1989
Carlos Menem of the Peronist party is elected president. He imposes an economic austerity programme.

1990 - Full diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom are restored, with Argentina still maintaining its claim to the Falklands.

1992 - Argentina introduces a new currency, the peso, which is pegged to the US dollar. A bomb is placed in the Israeli embassy, 29 people are killed.

1994 - A Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires is bombed. 86 people are killed and more than 200 injured.

1995 - Menem is re-elected.

1996 - Finance Minister Domingo Cavallo is dismissed. Economic hardship leads to a general strike in September.

1997 - A judge in Spain issues orders for the arrest of former Argentine military officers on charges of participating in the kidnapping and killing of Spanish citizens during the 'Dirty War'. Argentine amnesty laws protect the accused.

Recession bites

1998 - Argentine judges order arrests in connection with the abduction of hundreds of babies from women detained during the 'Dirty War'.

Recession starts.

1999 - Fernando de la Rua of the centre-left Alianza opposition coalition wins the presidency, inherits 114 billion-dollar public debt.

2000 - Strikes and fuel tax protests. Beef exports slump after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Soya exports suffer from concerns over the use of genetically modified varieties. The IMF grants Argentina an aid package of nearly 40 billion dollars.

2001 February - Argentina recalls its ambassador to Cuba after President Castro accuses Argentina of 'licking the yankee boot'. Castro made the remarks in an apparent reference to Argentina's support for US condemnation of Cuba's record on human rights.

Argentina and the United Kingdom agree that Argentine private aircraft and vessels may now visit the Falkland Islands again.

2001 March - President de la Rua forms a government of national unity and appoints three finance ministers in as many weeks as cabinet resignations and protests greet planned austerity measures.

2001 July - Former president Carlos Menem is charged with heading an 'illicit organisation' that violated international arms embargoes against Croatia and Ecuador in the early 1990s. A court throws out all arms trafficking charges against Menem, freeing him after five months of house arrest.

2001 July - Much of the country is brought to a standstill by a general strike in protest against proposed government spending cuts. Country's credit ratings slip.

Return of the Peronists

2001 October - The opposition Peronists take control of both houses of parliament in Congressional elections.

2001 December - Economy Minister Cavallo announces sweeping restrictions to halt an exodus of bank deposits. The IMF stops $1.3bn in aid.

2001 13 December - A 24-hour general strike is held in protest at curbs on bank withdrawals, delayed pension payouts and other measures.

2001 20 December - President Fernando de la Rua resigns after at least 25 people die in street protests and rioting.

2001 23 December - Adolfo Rodriguez Saa named new interim president. He resigns on 30 December, citing a lack of support within his party.

2002 1 January - Congress elects Peronist Senator Eduardo Duhalde as caretaker president. Within days the government devalues the peso, ending 10 years of parity with the US dollar.

2002 April - Banking and foreign exchange activity suspended; Duhalde says the financial system could collapse.

2002 June - Two killed in anti-government and IMF protests in Buenos Aires. The protesters, known as 'piqueteros', are highly organised groups of unemployed who block the main road bridges into the capital.

2002 July - Duhalde calls early elections for March 2003, later put back to April, to try win public support for the government's handling of the economic crisis.

2002 November - Argentina defaults on an $800m debt repayment to the World Bank, having failed to re-secure IMF aid. The World Bank says it will not consider new loans for the country.

Kirchner sworn in

2003 May - Nestor Kirchner sworn in as president. Former President Carlos Menem gained most votes in first round of elections but pulled out before second round.

2003 August - Congress, Senate vote to scrap laws protecting former military officers from prosecution over human rights abuses during military regime.

2003 September - After weeks of negotiations Argentina and IMF agree on debt-refinancing deal under which Buenos Aires will only pay interest on its loans.

2004 September - Court clears five men accused of involvement in 1994 bombing of Jewish centre in Buenos Aires.

2004 December - Former President Carlos Menem returns from self-imposed exile in Chile after two arrest warrants are cancelled.

188 people are killed and around 700 are injured in a fire at a Buenos Aires nightclub.

2005 March - President Kirchner declares the restructuring of the country's debt to be a success. Argentina offered to exchange more than $100bn in defaulted bonds.

2005 June - Supreme Court scraps an amnesty law protecting former military officers suspected of human rights abuses during military rule between 1976 and 1983.

2005 November - Argentina hosts 34-nation Summit of the Americas. Event is accompanied by protests, sometimes violent, against free trade and US President Bush.

 

Taken From: Timeline Argentina

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1196005.stm