Shinzo Abethe former Prime Minister of Japan assassinated at the age of 67 during a campaign rally, was the leader who served the longest in his country’s history and, as such, deeply marked the political life of that nation despite the various scandals he went through.
He was 52 years old when he took over in 2006 and became the youngest person to hold the position. He was considered a symbol of change and youthand for this reason it renewed the profile of the leadership that had rotated in power until then.
Abe’s visit to Argentina
In 2013 he had visited Argentina and did so again three years laterwhen in addition to the protocol acts of the government, he summoned hundreds of Japanese during an act in the Okinawan Center located on San Juan and Jujuy avenues.
Although his country and Argentina “are located just on the opposite side of the planet, the bond that unites us is eternal”he said during his speech to a crowd. He then returned to the country in 2018 for the G20 summit.
Abe’s governments
Although he had been groomed from a young age to wield power within an elite conservative family, his first term in office was turbulentbeset by scandals and disputes, and ended with his abrupt resignation a year later.
He initially said he was resigning for political reasons, but later admitted that suffered from a health problem from which he recovered and returned to the head of government in December 2012. This ended a period in which prime ministers succeeded each other at a rate of up to one per year.
Abe became known abroad for his economic reactivation strategyknown as the “abenomics”, which registered some achievements, such as an increase in the activity rate of women and the elderly.
Abe’s great ambition was revise the Japanese pacifist Constitution of 1947written by the American occupier, and never amended.
On the international stage, took a hard line on North Korea, but assumed a role of peacemaker between the United States and Iran. He prioritized a personal relationship with former US President Donald Trump to protect the relationship between the two countries and sought mend ties with Russia and China.
Often punctuated by scandals that affected those around him, he knew how to take advantage of external events – the firing of North Korean missiles, natural catastrophes – to divert attention and present himself as an indispensable leader in the face of adversity.
It also benefited from lack of a major rival within their partythe PLD, and the fragility of the opposition, still not recovered from its disastrous passage to power between 2009 and 2012.
But his popularity declined since the start of the pandemic of the coronavirus, since the actions of his government were considered too slow and confusing.
The Tokyo Olympics
For a long time he clung to the hope of keeping the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and he became the prime minister who made it possible for the great sporting event to be held in Tokyo despite the coronavirus pandemic and one year late.
Halfway through, his unforgettable appearance at the closing ceremony of Rio 2016 dressed as super mario to pick up the baton of the Games. He did not, however, attend the Games as prime minister, as he resigned in September 2020 due to health problems.