Ítalo Argentino Lúder
Ítalo Argentino Lúder (December 31, 1916 – May 25, 2008) was an Argentinian politician who served as the acting President of Argentina from September 13, 1975 until October 16, 1975, for Isabel Perón.
Lúder was born in Rafaela, Santa Fe Province. He enrolled at his province's National University of the Littoral, where he received a juris doctor in 1938. Lúder was first elected to a seat in the Constitutional Convention of 1948, which drafted populist leader Juan Perón's 1949 replacement of the 1853 Constitution of Argentina. Following Perón's 1955 overthrow, however, the original document was reinstated, and the exiled Perón entrusted Lúder with his legal defense in absentia vis-á-vis extensive corruption charges.
Lúder was elected to the Argentine Senate as a Peronist for Santa Fe Province in 1973. Upon the resignation of Senate President Alejandro Díaz Bialet in July, Lúder was elected to that post. Following President Juan Perón's 1974 death, Isabel Perón became head of state, though by September 1975, mounting instability led her to announce a month's sick leave. Lacking a Vice President, the post of Acting President fell to Lúder, whose brief tenure would later be remembered chiefly for his signing Decrees 2770-2772, which created a "Council for Internal Security." The measure, combined with prior ones, was successful in quelling a rebellion led by the leftist ERP in Tucumán Province, though it in practice extended a state of siege, nationwide.
Lúder was nominated by Perón's Justicialist Party for the presidency during the 1983 elections that resulted in the return of democracy following nearly eight years of dictatorship. The strong support of his candidacy by the CGT labor union could not compensate, however, for the Peronists' late start (the nomination was secured less than two months before election day), the rival UCR nominee Raúl Alfonsín's skillful campaign, or voters' bitter memories of Isabel Perón's chaotic tenure, among other problems. Lúder was defeated on election night by around 12%.
He was appointed Defense Secretary by newly elected President Carlos Menem in 1989, but a cabinet shake-up on the heels of a crisis at the end of the year led to his replacement, whereby Lúder was named Ambassador to France. Ítalo Lúder died from complications of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 91, on May 25, 2008, in Buenos Aires.
[edit] External links
- (Spanish) Italo Luder dies
