2003 in Argentina
Encyclopedia
January
- 3 January: The Assembly of the Justicialist PartyJusticialist PartyThe Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
, with three presidential candidates, proposes using the Ley de LemasLey de Lemas||The ley de lemas is the Spanish name of the double simultaneous voting system which is, or has been, used in elections in Argentina, Uruguay and Honduras...
in the main election instead of selecting one candidate in primaries. The opposition is outraged.
February
- 15 February: Worldwide protests against the imminent U.S. attack on Iraq. In Argentina, thousands demonstrate in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Santa Fe, Jujuy, Ushuaia and many other cities.
- 27 February: Archbishop of Santa Fe, Edgardo Gabriel StorniEdgardo Gabriel StorniEdgardo Gabriel Storni was the Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, Argentina.Storni was ordered a priest on 23 December 1961, and was appointed Titular Bishop of Croae and Auxiliary Bishop of Santa Fe in 1977...
, is accused of sexual abuseSexual abuseSexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
on a seminarist, and absolved from two previous similar accusations.
April
- 27 April: Presidential elections, including three Justicialist candidates running separately. Carlos MenemCarlos MenemCarlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
beats Néstor KirchnerNéstor KirchnerNéstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
in the first voting round. Runoff election is scheduled for 18 May. - 29 April: Heavy rainfall floods2003 Santa Fe floodThis article is about the flooding of Santa Fe, capital of the , in April 2003. Santa Fe is the fifth most populated city in Argentina , and it is surrounded by rivers...
7 departments of Santa Fe ProvinceSanta Fe ProvinceThe Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
, including much of the capital. The Salado River, Argentina overflows. 100,000 people have to be evacuated.
May
- 14 May: Carlos Menem abandons his presidential aspirations in light of surveys showing an overwhelming defeat in the runoff election.
- 20 May: The Rosario-Victoria BridgeRosario-Victoria BridgeRosario-Victoria Bridge is the informal name of the physical connection between the Argentine cities of Rosario and Victoria ....
is finished and opened to public access, joining two provinces over the Paraná RiverParaná RiverThe Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...
. - 25 May: Néstor KirchnerNéstor KirchnerNéstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
assumes the presidencyPresident of ArgentinaThe President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
. Several Latin American presidents, including Fidel CastroFidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, attend the inauguration. - 27 May: President Kirchner retires 16 Army generals, starting a renewal of the Armed Forces. He also visits Entre RíosEntre Ríos ProvinceEntre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....
and personally settles a 2-month-long teacher strike. - 30 May: The government announces that road and highway concession contracts will not be renewed, and that fees and contracts of all privatized services will be revised.
June
- June 4: In a national speech on TV, President Kirchner denounces pressure from the Supreme Court (with a majority of Justices appointed by former President Menem), refuses to "negotiate behind society's back" and asks Congress to consider impeachment of the offending Justices.
- June 5: The SIDESecretaría de InteligenciaSecretaría de Inteligencia is the premier intelligence agency of the Argentine Republic and head of its National Intelligence System....
's files on the AMIA bombingAMIA BombingThe AMIA bombing was an attack on the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina building in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994, that killed 85 people and injured hundreds. It was Argentina's deadliest bombing...
are to be declassified. - 16 June: A group of neighbors of the town of Arequito, Santa FeArequito, Santa FeArequito is a town in the south of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, southwest from the provincial capital and west of Rosario. It has a population of about 7,000 inhabitants as per the ....
assault a police station, enraged by a murder. Police and a judge are accused of disregarding that and other cases. - 19 June: The retired's welfare administration, PAMI, is placed under temporal state surveillance to investigate corruption.
- People attack a police station in Arrecifes, Buenos Aires, for the same reasons as in Arequito three days ago.
August
- 6 August: A blackout leaves 400,000 people without electricity in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, one after government representatives deny a petition to raise power fees. President Kirchner voices suspicion.
- 11 August: Argentina adheres to the Convention on the imprescriptibility of war crimes and crimes against humanity. At the same time, Congress discusses repealing the laws that ended trials of military involved in the Proceso, and Criminal Chamber of the judiciary supports the involvement of Spanish judge Baltasar GarzónBaltasar GarzónBaltasar Garzón Real is a Spanish jurist who served on Spain's central criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional. He was the examining magistrate of the Juzgado Central de Instrucción No...
, who has asked for the arrest of 46 Argentinians. - 12 August: The Chamber of Deputies repeals the "Law of Obedience Due" and the "Full Stop Law".
- 13 August: The Senate accuses Supreme Justice Eduardo Moliné O'Connor, who will be subject to "political trial" (impeachmentImpeachmentImpeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
). - 14 August: A judge orders the arrest of Roberto Cirilo Perdía, Fernando Hugo Vaca Narvaja and Mario Eduardo Firmenich, former members of the far-leftist organization MontonerosMontonerosMontoneros was an Argentine Peronist urban guerrilla group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to 19th century Argentinian history. After Juan Perón's return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing...
, accused of leading their followers into a trap in 1979. - 17 August: The National Women's Meeting demonstrates in RosarioRosarioRosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
, asking for free access to contraceptives and the right to abortion, and against the involvement of the Catholic Church in the issue. - 23 August: Iran cuts commercial ties with Argentina over the arrest in Britain of its former ambassador, Hadi Soleimanpour, for alleged involvement in the 1994 AMIA bombingAMIA BombingThe AMIA bombing was an attack on the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina building in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994, that killed 85 people and injured hundreds. It was Argentina's deadliest bombing...
. - 24 August: Citizens of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires vote to elect a mayor. In the first round, Mauricio MacriMauricio MacriMauricio Macri is an Argentine businessman turned politician, and Head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Son of Francisco Macri, a businessman of Italian origin prominent in the industrial and construction sectors, he represented the City of Buenos Aires in the Lower House of...
gets about 4% more votes than Aníbal IbarraAníbal IbarraAníbal Ibarra is an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Buenos Aires from 2000 to 2006.-Biography:Ibarra was born in Lomas de Zamora, a district located in the southern region of Greater Buenos Aires. His father was a Paraguayan member of the PLRA who left his country during the...
, not enough to avoid a runoff. - 26 August: The retired people's administrative entity, PAMI, for the first time acknowledges the pension rights of a homosexual man in cohabitation with another.
October
- 10 October: Sports - Rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
: The 2003 Rugby World Cup2003 Rugby World CupThe 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
, with 20 countries competing for the William Webb EllisWilliam Webb EllisRev. William Webb Ellis was an Anglican clergyman who is famous for allegedly being the inventor of Rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School....
Trophy over a 7 week period, starts after a spectacular opening ceremony at the Telstra Stadium, SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
with AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
defeating ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
24-8 in the opening match.
December
- 20 December: Former ArgentinianArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
president Carlos MenemCarlos MenemCarlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
is charged with tax fraud for failing to declare a SwissSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
bank account containing $600,000. If convicted he could be debarred from public office.
Deaths
- 12 January: De facto President Leopoldo GaltieriLeopoldo GaltieriLeopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli was an Argentine general and President of Argentina from December 22, 1981 to June 18, 1982, during the last military dictatorship . The death squad Intelligence Battalion 601 directly reported to him...
(b. 1926) - 26 May: Labour unionist, human rights activist and politician Alfredo BravoAlfredo BravoAlfredo Bravo was an Argentine Socialist politician, teacher, leader of the teachers' union CTERA, human rights fighter, and legislator.-Life and times:...
(b. 1925) - 10 June: TechintTechintTechint is a conglomerate multinational company founded in Milan in September 1945 by Italian industrialist Agostino Rocca and headquartered in Milan and Buenos Aires . Techint comprises more than 100 companies operating worldwide in the following areas of business: Engineering & Construction,...
's leader, businessman Roberto RoccaRoberto RoccaRoberto Rocca was a prominent Italian Argentine businessman.-Overview:Roberto Rocca was born in Milan, in 1922, as the eldest son of Maria Queirazza and Agostino Rocca...
(b. 1922) - 5 July: Bebu SilvettiBebu SilvettiJuan Fernando Silvetti Adorno , professionally known as Bebu Silvetti or simply Silvetti, was an Argentine pianist, composer, conductor, arranger and record producer...
, popular musician, songwriter and arranger.