Leopoldo Galtieri

Lieutenant General Leopoldo Galtieri
Official portrait, 1981
President de facto of Argentina
In office 22 December 1981 – 18 June 1982
Appointed by	Military junta
Vice President	None
Preceded by	Carlos Lacoste (interim)
Succeeded by	Alfredo Oscar Saint Jean (interim)
Personal details
Born	(1926-07-15)15 July 1926 Caseros, Argentina[1]
Died	12 January 2003(2003-01-12) (aged 76) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Spouse	Lucía Noemí Gentili ​ (m. 1949)​
Children	3
Alma mater	Colegio Militar de la Nación
Profession	Military
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Argentina
Branch/service	Argentine Army
Years of service	1944–1982
Rank	(Pre-1991 epaulette) Lieutenant General
Battles/wars	Falklands War

Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli (Spanish pronunciation: [leoˈpoldo foɾtuˈnato ɣalˈtjeɾi kasˈteli]; 15 July 1926 – 12 January 2003) was an Argentine general who served as President of Argentina from December 1981 to June 1982. Galtieri exercised his control over Argentina as a military ruler during the National Reorganization Process as leader of the Third Junta with Jorge Anaya and Basilio Lami Dozo.^[2]

Galtieri was chief combat engineer of the Argentine Army and a supporter of the 1976 military coup d'état which helped him become commander-in-chief of the army in 1980. Galtieri overthrew Roberto Viola and 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 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 601 Intelligence Battalion death squad reporting directly to him.^[3]

Galtieri's declining popularity due to his human rights abuses and the worsening 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 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.