Former Dictator Galtieri Dies LADB Staff

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1-17-2003 Former Dictator Galtieri Dies LADB Staff

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Recommended Citation LADB Staff. "Former Dictator Galtieri Dies." (2003). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/notisur/13107

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Latin America Digital Beat (LADB) at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NotiSur by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LADB Article Id: 52856 ISSN: 1089-1560 Former Dictator Galtieri Dies by LADB Staff Category/Department: Argentina Published: 2003-01-17

Argentine former military dictator Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri died early Jan. 12 at the Hospital Militar Central in Buenos Aires of heart and respiratory problems, complications of pancreatic cancer. Galtieri, who made the decision to embark on the failed 1982 war with Britain over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands, was the third of four military presidents during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. The controversy that followed Galtieri in life continued after his death. The 76-year-old Galtieri had been under house arrest since July 2002.

Federal Judge Claudio Bondio ordered his detention on charges of human rights abuses committed during the dictatorship specifically the kidnapping and torture of 18 members of the Montoneros guerrilla group (see NotiSur, 2002- 07-19). The order was based on a ruling that his earlier amnesty was unconstitutional (see NotiSur, 2001-03-30). Besides the charges in Argentina, Galtieri was under an international arrest warrant issued by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon in connection with the disappearance of three Spanish citizens during the "dirty war." And Italy was pursuing charges against Galtieri, Gen. Jorge Videla, and Adm. Eduardo Massera in relation to the deaths of Italian citizens during the same period. He was also accused of involvement in the disappearance of children born to detained leftists.

Malvinas war was the downfall of Galtieri

Galtieri assumed the presidency in December 1981 and was removed the following June, four days after Argentine troops surrendered to the British. The 74-day war, which left nearly 1,000 dead, began when Argentine troops occupied the islands on April 2, 1982. Argentina lost about 650 soldiers during the conflict, and the government was accused of sending poorly equipped and poorly trained soldiers into battle. Galtieri's misadventure in the South Atlantic led to the collapse of the military dictatorship.

Described by historians as an alcoholic who used the invasion of the Malvinas to divert attention from an economic collapse, Galtieri later admitted he thought Britain would not put up a fight for the islands. Galtieri and his advisors made another huge error in judgment, believing that their hard-line anti-communist position and their collaboration with the US in its support for the Nicaraguan contras and for the military regimes in El Salvador and Guatemala would ensure Washington's neutrality in the Malvinas conflict.

Galtieri was a graduate of the infamous US Amry School of the Americas, at that time based in Panama, which gave him connections with high-ranking US military and the illusion that he was Washington's fair-haired boy. However, US President Ronald Reagan (1980-1988) sided with close friend British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the conflict. The islands remain a source of disagreement between Argentina and Britain. But former Falklands/Malvinas Gov. Rex Hunt credited Galtieri with ensuring that the islands stayed under British control.

"Had it not been for Galtieri's folly, in making that absolutely blatantly unprovoked military invasion of the Falklands, I think the Falkland Islands might well by now have been part of Argentina," he told Sky News Television after Galtieri died.

Galtieri and other junta leaders were tried for human rights crimes shortly after democracy was restored in 1983, and Galtieri was convicted in 1985 for negligence during the war. A military investigation recommended that Galtieri be dishonorably discharged and shot. The recommendation was not followed, and Galtieri was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but was later pardoned by former President Carlos Saul Menem (1989- 1999) in 1989. In a May 1999 interview with the Argentine magazine Gente, Galtieri said, "I don't regret what I did."

Release of US documents link Galtieri to abuses

The junta leaders were responsible for the deaths and disappearances of up to 30,000 people. On Aug. 20, 2002, the US State Department released thousands of classified documents related to the Argentine military's violent repression of leftists. The documents included dispatches, interview transcripts, and intelligence reports produced by the US Embassy in Buenos Aires. One embassy dispatch cited an Argentine source who said that captured Montoneros were all dealt with in the same way, through "torture and summary execution."

Asked by US officials why the military did not bring suspected insurgents before formal courts, even military courts, the informant gave two reasons. "First, security forces neither trust nor know how to use legal solutions. The present methods are easier and more familiar," said the source. "Second, there is no responsible military man who 'has the courage' to take formal responsibility for the conviction and execution of a Montonero." The documents put Galtieri at the top of the chain of command, directing a death squad thought to be responsible for the killing and disappearance of thousands during that period.

The US in the beginning tacitly encouraged the campaign against anti-government activists. The documents reveal that Argentine military officers believed they had the green light from Washington especially from Henry Kissinger, secretary of state from 1973-1977 to carry out the brutal campaign. The documents also outline an intense policy dispute within the US government about its position on the ruling junta, according to Thomas S. Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive (NSA), a nongovernmental research institute that pushed for the release of the documents.

One document from Oct. 19, 1976, noted that Argentina's foreign minister returned from Washington "in a state of jubilation," convinced after meeting Kissinger that US officials simply wanted the Argentine terror campaign over quickly. Kissinger left his post in early 1977, when President Jimmy Carter came to office and made human rights a factor in US support for foreign governments. Even out of office, Kissinger had an impact in Argentina. As the Carter administration sharpened its criticism of Argentina's military junta for its atrocities, Kissinger traveled to Buenos Aires as the guest of then dictator Gen. Videla, to view the 1978 World Cup soccer tournament.

In a cable, then US Ambassador Raul Castro wrote that Kissinger held an "off-the-cuff talk" with foreign affairs experts. "My only concern," wrote Castro, "is that Kissinger's repeated high praise for Argentina's action in wiping out terrorism and his stress on the importance of Argentina may have gone to some considerable extent to his hosts' heads....there is some danger that Argentines may use Kissinger's laudatory statements as justification for hardening their human rights stance."

Eulogy brings calls to fire army chief

Argentine human rights organizations and some political leaders called on President Eduardo Duhalde to fire Army chief Gen. Ricardo Brinzoni, following Galtieri's funeral. Brinzoni called Galtieri "a disciplined soldier" during the ceremony, which was complete with full military honors. "The Argentine Army says goodbye today to one of its commanders in chief," said Brinzoni. "During times of upheaval and differences of opinion among Argentines, he acted and made decisions based on his convictions."

"We repudiate the words of Gen. Ricardo Brinzoni, who said the former repressor Leopoldo Galtieri 'fulfilled like a disciplined soldier all the orders and institutional policies given by the Army,' and [we repudiate] the decision to give him a military funeral with full honors." Brinzoni's comments "show clearly the institutional vindication by the current head of the Army for the human rights violations committed by the last military dictatorship." The statement was signed by the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, Servicio de Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ), and the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), and other human rights organizations. Congressional deputies Oscar Gonzalez and Marcela Bordenave also called for Brinzoni's "immediate dismissal."

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