Mauricio Macri

Mauricio Macri (born February 8, 1959) is an Argentine engineer, who served as president of Argentina from 2015 to 2019 after defeating the Kirchnerist candidate Daniel Scioli in a run-off election. As President, he pursued neoliberal economic reforms which he lifted tariffs, currency controls, energy subsidies, and the Argentine peso's fixed exchange rate. He also supported Juan Guaidó over Nicolás Maduro in the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, helped negotiate a free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, withdrew Argentina from the Union of South American Nations, improved relations with the United States and the Pacific Alliance, and introduced anti-corruption policies. Despite his reforms, the Argentine economy continued declining during his presidency as inflation, foreign debt, and business failures rose while real wages dropped. His 2019 reelection campaign was defeated by Alberto Fernández.

There is a new generation in politics that wants to be part of the 21st century.

Quotes

• I understand that many of the decisions I have taken are not so easy for many people.
• If there were any alternative to increasing tariffs, I would have taken it, but there is not.
• My concern is making things work. It is what my people need.[1]
• I promised to tell people the truth. I don’t believe in messianic leaderships but in teamwork.[2]
• It is not so easy to [rebalance] an economy after a decade of lies. They were taking Argentina towards the same kind of problems that Venezuela is facing now.[3]
• Things cannot change in just seven months, but every day we improve a little bit more.[4]
• We want to be part of the world, part of the future, part of the solution.[5]
• I can’t understand how people can say they [Maduro's Venezuela] are practising democracy — that’s not democracy.[6]
• This shows a different Argentina. There is a new generation in politics that wants to be part of the 21st century.[7]