Adalbert Krieger Vasena (1920 in Buenos Aires – 15 June 2001) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

economist who served twice as Minister of Economy of the country, first between 1957 and 1958, during the military dictatorship of

Pedro Aramburu Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Silveti (May 21, 1903 – June 1, 1970) was an Argentine Army general and the ''de facto'' President of Argentina from 1955 to 1958. He was a major figure behind the ''Revolución Libertadora'', the military coup against J ...

, and later between 1966 and 1969 during the military dictatorship of Juan Carlos Ongania. Adalbert Krieger Vasena was the grandson of Pietro Vassena, an Italian blacksmith and entrepreneur immigrated in Argentina in the second half of the 19th century. In the first decade of the 20th century, the Vasena family was the head of the largest steel company in Argentina. His father, Suleyman Krieger, was a Turkish Jew born in Jerusalem who developed a successful career as a banker in Argentina.

Minister of Economy

He decreed a wage freeze and a 40%

devaluation In macroeconomics and modern monetary policy, a devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange-rate system, in which a monetary authority formally sets a lower exchange rate of the national curre ...

, which weakened the

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

– in particular the agricultural sector – and favored foreign capital. Vasena suspended collective labour conventions, reformed the "hydrocarbons law" which had established a partial monopoly of the ''

Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales YPF S.A. (, formerly ; English: "Fiscal Oilfields") is a vertically integrated, majority state-owned Argentine energy company, engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, and the transportation, refining, and marketing of gas and petr ...

'' (YPF) state firm, and passed a law facilitating the

eviction Eviction is the removal of a Tenement (law), tenant from leasehold estate, rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosure, foreclosed by a mortgagee (often ...

of tenants over their non-payment of domestic rent. Finally, the

right to strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became c ...

was suspended (Law 16,936) and several other laws passed reversing previous progressive labor legislation (reducing retirement age, etc.). 1920 births People from Buenos Aires University of Buenos Aires alumni Argentine people of Turkish-Jewish descent Argentine people of Italian descent Ministers of economy of Argentina 2001 deaths Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery {{Argentina-politician-stub