It is 39 years since the Falklands War ended, but many who were there likely remember it as if it were yesterday. Britain continues to have a military presence there, while also working with Argentina on NATO missions, with the South American country being a non-alliance ally. The Falkland Islands had originally been claimed by Britain in and, and they had been safely in British hands since , one of many remnants of the British Empire.
Argentina had disputed British control, being only miles away, as opposed to 8, As with Gibraltar today , the British government had considered giving the islands back to Argentina but decided not to when residents expressed an overwhelming desire to remain British. But in the late 70s and early 80s, events in Argentina were in political flux.
A number of right-wing coups had occurred in the Americas during the s and this one contained the usual ingredients: The disappearance, arrest, torture and murder of thousands of leftists or even suspected leftists. According to the Guardian, one policy of the junta was to spare pregnant women until they had given birth before then killing them and giving their babies to a military family.
The Guardian also revealed how Henry Kissinger, US Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon, advised the junta to eliminate their opponents quickly before human rights protests could gain momentum. Things did not go according to plan, and by April Galtieri was beset by problems β a restless and angry populace struggling in an economy that was suffering percent inflation.
But if Galtieri could unite his people around a common cause, perhaps he could increase his popularity and hang onto power. What he needed was a good war centred around something that fired Argentinian pride. He settled on the Malvinas, otherwise known as the Falklands. The invasion, though, would not occur straight away. Seeking to establish a precedent, Galtieri first sent his forces to take another British colony: South Georgia, also in the South Atlantic.
