Fernando de la Rúa

Fernando de la Rúa Bruno (born September 15 1937) is an Argentine politician. He was president of the country from December 10 1999 to December 21 2001 for the Alianza (political alliance by the Radical Civic Union and the Frepaso ).

He was forced out of office in the midst of the December 2001 financial crisis that led to the meltdown of the Argentine economy, at a time when the rallying cry of the Argentine people was: ¡que se vayan todos! ("away with them all!" – referring to the governing class; and many Argentines in jest referred to him as "de la Ruina" due to the financial bankruptcy of the government at the time). His last Economic Minister wa Domingo Cavallo who was also Carlos Menem minister. De la Rúa is often blamed for various bad decisions, for example for having broken the Argentine peso currency bond to the U.S. dollar.

In retrospect however, de la Rúa cannot be held wholly responsible for all the financial difficulties of that time, as he moved into the office, already inheriting a financial disaster and a huge national debt mainly caused by his predecessor Carlos Menem.

His son Antonio, whose serial romances with celebrities have been publicized widely by gossip magazines, is currently dating Colombian singer Shakira.