Matilde Svatetz de Menéndez (born 1944) is an Argentine psychiatrist who acted as

intervener An intervener is a person who regularly works one-to-one with an individual who is deaf-blind. Deafblindness is a low incidence disability that describes individuals with varying degrees of vision and hearing losses. The combined loss often compro ...

of the

Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina Tierra del Fuego (Spanish for "''Land of Fire''"; ), officially the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands (Spanish: ''Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur''), is the southernmost, sm ...

from 17 January 1991 to 10 January 1992, and as Chairman of the Board of the Comprehensive Medical Attention Program (PAMI) from 3 February 1992 to 15 April 1994. Her figure was linked to cases of corruption related to her term at PAMI, with all charges being dismissed in court.

Biography

Matilde Menéndez received her medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine of the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...

(UBA) with a Diploma of Honor. After an active university militancy in

Peronism Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of Ar ...

, once qualified at the UBA's School of Public Health, in 1974 she was appointed Coordinator of the National Commission of Food Policy and Supply and Coordinator of the Nutrition Commission of the

National Congress ''National Congress'' is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures . Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress (Guyana) *India: Indian National Congress *Iraq: Iraqi Nati ...

. With the return of democracy, she would become Secretary of the Federal Health Council, Advisor to the Commission of Social Assistance and Public Health of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

, and of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

's Health Commission. In 1987 she created the "Por Venir" Foundation, dedicated to the prevention of drug addiction. In 1988, she was appointed Assistant Secretary of Social Medicine of

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

. In 1989 she became the first woman Secretary of Public Health of the Nation, and in 1991, the first female

of the (now Tierra del Fuego Province). In 1992, she was called by President

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

to preside over the Board of Directors of the Comprehensive Medical Attention Program (PAMI). This directorate consisted of representatives of the General Confederation of Labor and retirees' organizations. During her tenure at PAMI, a change was made in the benefit payment system, now based on a fixed number of monthly per capita payments to the providers. Also, the "PAMI Listens" system was generalized, with a 24-hour telephone line to receive queries, complaints, and suggestions from users. At present, according to her own webpage, Menéndez is a teacher, researcher, adviser, and consultant to national and international private and state organizations, creator of programs, and founder of institutes dedicated to public health.

Controversies

PAMI

After an incident in which providers were found (and filmed) in possession of envelopes with 25% of the value of the per capita payments received and presumably intended for PAMI officials for the payment of bribes, a series of denunciations were made that, together with a wide media treatment of the accusations, gave rise to a scandal journalistically known as the PAMI "returns". PAMI officials and leaders of were accused of charging monthly bribes (effusively called returns) to the providers who, by this means, made sure to continue to be part of the organization's payroll. The President and her board amassed 32 criminal complaints for various crimes that were brought in cases before the Federal Courts of the Capital, with charges ranging from the alleged hiring of a personal hairdresser to the payment of surcharges on the purchase of

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

s. Matilde Menéndez decided to resign, together with the entire board. PAMI was subsequently the subject of government intervention. After five to nine years of investigation, with statements of hundreds of witnesses and reports, the 32 charges related to her term as President of PAMI were dismissed for lack of crime.

Prosecution withdrawn in AMIA case

Another legal case that involved Menéndez was her prosecution in 2003 for false testimony in the

AMIA bombing The AMIA bombing occurred on 18 July 1994 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and targeted the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA; ), a Jewish Community Centre. Executed as a suicidal attack, a bomb-laden van was driven into the AMIA buildi ...

case, accusing her of falsifying her statement about a telephone conversation with her lawyer Mariano Cúneo Libarona, in which they referred to a video that was presumably intended to extort Judge . Subsequently her prosecution would be withdrawn as no accusation could be brought in court.

References

External links