The first chapter of Max’s docuseries was previewed to the press with the presence of three of the journalists who participated, Román Lejtman, Facundo Pastor and Olga Wornat, author of “Menem, private life.” We talked with them.
This Thursday, Max premieres the docuseries “Menem Junior: the death of the president’s son,” whose first chapter was previewed at noon for the press and is framed in the rise of true crime and political networks. With the presence of three of the journalists who participated, Román Lejtman, Facundo Pastor and Olga Wornat, author of “Menem, private life,” the four-episode docuseries follows the tragedy that Carlos Menem Jr. suffered on March 15, 1995 when the helicopter he was piloting collided with high-tension lines, crashing to the ground. This event shocked all Argentine citizens and produced a great impact.
Through the reconstruction of the facts and testimonies that range from Zulema Yoma, Zulemita Menem, Domingo Cavallo, among many others, doctors who received and treated Carlitos Menem that day and several journalists who remember the coverage.
In the presentation prior to the screening, Pastor highlighted that the docuseries will cross generations: “There are many children who were not born during the Menem presidency and will sit with their parents to watch it,” while Wornat, who at that time worked at Gente and belonged to Menem’s inner circle, recalled: “I had a close bond with Zulema. With Román we shared all of Menem’s trips, we spent Christmas and Easter in Anillaco. I remember he was in the newsroom and someone came running with the news. We turned on the TV but I immediately called Zulema. She didn’t pay attention to me, neither did Emir, she was crazy. There was no Twitter or the immediacy of today. I had to go out and find the scoop and use my contacts. I was the only journalist who for some reason was inside the Olivos residence, without cameras, just as a spectator. I would go to the bathroom and write everything down in my notebook. I remember approaching Menem, who was watching a soccer game with no volume, he took my hand and told me that he should go see Zulema. When I went up I was shocked, I entered another world that I didn’t know if it was real or not.”
Roman Lejtman he stressed: “The family always pays. Ricardito, Carlitos, Antonito, Flor and today there are 4 dogs. Who occupies Olivos and his affections have implications. Menem was one on March 14 and was another since the 15th. Somber. He changed his look. It was broken. The guy was a political animal and after burying his son he said that he was going for re-election. I remember when Menem Junior entered as a presidential advisor. He lived without understanding the political environment. He was very attached to his mother and his father, united by his passion for some tastes they shared. “Menem wanted to be president all his life, he went to see Perón at the iron gate before marrying Zulema.”
In the recreation of the accident and the hospitalization, blood flows. The morbid nature of true crime is evident, which combines dramatized images of, for example, the director of the San Nicolás hospital who received Junior or the neurosurgeon who treated him, with the incessant maneuvers and the operation.
All combined with reflections of Chiche Gelblung “Menem understood how the world worked. “His project was Caesarist, he wanted to change the country.” or from Zulemita: “My brother was in charge of protecting our family.” In the first chapter it is said that Zulema He did not want to see Carlitos dead “lying like a dog.” And the witnesses at the hospital claim that when the mother arrived and met Carlos Menem, they locked themselves in and heard noises, crying and hitting.
There are several files about Menem and Zulema in Mirtha Legrand’s program, where Yoma said that her mother had told her that if she married Menem she would be the most cursed woman in the world. “Zulema did not bow his head, he had his own mind and for Menem’s entourage, it was annoying. They arranged for him to win the presidency. Widower arrives, not separated, they said,” Wonrat concluded.
The first chapter closes with the hook for the second, with Wornat returning to that entrance to that unknown world: “Zulema returned to Olivos, from where she had been expelled. I found her doped, with a rosary and praying in Arabic. She told me ‘look mommy, these are not fooling me. It’s a circus. “They killed my son and Menem knows who it was.” Menem is then shown on the national network thanking the people and campaigning for re-election. The truth is that 27 years after that death, Zulema Yoma affirms that the truth was never known. Was it an accident or was he killed?
It is shocking to see the synthesis of so many years and a style of government; Cavallo with a peso a dollar that predicted decades and the presidential figure of Menem dancing with odalisques, playing golf and more eccentricities. Lejtman concluded: “If you enter Milei’s presidential office today, he has a painting of Menem along with the Rolling Stones.”
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
