Alberto Ángel Fernández (Latin American Spanish: [alˈβeɾto feɾˈnandes] ⓘ; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, and academic who served as President of Argentina from 2019 to 2023.

[2] The first two years of his presidency was limited by the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina, during which he imposed strict lockdown measures to suppress the spread of the disease,[3] and a debt crisis inherited from his predecessor.

Separated from the latter, Celia (sister of the personal photographer of Juan Domingo Perón) married Judge Carlos Pelagio Galíndez (son of a Senator of the Radical Civic Union).

He became deputy director of Legal Affairs of the Economy Ministry, and in this capacity served as chief Argentine negotiator at the GATT Uruguay Round.

[21] He was elected on 7 June 2000, to the Buenos Aires City Legislature on the conservative Action for the Republic ticket led by former Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo.

The negotiations failed, however, and following Vice President Julio Cobos' surprise, tie-breaking vote against the bill in the Senate, Fernández resigned on 23 July 2008.

[24] He was named head of the City of Buenos Aires chapter of the Justicialist Party, but minimized his involvement in Front for Victory campaigns for Congress in 2009.

[29][30] About a month later, seeking to broaden his appeal to moderates, Fernández struck a deal with Sergio Massa to form an alliance called Frente de Todos, wherein Massa would be offered a role within a potential Fernández administration, or be given a key role within the Chamber of Deputies in exchange for dropping out of the presidential race and offering his support.

[34] In the 27 October general election, Fernández won the presidency by attaining 48.1% of the vote to Macri's 40.4%, exceeding the threshold required to win without the need for a ballotage.

Amid the worst recession in nearly two decades, it provided a 180-day freeze on utility rates, bonuses for the nation's retirees and Universal Allocation per Child beneficiaries, and food cards to two million of Argentina's poorest families.

Despite these conflicts, Fernández announced the three-point increase in withholding tax on soybeans on the day of the opening of the regular sessions, on 1 March and generated major problems in the relationship between the government and the agricultural sector.

[48][49][50] On 4 August, Fernández reached an accord with the biggest creditors on terms for a restructuring of $65bn in foreign bonds, after a breakthrough in talks that had at times looked close to collapse since the country's ninth debt default in May.

[59] On 1 March, he also announced a restructuring of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI), including the publications of its accounts - which had been made secret by Macri in a 2016 decree.

[62][63] On 4 September 2020, Fernández signed a Necessity and Urgency Decree (Decreto 721/2020) establishing a 1% employment quota for trans and travesti people in the national public sector.

[71] Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro refused to attend Fernández's inauguration, accusing him of wanting to create a "great Bolivarian homeland" on the border and of preparing to provoke a flight of capital and companies into Brazil.

[78] However, Fernández also refused to recognize Maduro's envoy Stella Lugo's credentials and Foreign Minister Felipe Solá asked her to return to Caracas.

There he paid respects to the victims of the Holocaust and maintained a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who thanked him for keeping Hezbollah branded as a terrorist organization, a measure taken by former President Mauricio Macri.

[91] In January 2022, Fernández was elected president pro tempore of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), succeeding Mexico's Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

[98][99] In September 2023, Fernández condemned Azerbaijan for the blockade of the Lachin corridor and urged the international community to "act preemptively" to avoid "new persecutions" of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

[106] The announcement of the lockdown was generally well received, although there were concerns with its economic impact in the already delicate state of Argentina's economy, with analysts predicting at least 3% GDP decrease in 2020.

[109][110][107] After announced a mandatory quarantine to every person that returned to Argentina from highly affected countries,[111][112] the government closed its borders, ports, and suspended flights.

[135] Ginés González García was forced to resign as Health Minister on 19 February 2021[136] after it was revealed he provided preferential treatment for the COVID-19 vaccine to his close friends, including journalist Horacio Verbitsky and other political figures.

[140] Fernández ran unopposed, heading the Unidad y Federalismo list, which received the support of diverse sectors in the Peronist movement, including La Cámpora.

Fernández erroneously attributed the quote to the Mexican poet, essayist and diplomat Octavio Paz, although it had originated from lyrics by local musician and personal friend Litto Nebbia.

[147] In August 2021, it was revealed that there had been numerous visits to the presidential palace during the lockdown that he had imposed in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; visitors included an actress, a dog trainer, and a hairdresser, as well as hosting a birthday party for the First Lady.

[148][149] In December 2022, Fernandez sparked a battle with the Supreme Court of Argentina and a legal crisis after he said he would reject a ruling it made to give a larger proportion of state funds to the city of Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires city mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, criticized the declaration of Fernandez, saying; "the president decided to break the constitutional order, completely violate the rule of law and attack democracy."

[158][159] In June 2020, he told journalist Cristina Pérez to "go read the Constitution", after being questioned about his attempts to install a government-designated administration in the Vicentín agricultural conglomerate.

Nisman accused Fernández de Kirchner of secretly negotiating with Iranian officials to cover up their complicity in the attack in exchange for oil to reduce Argentina's energy deficit.

[165] Fernández stepped down as president of the Justicialist Party after several photos that allegedly showed the injuries that Fabiola Yáñez suffered after being physically abused by him were published by Infobae.