biography
| name: |
Galtieri, Leopoldo (Fortunato)
|
pronunciation:
[galtyairee]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1926–2003)
|
| biography:
| Argentinian soldier and junta president (1981–2), born in Caseras, Buenos Aires. Trained at the National Military College, he progressed to the rank of lieutenant-general (1979), when he joined the ruling junta, becoming its president. To deflect attention from a worsening national economy he ordered the invasion of the long-disputed Malvinas (Falkland) Is in 1982. Their recovery by Britain, after a brief and humiliating war, brought about his downfall. He was court-martialled in 1983 and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for negligence in starting and losing the Falklands War. He was released in 1990 following a presidential pardon. |
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