Leopoldo Galtieri
Vice President | None | |
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Carlos Lacoste (interim) | |
Succeeded by | Alfredo Oscar Saint Jean (interim) | |
Personal details | ||
Born | Caseros, Argentina[1] | 15 July 1926|
Died | 12 January 2003 Buenos Aires, Argentina | (aged 76)|
Spouse |
Lucía Noemí Gentili (m. 1949) | |
Children | 3 | |
Lieutenant General | ||
Battles/wars | Falklands War | |
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli (Spanish pronunciation:
Galtieri was chief
Galtieri's declining popularity due to his
Early life
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri was born on 15 July 1926 in
Galtieri was married to Lucía Noemí Gentili, and the couple had one son and two daughters.[7]
Rise to power
In 1975, after more than 25 years as a
In March 1981, Galtieri visited the
Presidency
On 22 December 1981, Galtieri was appointed
Galtieri retained direct control of the army whilst President of the governing Military Junta and did not appoint a new commander-in-chief.[8]
Political policy
Galtieri instituted limited political reforms which allowed the
Economic policy
Galtieri appointed
The
One of Galtieri's closest allies, the head of the First Army Corps, General
Foreign policy
Galtieri supported the Central Intelligence Agency in its fight against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, while he was warmly welcomed during his visit to the White House.[13] Argentina support became the principal source of funds and training for the Contras during Galtieri's tenure.[14]
Argentine military and intelligence cooperation with the
Falklands War
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2015) |
By April 1982, Galtieri had been in office for four months and his popularity was low.[15] On 2 April, on his orders, Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands, a United Kingdom territory subject to a long-standing Argentine claim.
Initially the invasion was popular in Argentina, and the anti-junta demonstrations were replaced by patriotic demonstrations in support of Galtieri.
Galtieri and most of his government mistakenly believed the United Kingdom would not respond militarily.[16][13]
The British government led by the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, dispatched a naval task force to retake the islands militarily if Argentina refused to comply with a United Nations resolution demanding an immediate Argentine withdrawal. Argentina did not comply with the resolution which resulted in a surrender to British forces on 14 June 1982.
Defeat, fall from power, trial and prison
On 14 June 1982, the Falklands' capital, Stanley, was retaken by British forces. The fact that an administration ruled by military figures failed to contain the British armed response provoked an unprecedented crisis inside the Junta. Galtieri was blamed for the defeat and was removed from power, and he spent the next 18 months at a well-protected country retreat while democracy was restored to Argentina. Along with other members of the former junta, he was arrested in late 1983 and charged in a military court with human rights violations during the Dirty War and with mismanaging the Falklands War. The Argentine Army's internal investigation, known as the Rattenbach report after the general who led it,[17] recommended that those responsible for the misconduct of the war be prosecuted under the Code of Military Justice.[18] In 1986 he was sentenced to twelve years in prison.[19]
Galtieri was cleared of the civil rights charges in December 1985, but (together with the Air Force and Navy commanders-in-chief) in May 1986 he was found guilty of mishandling the war and sentenced to prison. All three appealed in a civil court, and the prosecution appealed for heavier sentences. In November 1988 the original sentences were confirmed, and all three commanders were stripped of their rank. In 1989, Galtieri and 39 other officers of the dictatorship received President Carlos Menem's pardon.[20]
Later life, further accusations
Galtieri was heavily blamed for Argentina's defeat in the Falklands War. Following his release from prison, he moved to the Villa Devoto suburb of Buenos Aires, and lived modestly with his wife Lucía. He became a recluse and refused most requests for interviews by journalists, though in a rare interview he stated he had "no regrets" over anything he had done during the Dirty War. He lived on an army pension of 9,000 pesos per month, and attempted to claim a Presidential pension, but a judge denied it. In her ruling, the judge stated that his presidency had been illegal due to him never having been elected, and she also ordered him to pay court costs. In May 2002, he was invited to the military parade of the Argentine Army for the celebrations of Argentine Army Day (Día del Ejército Argentino): the presence of the former "president de facto" caused a huge controversy in public opinion after he was confronted and questioned by the journalist Martín Ciccioli in the television programme Kaos en la Ciudad.
In July 2002, new civil charges were brought concerning the kidnapping of children and the disappearance of 18 leftist sympathizers in the late 1970s (while Galtieri was commander of the Second Army Corps), and the disappearance or death of three Spanish citizens at about the same time. Galtieri faced prosecution with 28 other officials, but due to his poor health, he was allowed to remain at home.[21][22]
Death
Leopoldo Galtieri underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer on 16 August 2002 at a hospital in Buenos Aires. He died there of a heart attack on 12 January 2003, aged 76.[23] His body was interred in a small mausoleum at La Chacarita Cemetery.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Argentina's Military Dictatorship Archived 11 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
- ^ Dark Years: Murió Galtieri, el general que llevó al país a la guerra
- ^ Evans, Michael. "Argentina: Secret U.S. Documents Declassified on Dirty War Atrocities". www.gwu.edu.
- ^ Oriana Fallaci, Cambio 16, June 1982, Available Online [1][permanent dead link] "Si, señora periodista, desciendo de italianos. Mis abuelos eran italianos. Mi abuelo de Génova y mi abuela de Calabria. Vinieron aquí con las oleadas de inmigrantes que se produjeron al comienzo de siglo. Eran obreros pobres, pronto hicieron fortuna." ("Yes, madam reporter, I'm descended from Italians. My grandparents were Italian. My grandfather came from Genoa and my grandmother Calabria. They came here with the waves of immigration that occurred at the beginning of the century. They were poor workers, soon made a fortune.")
- ISBN 9781442276420.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "General Leopoldo Galtieri". History Learning Site.
- ^ "grows old with his Falklands secrets", The Scotsman, 2 April 2002". Archived from the original on 16 May 2013.
- ^ Lewis, Paul. The Crisis of Argentine Capitalism. University of North Carolina Press, 1990.
- ^ Argentina: From Insolvency to Growth. World Bank Press, 1993.
- ^ Poneman, Daniel. Argentina: Democracy on Trial. Paragon House, 1987.
- ^ a b Pigna, Felipe (6 November 2017). "Ronald Reagan y la guerra de Malvinas". El Historiador.
- ^ Scott, Peter Dale; Marshall, Jonathan. Cocaine Politics. University of California Press, 1991. (ISBN# needed)
- ^ Trueman, CN (26 May 2015). "General Leopoldo Galtieri". The History Learning Site. Archived from the original on 3 July 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- ^ "Que tenía que ver con despertar el orgullo nacional y con otra cosa. La junta —Galtieri me lo dijo— nunca creyó que los británicos darían pelea. Él creía que Occidente se había corrompido. Que los británicos no tenían Dios, que Estados Unidos se había corrompido. ... Nunca lo pude convencer de que ellos no sólo iban a pelear, que además iban a ganar." ("This was neither about national pride nor anything else. The junta — Galtieri told me — never believed the British would respond. He thought the Western World was corrupt. That the British people had no God, that the U.S. was corrupt. ... I could never convince him that the British would not only fight back but also win.") La Nación/Islas Malvinas Online. "Haig: "Malvinas fue mi Waterloo"" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 September 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2006.
- ^ "Página/12 :: Contratapa :: Rattenbach". www.pagina12.com.ar.
- ^ Millan, Antonio. "Malvinas - Encuadramiento jurídico de los responsables". www.cescem.org.ar.
- ^ "Página no encontrada". www.clarin.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ^ "Pardon of Argentine Officers Angers Critics of the Military". The New York Times. 9 October 1989.
- ^ Hilton, Isobel (13 January 2003). "General Leopoldo Galtieri". The Guardian. London.
- ^ ""Frail, pathetic Galtieri".British Profile of former Argentine President". MercoPress.
- ^ "Former Argentine dictator Galtieri dies". BBC News. 12 January 2003. Retrieved 28 February 2012.