Falklands War killed Argentine regime, revived Thatcher By Veronica Sardon

dpa German Press Agency Published: Tuesday March 27, 2007

Buenos Aires- The Falklands War of 1982 had opposite
effects on the governments of Argentina and Great Britain, signalling
the demise of the last Argentine dictatorship and adding wind to the
sails of Margaret Thatcher's historic rule.
Conscious that support was waning fast for a military regime
initiated in 1976, Argentine ruler Leopoldo Galtieri used a
traditional claim to sovereignty of the Falkland Islands - known
locally as the Malvinas - as an emergency raft.

However, defeat brought about the end of the bloody military
dictatorship, which has been blamed by families and human rights
groups for the death or disappearance of 30,000 people. Within days
after Argentina lost the conflict, the regime stepped down and gave
way to free elections.

The 74-day conflict, in turn, gave prime minister Thatcher (1979-
90) the chance to show her leadership qualities. The swift
military victory went a long way to secure her re-election in 1983.

The Falklands victory gave her added political capital to push
forward with her radical reform of British society, from the
transformation of the post-war Welfare State to the defeat of the
powerful trade unions that had proved so rebellious for governments
over the previous decade.

Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins, a Thatcher expert, recently
mused about how differently Britain would have developed if Argentine
forces had not invaded the archipelago in the icy waters of the South
Atlantic 480 kilometres off its shore.

"Margaret Thatcher would have resigned or been defeated at the
polls. Old Labour would have returned to power. There would have
been no Thatcherism, no British revival, no Tony Blair, no Gordon
Brown," wrote Jenkins.

On the Argentine side, things unravelled in the opposite
direction. The dictatorship was going through a political and
economic crisis in 1982 and facing increasing opposition. On March
30, 1982, just three days before the war, regime opponents launched
their first major demonstration on the central Plaza de Mayo in
Buenos Aires.

The propaganda value of the claim to sovereignty was "a cause that
has historically had a profound emotional and sentimental impact on
Argentine society," said journalist Eduardo van der Kooy in an
interview.

To this day, Argentina stands by its ancient claim to sovereignty
of the Malvinas, what Van der Kooy calls a "collective feeling"
passed on from one generation to the next. Buenos Aires still insists
the the islands were illegally occupied by Britain in 1833, despite
the current will of the local residents to remain British.

Thus, when General Galtieri returned to the same square to rally
the population after initial occupation of the islands, he generated
excitement with his proclomation: "If they want to come, let them
come. We will fight them!"

By June 14, however, 649 Argentine soldiers, many of them young,
untrained and underequipped, and three civilian Falklanders lay dead.
The British lost 255 soldiers.

The defeat and deceit forced upon the Argentine population by the
dictatorship's propaganda machine led to Galtieri's resignation three
days afterwards. Free elections were held the next year.

Galtieri was initially absolved of civil charges of human rights
abuses, but later was placed under house arrest. A military court
sentenced him to 12 years in prison for his actions around the
Falklands War, and he served five years in jail before being pardoned
in 1991.

Next week, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner is expected to
travel to the southern town of Ushuaia, in the province of Tierra de
Fuego, to commemorate the anniversary.

As expected under the constitution, Kirchner is also expected to
stress the country's legitimate claim to the Falkland Islands. But
Argentina's elected governments have insisted on diplomacy as the
only admissible means to pursue the goal.

As if to mark the radical differences in the legacies of the war
in Britain and Argentina, British Prime Minister Tony Blair - whose
public currency has fallen with growing opposition to the war in Iraq
- recently called Thatcher's decision to go to war over the Falklands
the "right thing" that "took a lot of political courage."

Like Galtieri, Thatcher's popularity was at an all-time low in
early 1982. But with victory in her sails, her Conservative Party won
the 1983 elections by a landslide - a public mandate for the large-
scale, profound reform she carried out.

The Falklands War had winners and losers beyond the battlefield.
Indeed, while many in Argentina were able to hail the onset of
democracy, critics in Britain express regret over the lasting legacy
of Thatcherism - two phenomena that emerged from the battle over the
remote archipelago in the South Atlantic.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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