Jewish leaders have expressed great sadness at the news of the passing of former Argentinian President Nestor Kirchner, who died Wednesday of a heart attack at the age of 60.
Ronald S. Lauder, Eduardo Elsztain and JackTerpins, leaders of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and of the Latin American Jewish Congress (LAJC) sent their heartfelt condolences to Nestor Kirchner’s widow, Argentina’s current President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Lauder said Kirchner had been an “excellent president” not just for Argentina but also for the Jewish community in the country, the largest in South America.
“Both the late President Kirchner and his wife have played a tremendous role in ensuring that Argentina today is one of the world’s foremost democracies where the civil rights of all religious and ethnic minorities are respected,” he added.
“Largely thanks to them, Argentina has again become a good place for Jews to live,” Lauder continued.
Argentina's Jewish leader Eduardo Elsztain, who serves as chairman of the WJC Governing Board, said the late president "always had an open ear for concerns among the Jewish community, not just in Argentina, but across the continent."
"He often interceded, for the benefit of our communities, with fellow statesmen in other countries.”
Jack Terpins, president of the Latin American Jewish Congress, declared: "President Kirchner was never afraid of speaking out when he felt it necessary, especially over the scandals surrounding the terrorist attacks against the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 and the AMIA center two years later in 1994."
"Both he and his wife showed great commitment and took important steps to bring to justice those who perpetrated the attacks and those who later tried to cover them to up to justice.“