Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga sent a letter of condolence to the President of the Argentine over the demise of its former president Carlos Menem.

“I can’t help but be deeply saddened by the news of the death of former President Carlos Saul Menem. Here, on behalf of the Government of Japan and the Japanese people, I would like to express our deepest condolences to the bereaved families, your government and your people,” Suga said in the letter sent to president Alberto Ángel Fernandez.

“Former president Menem has demonstrated strong leadership for two terms and ten years, and has made a great contribution to the development of Argentina,” Suga said.

During his tenure, Menem visited Japan three times as a state guest, and in 1997, he met in Argentina the Emperor and Empress of Japan further “enhancing bilateral relations.”

“In memory of the achievements of former President Menem during his lifetime, I pray from the bottom of my heart for his soul,” Suga said in the letter.

Son of Syrian immigrants, Carlos Menem, whose decade-long presidency of Argentina in the 1990s transformed the country, died on Feb. 14. He was 90.