Editing Leopoldo Galtieri (section)

===Falklands War===

{{see also|Falklands War}}
[[File:Galtieri-Jofre.jpg|thumb|upright|Galtieri in the [[Falkland Islands]]]]

By April 1982, Galtieri had been in office for four months and his popularity was low.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trueman |first=CN |date=26 May 2015 |url=http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/the-falklands-war-1982/general-leopoldo-galtieri/|title=General Leopoldo Galtieri |website=The History Learning Site |access-date=10 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703052536/https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/the-falklands-war-1982/general-leopoldo-galtieri/ |archive-date=2016-07-03 |language=en-GB}}</ref> 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.<ref>"{{lang|es|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.") {{cite web|author=''[[La Nación]]''/Islas Malvinas Online|title=Haig: "Malvinas fue mi Waterloo"|url=http://www.malvinasonline.com.ar/g82/artic/aresp004.htm#Haig|access-date=21 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908102813/http://www.malvinasonline.com.ar/g82/artic/aresp004.htm|archive-date=8 September 2006|language=es}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

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 Security Council Resolution 502|United Nations resolution]] demanding an immediate Argentine withdrawal. Argentina did not comply with the resolution which resulted in a [[Argentine surrender in the Falklands War|surrender to British forces]] on 14 June 1982.