Editing Leopoldo Galtieri

{{Short description|Argentine general and military ruler (1926–2003)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{family name hatnote|Galtieri|Castelli|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[Lieutenant General]]
| name                = Leopoldo Galtieri
| image               = Retrato Oficial Galtieri (cropped) (b).jpg
| caption             = Galtieri in 1981
| office              = President of Argentina
| order               = 46th
| status              = 
| term_start          = 22 December 1981
| term_end            = 18 June 1982
| appointer           = [[National Reorganization Process|Military junta]]
| vicepresident       = None
| predecessor         = [[Carlos Lacoste]] (interim)
| successor           = [[Alfredo Oscar Saint Jean]] (interim)
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1926|7|15|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Caseros, Buenos Aires|Caseros]], [[Argentina]]<ref>[http://www.clarin.com/diario/2003/01/13/p-01401.htm Argentina's Military Dictatorship] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311194655/http://www.clarin.com/diario/2003/01/13/p-01401.htm |date=11 March 2010 }} (in Spanish)</ref>
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|2003|1|12|1926|7|15}}
| death_place         = [[Buenos Aires]], Argentina
| alma_mater          = [[Colegio Militar de la Nación]]
| profession          = [[Military]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Lucía Noemí Gentili|1949}}
| children            = 3
| party               = 
| allegiance          = {{flag|Argentina}}
| branch              = {{army|Argentina}}
| serviceyears        = 1944–1982
| battles             = [[Falklands War]]
| rank                = [[File:GD-EA.png|35px]] (Pre-1991 epaulette) [[Lieutenant General]]
| signature           = Firma Galtieri vec.svg
}}

'''Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli'''{{efn|{{IPA|es|leoˈpolðo foɾtuˈnato ɣalˈtjeɾi kasˈteli}}}} (15 July 1926{{spaced ndash}} 12 January 2003) was an Argentine military officer who served as the ''de facto'' [[President of Argentina]] from December 1981 to June 1982. Galtieri ruled as a [[military dictator|military ruler]] during the [[National Reorganization Process]] as leader of the Third Junta with [[Jorge Anaya]] and [[Basilio Lami Dozo]].<ref>Dark Years: [http://www.whatargentina.com/argentina-military-dictatorship.html Murió Galtieri, el general que llevó al país a la guerra]</ref>

Galtieri was chief [[combat engineer]] of the [[Argentine Army]] and a patron of the [[1976 Argentine coup d'état|1976 military coup d'état]] which helped him become [[commander-in-chief]] of the army in 1980. Galtieri overthrew [[Roberto Viola]], was appointed president, and established Argentina as a strong [[Cold War]] ally of [[NATO]] and the [[United States]], while introducing [[fiscally conservative]] economic reforms, and increasing [[Operation Charly|Argentine covert support]] for the [[anti-communist]] [[Contras]] guerrillas during the [[Nicaraguan civil war]]. In domestic policy, General Galtieri continued the [[Dirty War]] with the [[Batallón de Inteligencia 601|601 Intelligence Battalion]] [[death squad]] reporting directly to him.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB73/index.htm|title=Argentina: Secret U.S. Documents Declassified on Dirty War Atrocities|first=Michael|last=Evans|website=www.gwu.edu}}</ref> 

Galtieri's declining popularity due to his [[human rights abuses]] and the worsening [[Economic history of Argentina#Stagnation (1975–1990)|economic stagnation]] caused him to order an invasion of the [[Falkland Islands]] in April 1982. Galtieri was removed from power after Argentina’s defeat by the [[British armed forces]] in the [[Falklands War]] in June, which led to the [[1983 Argentine general election|restoration of democracy]] and, in 1986, his court martial prosecution and conviction for [[war crimes]] and other offenses. Galtieri was pardoned by [[Carlos Menem]] in 1989 and lived in obscurity until his arrest for new charges shortly before his death in 2003.

==Early life==
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri was born on 15 July 1926 in [[Caseros, Buenos Aires|Caseros]], [[Buenos Aires Province]] to working-class [[Italian Argentine]] parents Francisco Rosario Galtieri and Nélida Victoria Castelli.<ref>[[Oriana Fallaci]], Cambio 16, June 1982, Available Online [http://www.malvinasonline.com.ar/notas/nota.php?recordID=222]{{dead link|date=December 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} "''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.''")</ref> In 1943, at 17 years-old, he enrolled at the [[Colegio Militar de la Nación|National Military Academy]] to study [[civil engineering]], and his early military career was as an officer in the engineering branch of the [[Argentine Army]]. As well as rising through the ranks of the military, he continued his studies in engineering until the mid-1950s. In 1949 he graduated from the [[US Army School of the Americas]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=David|last1=Kohut|first2=Olga|last2=Vilella|title=Historical Dictionary of the Dirty Wars|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zA1nDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA180|page=180|isbn=9781442276420}}</ref> In 1958, he became a professor of engineering at the Senior War College.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mps.mpsomaha.org/mnhs/Drummond/Dictator%20Genome%20Project/Database/Leopoldo%20Galtieri.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=3 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224731/http://mps.mpsomaha.org/mnhs/Drummond/Dictator%20Genome%20Project/Database/Leopoldo%20Galtieri.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}</ref>

Galtieri was married to Lucía Noemí Gentili, and the couple had one son and two daughters.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.soaw.org/soaw/index.php?view=article&catid=6&id=1924&format=pdf&option=com_content&Itemid=64 |title=Archived copy |access-date=3 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080641/http://www.soaw.org/soaw/index.php?view=article&catid=6&id=1924&format=pdf&option=com_content&Itemid=64 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Rise to power==
In 1975, after more than 25 years as a [[combat engineer]], Galtieri became commander of the Argentine engineering corps. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the [[1976 Argentine coup d'état|March 1976 coup d'état]] that overthrew President [[Isabel Perón]] and started the self-styled [[National Reorganisation Process]], the establishment of a right-wing [[military junta]] government in Argentina. This helped him rise through the ranks, becoming a [[major general]] in 1977, and [[commander-in-chief]] of the army in 1980 with the rank of [[lieutenant general]]. During the junta's rule, [[Argentine National Congress|Congress]] was suspended, [[trade union]]s, [[political parties]], and [[Provinces of Argentina|provincial]] governments were banned, and in what became known as the [[Dirty War]], between 9,000 and 30,000 people deemed left-wing subversives [[forced disappearance|disappeared]] from society with [[torture]] and [[mass execution]]s being commonplace. Argentina's economy had been in dire condition prior to the coup and recovered for a short time. An impending economic collapse was one of the main justifications for the overthrow of Perón and the civilian government.

In March 1981, Galtieri visited the [[United States]] and was warmly received, as the [[Reagan administration]] viewed the regime as a [[wikt:bulwark|bulwark]] against [[communism]]. National Security Advisor [[Richard V. Allen]] described him as a "majestic general". An adherent to the Argentine military's [[Cold War]]-era doctrine of "ideological frontiers", Galtieri secured his country's support for [[Contras|Contra]] rebel groups opposing the Socialist [[Sandinista]] government in [[Nicaragua]] during the [[Nicaraguan Revolution]]. In August, he sent advisers to help organize the [[Nicaraguan Democratic Force]] (FDN, for a time the principal Contra group), as well as training FDN leaders in Argentine bases. His support for this initiative allowed Galtieri to remove a number of rival generals.

==Presidency==
[[File:Galtieri en Casa Rosada.jpg|thumb|Galtieri on his first day as [[President of Argentina]].]]
On 22 December 1981, Galtieri was appointed [[President of Argentina]] one week after ousting General [[Roberto Viola]], who had been in power since March. Officially Viola resigned due to a health issue and designated Interior Minister Horacio Liendo as his successor. In reality, Viola was removed from power due to his regime's inability to reverse the economic crisis which caused infighting within the military.

Galtieri retained direct control of the army whilst President of the governing Military Junta and did not appoint a new commander-in-chief.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/the-falklands-war-1982/general-leopoldo-galtieri/|title=General Leopoldo Galtieri|website=History Learning Site}}</ref>

===Political policy===
[[File:St. Jean-Galtieri-Moya.jpg|thumb|Galtieri in the [[Casa Rosada]]]]
Galtieri instituted limited political reforms which allowed the [[free speech|expression of dissent]], and anti-junta demonstrations soon became common, as did agitation for a return to [[democracy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/galtieri_grows_old_with_his_falklands_secrets_1_501412|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516195732/http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/galtieri_grows_old_with_his_falklands_secrets_1_501412|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 May 2013|title=grows old with his Falklands secrets", ''The Scotsman'', 2 April 2002}}</ref>

===Economic policy===
Galtieri appointed [[fiscal conservatism|conservative]] economist and publisher [[Roberto Alemann]] as [[Minister of Economy (Argentina)|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 [[public spending|spending]], began selling off government-owned industries (with only minor success), enacted a tight [[monetary policy]], and ordered salaries frozen (amid 130% inflation).<ref name=LewisB>Lewis, Paul. ''The Crisis of Argentine Capitalism''. University of North Carolina Press, 1990.</ref>

The [[Central Bank of Argentina|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.<ref>''Argentina: From Insolvency to Growth''. World Bank Press, 1993.</ref>

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 role would contribute to a US$6 billion loss for the company, the largest recorded corporate loss in the world, up to that point.<ref>Poneman, Daniel. ''Argentina: Democracy on Trial.'' Paragon House, 1987.</ref>

===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]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.elhistoriador.com.ar/ronald-reagan-y-la-guerra-de-malvinas/|title=Ronald Reagan y la guerra de Malvinas|first=Felipe|last=Pigna|date=6 November 2017|website=El Historiador}}</ref> Argentina support became the principal source of funds and training for the Contras during Galtieri's tenure.<ref name="r734">{{cite book | last=Scott | first=Peter Dale | last2=Marshall | first2=Jonathan | title=Cocaine Politics | publisher=Berkeley : University of California Press | date=1991 | isbn=0-520-07781-4 | page=}}</ref>

Argentine military and intelligence cooperation with the [[Reagan Administration]] ended in 1982 when Argentina invaded the [[Falkland Islands]].

===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.

==Defeat, fall from power, trial and prison==
On 14 June 1982, the Falklands' capital, [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]], was [[Falklands War#Fall of Stanley|retaken by British forces]]. The fact that an administration ruled by military figures failed to contain the British military 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,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/contratapa/13-65317-2006-04-08.html|title=Página/12 :: Contratapa :: Rattenbach|website=www.pagina12.com.ar}}</ref> recommended that those responsible for the misconduct of the war be prosecuted under the Code of Military Justice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cescem.org.ar/informe_rattenbach/parte4_capitulo13_01.html|title=Malvinas - Encuadramiento jurídico de los responsables|first=Antonio|last=Millan|website=www.cescem.org.ar}}</ref> In 1986 he was sentenced to twelve years in prison.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clarin.com/suplementos/especiales/2006/03/24/l-01164204.htm|title=Página no encontrada|website=www.clarin.com|access-date=30 April 2021|archive-date=30 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430110822/https://www.clarin.com/suplementos/especiales/2006/03/24/l-01164204.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/09/world/pardon-of-argentine-officers-angers-critics-of-the-military.html|work=The New York Times | title=Pardon of Argentine Officers Angers Critics of the Military|date=9 October 1989}}</ref>

==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 [[Argentine peso|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 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''.

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 [[Spain|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.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/jan/13/guardianobituaries.argentina | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Isobel | last=Hilton | title=General Leopoldo Galtieri | date=13 January 2003}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.mercopress.com/2001/08/01/frail-pathetic-galtieri-british-profile-of-former-argentine-president|title="Frail, pathetic Galtieri".British Profile of former Argentine President|website=MercoPress}}</ref>

==Death==
Galtieri underwent surgery for [[pancreatic cancer]] on 16 August 2002 at a hospital in Buenos Aires. He died there of a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] on 12 January 2003, aged 76.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2650815.stm|work=BBC News|title=Former Argentine dictator Galtieri dies|date=12 January 2003|access-date=28 February 2012}}</ref> His body is interred in a small mausoleum at [[La Chacarita Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cibeira |first1=Fernando |title=Murió el amigo del whisky y la tortura |url=https://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-15260-2003-01-13.html |access-date=25 May 2024 |work=Página 12 |date=13 January 2003}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links}}

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{{s-bef|before=[[Carlos Lacoste]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title= [[President of Argentina]]|years= 1981-1982}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Alfredo Oscar Saint Jean|Alfredo Saint-Jean]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Presidents of Argentina}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galtieri, Leopoldo}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
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[[Category:Heads of government who were later imprisoned]]
[[Category:People acquitted of international crimes]]
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