Mauricio Macri (born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He previously served as Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires from 2007 to 2015, and was a member of the Chamber of Deputies representing Buenos Aires from 2005 to 2007. Ideologically, he identifies himself as a liberal and conservative on the Argentine centre-right.
Born in Tandil, Macri attended Columbia University for business school. After embarking on a business career, he was kidnapped in 1991, and upon being released, the experience prompted him to enter politics. However, he first served as president of football club Boca Juniors from 1994 to 2007, reestablishing the club's profitability, which in turn raised his public profile. In 2003 he launched Compromiso por el Cambio ("Commitment for Change"), eventually developing it into the modern Propuesta Republicana (PRO, "Republican Proposal") party in 2005, of which he has been its leader ever since. Following an unsuccessful bid for Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires in 2003, Macri was elected to the office in 2007 and was re-elected in 2011. Four years later he was elected president of Argentina in the 2015 general election, in the first presidential runoff ballotage in Argentine history.note
Macri's presidency focused on reforming the national economy and improving diplomatic relations. He moved from a fixed exchange-rate system to a floating one, and removed taxes on exports and reduced subsidies on energy to reduce the fiscal deficit. He re-opened Argentina to international markets by lifting currency controls (which he reinstated shortly before his term ended), restructuring sovereign debt, and pressing free-market solutions. Domestically, he pursued moderate socially liberal policies, and liberalized the energy sector.
On foreign policy, Macri improved the relations with the United States, and from Mercosur achieved a free trade agreement with the European Union and closer ties with the Pacific Alliance. During his first week in office, Macri annulled the memorandum of understanding between Argentina and Iran, which would have established a joint investigation into the 1994 bombing with AMIA, a terrorist attack on a Jewish organization for which Argentina blamed Hezbollah and Iran, and which was criticized for supposedly seeking impunity for Iranians involved in the attack.
His legislative pursuits varied in efficacy and received mixed reception from Argentines and globally. His presidency has been praised for leaving a legacy of anti-corruption and increasing Argentina's sovereign marketability, but has been criticized for failing to materially reform the economy and falling short of containing inflation, as real wages declined during his term in office and a large number of small and medium-sized companies went out of business. In the 2019 general election, he became the first incumbent president in Argentina to lose reelection to a second term when he was defeated by Alberto Fernandez, who was backed by Macri's predecessor Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (who also ran as Alberto's running mate).
Macri is also known for his love for Queen, to the point most appearances of him in television (or at the least the ones more relaxed that have less to do with his politics) usually end with him being coaxed into breaking into a Freddie Mercury impersonation; at the wedding reception for his marriage with his third wife, he wore a fake moustache as part of his impersonation and accidentally swallowed it, and then-Minister of Health of Buenos Aires Jorge Lemus had to perform the Heimlich maneuver to save his life. He is also a professional bridge player, even representing Argentina at the 45th World Bridge Championships in 2022.
Works featuring Macri:
Live-Action TV- He is one of the many Argentine politicians parodied on Argentine variety show ShowMatch. He even appeared in at least one episode alongside the comedian parodying him, such as the time they sang
Queen's "Somebody to Love" together.
