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- Government
-
- Long-form name: Argentine Republic
-
- Type: republic
-
- Capital: Buenos Aires
-
- Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (provincias, singular -
- provincia), and 1 district** (distrito); Buenos Aires,
- Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes, Distrito
- Federal**, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja,
- Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San
- Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del
- Fuego, Tucuman; note - the national territory is in the process
- of becoming a province; the US does not recognize claims to
- Antarctica
-
- Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)
-
- Constitution: 1 May 1853
-
- Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems;
- has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
-
- National holiday: Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)
-
- Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
-
- Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso
- Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a
- lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados)
-
- Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
-
- Leaders:
-
- Chief of State and Head of Government: President Carlos Saul
- MENEM (since 8 July 1989); Vice President (position vacant)
-
- Political parties and leaders: Justicialist Party (JP), Carlos
- Saul MENEM, Peronist umbrella political organization; Radical
- Civic Union (UCR), Mario LOSADA, moderately left of center;
- Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), Jorge AGUADO, conservative
- party; Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar ALENDE, leftist party;
- several provincial parties
-
- Suffrage: universal at age 18
-
- Elections:
-
- Chamber of Deputies: last held in three phases during late
- 1991 for half of 254 seats, total current breakdown of seats -
- JP 122, UCR 85, UCD 10, other 37
-
- President: last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held NA May
- 1995); results - Carlos Saul MENEM was elected
-
- Senate: last held May 1989, but provincial elections in late
- 1991 set the stage for indirect elections by provincial
- senators for one-third of 46 seats in the national senate in May
- 1992; total current breakdown of seats - JP 27, UCR 14, others
- 5
-
- Communists: some 70,000 members in various party organizations,
- including a small nucleus of activists
-
- Other political or pressure groups: Peronist-dominated labor
- movement, General Confederation of Labor (Peronist-leaning
- umbrella labor organization), Argentine Industrial Union
- (manufacturers' association), Argentine Rural Society (large
- landowners' association), business organizations, students, the
- Roman Catholic Church, the Armed Forces
-
- Member of: AfDB, AG (observer), CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-6, G-11,
- G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
- ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT,
- INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, LORCS, MERCOSUR, OAS,
- PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG,
- UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
-
- Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Carlos ORTIZ DE ROZAS;
- Chancery at 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009;
- telephone (202) 939-6400 through 6403; there are Argentine
- Consulates General in Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San
- Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Consulates in
- Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles
-
- US: Ambassador Terence A. TODMAN; Embassy at 4300 Colombia,
- 1425 Buenos Aires (mailing address is APO AA 34034); telephone
- [54] (1) 774- 7611 or 8811, 9911; Telex 18156 AMEMBAR
-
- Flag: three equal horizontal bands of light blue (top), white,
- and light blue; centered in the white band is a radiant yellow
- sun with a human face known as the Sun of May
-
-