonsín returned to Chascomús. The UCRP prevailed over the UCRI the following year, leading to the presidency of Arturo Umberto Illia. Alfonsín was elected a national deputy, and then vice president of the UCRP bloc in the congress. In 1963 he was appointed president of the party committee for the province of Buenos Aires.〔Lagleyze, pp. 13–14〕 Illia was deposed by a new military coup in June 1966, the ''Argentine Revolution''. Alfonsín was detained while trying to hold a political rally in La Plata, and a second time when he tried to re-open the UCRP committee. He was forced to resign as deputy in November 1966. He was detained a third time in 1968 after a political rally in La Plata. He also wrote opinion articles in newspapers, under the pseudonyms Alfonso Carrido Lura and Serafín Feijó. The dirty war began during this time, as many guerrilla groups rejected both the right-wing military dictatorship and the civil governments, preferring instead a left-wing dictatorship aligned with the Soviet Union, as in the Cuban revolution. Alfonsín clarified in his articles that he rejected both the military dictatorship and the guerrillas, asking instead for free elections. The UCRP became the UCR once more; and the UCRI was turned into the Intransigent Party. Alfonsín created the Movement for Renewal and Change within the UCR, to challenge Balbín's leadership of the party. The military dictatorship finally called for free elections, allowing Peronism (which had been banned since 1955) to take part in them. Balbín defeated Alfonsín in the primary elections, but lost in the main ones. Alfonsín was elected deputy once more.〔Lagleyze, pp. 14–19〕 Illia was invited in 1975 to a diplomatic mission to the Soviet Union; he declined and proposed instead. Upon his return, Alfonsín became one of the founding members of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights. He served as the defense lawyer for Mario Roberto Santucho, leader of the ERP guerrillas, but only to carry out due process of law, and not because of a genuine desire to support him.〔Rock, p. 387〕 The 1976 Argentine coup d'état against President Isabel Martínez de Perón started the National Reorganization Process. Alfonsín filed several ''Habeas corpus'' motions, requesting the freedom of victims of forced disappearances. He also visited other countries, denouncing those disappearances and violations of human rights. He established the magazine ''Propuesta y control'' in 1976, one of the few magazines that criticized the military dictatorship during its early stages. The magazine was published up to 1978. His editorials were collected in 1980 in the book ''La cuestión argentina''. He did not support the 1982 Falklands War, and criticized both the Argentine attack and the British counterattack.〔 The Argentine defeat in the war marked the decline of the military dictatorship. The main political parties united in the ''Multipartidaria'', issuing a joint request to the dictatorship to call for elections.〔Rock, p. 384〕 Alfonsín proposed the appointment of Arturo Illia as the head of state of a transition government, similar to the Metapolitefsi in Greece. The Movement for Renewal and Change took control of the UCR; Balbín had died the previous year.〔Lagleyze, pp. 20–23〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Raúl Alfonsín」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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