Former President Is Back in Argentina

Former President Carlos Menem was greeted by hundreds of cheering supporters Wednesday as he returned to Argentina after months spent abroad to avoid arrest.

Menem announced that he would run again for the presidency after an Argentine judge last week dismissed a warrant against him.

Well-wishers shouted “Viva, Carlos!” as the 74-year-old politician arrived in La Rioja, about 600 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.

“Many of you thought I’d never be back!” he said.

Menem governed South America’s second-largest economy for two terms from 1989 until 1999, but since then has been dogged by scandals dating to his time in power.

The former leader has vowed to organize a center-right political front against President Nestor Kirchner, his left-of-center rival within the ruling Peronist party. Kirchner came to power last year after Menem pulled out of the presidential race.

Menem has lived the last nine months in Chile. A judge struck down an arrest warrant for the former president, who was wanted for questioning in an inquiry into multimillion-dollar bank accounts in Switzerland. Menem said Swiss investigators determined that no accounts in his name existed when he was president.

It’s unclear whether Menem can overcome soaring negative poll ratings to mount a serious presidential challenge in 2007. Many Argentines still blame lavish public borrowing and spending through the Menem years for the deep economic crisis in late 2001 and in 2002.

In 2001, Menem spent several months under house arrest in connection with a separate federal investigation into alleged arms trafficking during his administration. He was cleared of accusations of “illicit association” in that case.