Martín Menem

Martín Alexis Menem (born 19 April 1975) is an Argentine lawyer, businessman and politician, elected national deputy for La Rioja. He served as provincial deputy of La Rioja between 2021 and 2023. He was appointed to preside over the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies as of December 10, 2023.

Early life and career
Martín was born on 19 April 1975, in the Argentine province of La Rioja. Son of the former senator, Eduardo Menem and the social worker, Susana Cristina Valente. He is the nephew of former president Carlos Menem. At the age of fifteen he moved to the City of Buenos Aires.

In 1997, after studying law at the Universidad de Belgrano, he obtained his law degree. He later founded “Gentech”, a dietary supplement company.

In May 2002, he was kidnapped in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Núñez and released three hours later in Bernal, Quilmes district, after paying a ransom of 1,800 pesos. According to judicial and police sources, Menem was kidnapped along with three friends by eight men in three vehicles. However, both Menem and his family denied the incident, ensuring that nothing strange had happened.

Political career
He entered politics in 2021 with the help of La Libertad Avanza, the coalition led by Javier Milei, with whom he held a joint electoral event, this being the only one carried out by him outside the City of Buenos Aires.

He was elected provincial deputy with 11.55% of the votes, in the 2021 provincial elections, with the Union of the Democratic Center for the Capital department (UCEDE).

He was a candidate for governor of La Rioja, in the provincial elections of May 2023. He was defeated, coming third with 14.70% of the votes, against the Peronist candidate Ricardo Quintela who obtained 52.63% of the votes. His application generated controversies in the province, highlighting that he did not live there 30 years ago.

He was elected national deputy in the 2023 legislative elections, representing La Rioja, for La Libertad Avanza (which had been founded as a provincial party in said district) with 38.01% of the votes. Although, on 7 December, he was elected as president of the Chamber of Deputies by all the parliamentary blocs, with the exception of the Left Front bloc, which abstained, as it traditionally does.