Leopoldo Galtieri (1926–2003)
Born 1926 CE, died 2003 CE.
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli (15 July 1926 – 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 during the National Reorganization Process as leader of the Third Junta with Jorge Anaya and Basilio Lami Dozo. Galtieri was chief combat engineer of the Argentine Army and a patron of the 1976 military coup d'état, which helped him become commander-in-chief of the army in 1980. Galtieri overthrew Roberto Eduardo 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 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. 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.
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