Leopoldo Galtieri

Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli (Spanish pronunciation: [leo

ˈpoldo foɾtuˈnato ɣalˈtjeɾi kasˈteʎi]; 15 July 1926 – 12 January Leopoldo Galtieri
2003) was an Argentine general and President of Argentina from 22
December 1981 to 18 June 1982, during the last military
dictatorship[2] (known officially as the National Reorganization
Process). The death squad, 601 Intelligence Battalion, directly
reported to him.[3] He was removed from power soon after the
Argentine defeat by British armed forces in the Falklands War,
whose invasion he had ordered.

Contents
Early life
Rise to power
Falklands War
Defeat, fall from power, trial and prison President of Argentina
Appointed by the military junta
Later life, further accusations
In office
Death
22 December 1981 – 18 June 1982
References Preceded by Carlos Lacoste
External links (interim)

Succeeded by Alfredo Oscar

Saint Jean (acting)
Early life
Personal details
Galtieri was an Italian Argentine born to working-class immigrant Born 15 July 1926
parents.[4] At 17 he enrolled at the National Military Academy to Caseros,
study civil engineering, and his early military career was as an Argentina[1]
officer in the engineering branch. As well as rising through the ranks
of the Military, he continued his studies in engineering until the mid- Died 12 January 2003
1950s. In 1958, he became a professor of engineering at the Senior (aged 76)
War College.[5] Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Galtieri was married to Lucía Noemí Gentili, and the couple had one
Nationality Argentine
son and two daughters.[6]
Political party None

Rise to power Spouse(s) Lucía Noemí

Gentili (1949-
In 1975, after more than 25 years as a combat engineer, Galtieri 2003; her death)
became commander of the Argentine engineering corps. He was an Children 3
enthusiastic supporter of the military coup that started the self-styled Alma mater Colegio Militar de
National Reorganisation Process in 1976 and rose further, becoming
la Nación
a major general in 1977, and commander-in-chief in 1980 with the
rank of lieutenant general. During the junta's rule, Congress was Profession Military
suspended, trade unions, political parties, and provincial Signature
governments were banned, and in what became known as the Dirty
War, between 9,000 and 30,000 people deemed left-wing
subversives disappeared from society. Torture and mass executions
were both commonplace. The economy, which had been in dire
condition prior to the coup, recovered for a short time, then Military service
deteriorated further. Allegiance Argentina

In March 1981, Galtieri visited the United States and was warmly Branch/service Argentine
received, as the Reagan administration viewed the regime as a Army
bulwark against communism. National Security Advisor Richard V. Years of
1944–1982
Allen described him as a "majestic general". An adherent to the
service
Argentine military's Cold War-era doctrine of "ideological frontiers",
Galtieri secured his country's support for rebel groups opposing the Rank (Pre-1991
government in Nicaragua, the Contras; in August, he sent advisers to epaulette)
help organize the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN, for a time the Lieutenant
principal Contra group), as well as training FDN leaders in General
Argentine bases. His support for this initiative allowed Galtieri to
remove a number of rival generals. In December 1981, he rose to the Battles/wars Falklands War
Presidency of Argentina in a coup that ousted General Roberto
Viola. Argentine support became the principal source of funds and training for the Contras during Galtieri's
tenure.[7]

Galtieri retained direct control of the army whilst President of the governing Military Junta and did not
appoint a new commander-in-chief.[8] He appointed conservative economist and publisher Roberto Alemann
as Economy Minister. Alemann inherited an economy in deep recession in the aftermath of José Alfredo
Martínez de Hoz's economic policies of the late 1970s. Alemann slashed spending, began selling off
government-owned industries (with only minor success), enacted a tight monetary policy, and ordered
salaries frozen (amid 130% inflation). The Central Bank Circular 1050, which tied mortgage rates to the
value of the US dollar locally, was maintained, however, leading to further deepening of the crisis; GDP fell
by 5%, and business investment by 20% over the weakened levels of 1981.[9]

One of Galtieri's closest allies, the head of the First Army Corps, General Guillermo Suárez Mason, was
named Chairman of Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF), at the time the state petroleum concern, and
the largest company of any type in Argentina. Suárez Mason's turn at YPF would help result in a US$6
billion loss for the company – the largest recorded corporate loss in the world, up to that point.[10]

Galtieri instituted limited political reforms which allowed the expression of dissent, and anti-junta
demonstrations soon became common, as did agitation for a return to democracy.[11]

Falklands War
In April 1982, Galtieri had been in office for four months and his popularity was low.[12] On 2 April, and 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. A proposal to promote Galtieri to the newly created rank of First
Marshal of the Empire initially received broad public support.
Galtieri and most of his government mistakenly believed the UK would not respond militarily[13] and that
the United States would not interfere because the junta had supported the Central Intelligence Agency in its
fight against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, while Galtieri had been warmly welcomed during his visit to
Washington, D.C.

The British government led by the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, determined to overturn the invasion.
It dispatched a seaborne task force to drive the Argentinian forces from the islands, resulting in the
Falklands War and an Argentinian surrender on 14 June 1982.

Defeat, fall from power, trial and prison

On 14 June 1982, the Falklands' capital, Stanley, was retaken by British forces. Within days Galtieri was
removed from power, and he spent the next 18 months at a well-protected country retreat while democracy
was restored to Argentina. He never received his promotion to First Marshal of the Empire. 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,[14] recommended that
those responsible for the misconduct of the war be prosecuted under the Code of Military Justice.[15] In
1986 he was sentenced to twelve years in prison.[16]

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.[17]

Later life, further accusations

Galtieri was heavily blamed for Argentina's humiliating defeat in the ill-conceived 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 about $1,800 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 his 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.
[2] (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NOgla4zFok4)

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.[18][19]

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.[20] His body was interred in a small mausoleum
in La Chacarita Cemetery in the capital.
References
1. Argentina's Military Dictatorship (http://www.clarin.com/diario/2003/01/13/p-01401.htm) (in
Spanish)
2. Dark Years: Murió Galtieri, el general que llevó al país a la guerra (http://www.whatargentina.c
om/argentina-military-dictatorship.html)
3. Evans, Michael. "Argentina: Secret U.S. Documents Declassified on Dirty War Atrocities" (htt
p://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB73/index.htm). www.gwu.edu.
4. Oriana Fallaci, Cambio 16, June 1982, Available Online [1] (http://www.malvinasonline.com.ar/
notas/nota.php?recordID=222) "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.")
5. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224731/http://mps.mpsomaha.org/mnh
s/Drummond/Dictator%20Genome%20Project/Database/Leopoldo%20Galtieri.pdf) (PDF).
Archived from the original (http://mps.mpsomaha.org/mnhs/Drummond/Dictator%20Genome%
20Project/Database/Leopoldo%20Galtieri.pdf) (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
6. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080641/http://www.soaw.org/soaw/inde
x.php?view=article&catid=6&id=1924&format=pdf&option=com_content&Itemid=64). Archived
from the original (http://www.soaw.org/soaw/index.php?view=article&catid=6&id=1924&format
=pdf&option=com_content&Itemid=64) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
7. Scott, Peter Dale; Marshall, Jonathan. Cocaine Politics. University of California Press, 1991.
(ISBN# needed)
8. "General Leopoldo Galtieri - History Learning Site" (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/genera
l_galtieri.htm).
9. Argentina: From Insolvency to Growth. World Bank Press, 1993.
10. Poneman, Daniel. Argentina: Democracy on Trial. Paragon House, 1987.
11. "Galtieri grows old with his Falklands secrets", The Scotsman, 2 April 2002 (http://www.scotsm
an.com/news/international/galtieri_grows_old_with_his_falklands_secrets_1_501412)
12. "General Leopoldo Galtieri - History Learning Site" (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/moder
n-world-history-1918-to-1980/the-falklands-war-1982/general-leopoldo-galtieri/). History
Learning Site. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
13. "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" " (https://web.archive.org/web/20060908102813/http://www.malvinasonline.com.a
r/g82/artic/aresp004.htm) (in Spanish). Archived from the original (http://www.malvinasonline.c
om.ar/g82/artic/aresp004.htm#Haig) on 8 September 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2006.
14. "Página/12 :: Contratapa :: Rattenbach" (http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/contratapa/13-653
17-2006-04-08.html). www.pagina12.com.ar.
15. Millan, Antonio. "Malvinas - Encuadramiento jurídico de los responsables" (http://www.cescem.
org.ar/informe_rattenbach/parte4_capitulo13_01.html). www.cescem.org.ar.
16. "Informe Rattenbach" (http://www.clarin.com/suplementos/especiales/2006/03/24/l-01164204.h
tm).
17. "Pardon of Argentine Officers Angers Critics of the Military" (https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/
09/world/pardon-of-argentine-officers-angers-critics-of-the-military.html). The New York Times.
9 October 1989.
18. Hilton, Isobel (13 January 2003). "General Leopoldo Galtieri" (https://www.theguardian.com/ne
ws/2003/jan/13/guardianobituaries.argentina). The Guardian. London.
19. http://en.mercopress.com/2001/08/01/frail-pathetic-galtieri-british-profile-of-former-argentine-
president
20. "Former Argentine dictator Galtieri dies" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2650815.stm).
BBC News. 12 January 2003. Retrieved 28 February 2012.

External links
Political offices
Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Argentina
Alfredo Saint-
Carlos Lacoste 1981-1982
Jean

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