Luis Angel Gonzalez Macchi
Luis Ángel González Macchi (read the surname of the Italian; IPA: /maki/), (Asunción, Paraguay, December 13, 1947), is a politician and Paraguayan lawyer. He was the 49th President of the Republic of Paraguay from March 28, 1999 to August 15, 2003.
Biography
Luis Ángel González Macchi was born in Asunción on December 13, 1947, to Julia Macchi and Saúl González. He has a total of seven children. He is currently married to Susana Galli, with whom he had two of his daughters. He graduated as a lawyer.
He completed his primary studies at the "República do Brasil" School, his secondary education at the "Sagrado Corazón de Jesús" College, Salesianito, and his university studies at the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the National University of Asunción. He is affiliated with the National Republican Association (Colorado Party).
In 1970 he was awarded a scholarship to Madrid, Spain to take courses and a technical internship on accelerated professional training and in 1979 he participated in seminars on human resources training for middle management and managerial levels, in specialized centers in Italy, Germany, England, Switzerland and Portugal. He was general director and president of the board of directors of the National Service for Professional Promotion (SNPP), under the Ministry of Justice and Labor.
He chaired numerous official missions abroad such as those carried out by the Inter-American Center for Research and Documentation on Vocational Training in Latin America (CINTERFOR), of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Kingston, Jamaica, 1972; Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1973; San Jose, Costa Rica, 1974; Caracas, Venezuela, 1976; Mexico City, Mexico, 1978; Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 1979; Washington, United States, 1981; Cartagena, Colombia, 1984; Salvador de Bahía, Brazil in 1989, among other conclaves.
From 1993 to 1998 he held the seat of national deputy. He is affiliated with the National Republican Association (Colorado Party). In said exercise, he was a national delegate abroad before different parliamentary forums.
As president of the Senate, González Macchi took office on March 28, 1999, five days after the assassination of Vice President Luis María Argaña and the subsequent resignation of President Raúl Cubas Grau, amid accusations of murder involving the Cubas own party. In accordance with the current Constitution, he should have completed the five-year term for which President Cubas was elected, a period that ended on August 15, 2003.
President
He assumed the presidency of the Republic of Paraguay on Sunday, March 28 at 8:30 p.m., in a ceremony held at the headquarters of the National Congress, swearing in as Constitutional President of the Republic before the president of the Chamber of Deputies, clerk Walter Bower. The presidential attributes were imposed by Dr. Wildo Rienzi Galeano, president of the Supreme Court of Justice.
As president, González Macchi attempted to form a coalition government to encourage cooperation within Paraguay and repair the economy that was damaged by the political crisis. The coalition did not last long, as the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA) left the coalition in 2000, leaving the government without a majority in Congress. González Macchi became very unpopular due to the serious economic crisis and found serious problems in Congress, because few legislators were willing to vote in favor of the bills promoted by the Paraguayan executive branch.
On May 19, 2000, González Macchi had to face a coup attempt, which --although it failed-- weakened the power of the president. The following year, he had to face an impeachment attempt against him by the National Congress. This initiative by the opponents failed, just like the coup attempt the previous year. Despite being politically weakened, he was able to maintain his government until the 2003 elections, in which Nicanor Duarte Frutos won. Finally, González Macchi left office on August 15, 2003.
During his government, he came to declare a state of emergency twice, in May 2000 (due to an attempted coup d'état) and in July 2002 (due to the severe demonstrations for considering González Macchi, a president & #39;illegitimate').
His economic management was characterized by a great degree of ineffectiveness and lack of coordination at all levels, in addition to serious allegations of mismanagement and corruption. The level of corruption and denunciations reached such a high level that it was discovered that the presidential car was a stolen vehicle in Brazil. In addition, diversion of funds from social security and the Central Bank were denounced. González Macchi was charged in a case for the diversion of public funds to an account in the United States. These funds have already been recovered by the Paraguayan state thanks to a ruling by a US court.
In Paraguay, a public oral trial began on May 8, 2006. He was also accused of the alleged illegitimate origin of funds deposited in a numbered account in Switzerland, being sentenced to 6 years in prison, whose appeal was failed his favor, being released from charges for crimes committed during his presidency.[citation required]