uego and Antartida e Islas del
Atlantico Sur*, Tucuman

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: National 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 (Camera 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 Eduardo DUHALDE (since 8 July 1989)

Political parties and leaders:
Justicialist Party (JP), Antonio Cafiero, Peronist umbrella political
organization; Radical Civic Union (UCR), Raul Alfonsin, moderately
left of center; Union of the Democratic Center (UCEDE), Alvaro
Alsogaray, conservative party; Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar
Alende, leftist party; several provincial parties

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections:
President--last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held May 1995);
results--Carlos Saul Menem was elected;

Chamber of Deputies--last held 14 May 1989 (next to be
held May 1991); results--JP 47%, UCR 30%, UDC 7%, other 16%;
seats--(254 total); JP 122, UCR 93, UDC 11, other 28

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: CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT, Group of Eight, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC,
ICAO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, ISO, ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission,
IWC--International Wheat Council, LAIA, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU,
WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO, WSG

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Guido Jose Maria DI TELLA;
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),