Argentine Ex-President Menem Tried for Corruption

Argentina's former president Carlos Menem is back on trial for corruption charges, two years after he was convicted of arms trafficking.

Menem, who served from 1989 to 1999, went on trial Monday alongside his former economy minister Domingo Cavallo and eight other former cabinet members, charged with using state funds to bribe high-ranking officials during their decade in power.

Menem was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2013 for trafficking arms to Croatia and Ecuador, the first time a democratically elected former president was convicted of a crime in Argentina.

But he never did prison time because he remains protected by legislative immunity as a senator.

The defendants face prison terms of two to 10 years if convicted on the latest charges.

Menem, 84, was once wildly popular, leading Argentina through a period of rapid economic growth in the 1990s and titillating Argentines with his fondness for fast cars and women half his age.

But his popularity plummeted as his key economic policies unraveled after his tenure, culminating in a devastating 2001 crisis that triggered riots in the streets.

Menem is due back in court in June to face trial in another case, on charges of obstructing the investigation into the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people, the deadliest such attack in Argentine history.

That case is back in the spotlight since the mysterious death in January of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who had sought to bring similar charges against current President Cristina Kirchner.

Menem is also accused of fraud in the 1997 sale of telecommunications licenses to the Argentine subsidiary of French electronics and defense group Thales.