Mario Menéndez
Mario Benjamin Menéndez (born April 3, 1930 in Chañar Ladeado , Santa Fe Province ; according to other sources in Buenos Aires , † September 18, 2015 ) was an Argentine officer with the rank of brigadier general .
Life
Menéndez came from a family of military men . Two of his uncles, also named Mario Benjamin Menéndez , were also generals . An uncle was involved in preparing a coup against Juan Perón in 1951 ; the other uncle took part in a planned coup against the Argentine military junta in 1978 . Menéndez began his military career as a cadet at the State Military Academy ( Colegio Militar de la Nación ).
As a colonel , he was a leader in the Operativo Independencia in 1981 , an operation by the armed forces of Argentina to suppress the separatist Marxist Revolutionary People's Army ( Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo ) in the province of Tucumán . In 1982 he was appointed General of the Army ( Ejército Argentino ) and became commander of the First Army Corps ( Primer Cuerpo de Ejército ).
Commander in the Falklands War
Menéndez arrived on April 7, 1982, a few days after the start of the Argentine military offensive in the Falklands War , in Stanley , the capital of the Falkland Islands . His intention was to take control of the territory.
On April 26, 1982, he proclaimed himself military governor of the Falkland Islands , South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ( Comandante Conjunto de las Islas Malvinas ); this approach was later approved by the Argentine government.
On June 14, 1982 Menéndez had a radio conversation with President Leopoldo Galtieri about the further course of the war. In this conversation, Galtieri tried to "transfer" responsibility for the further course of the war to Menéndez by arguing that responsibility ultimately rests with Menéndez. Menéndez, no longer sure of the support of his government, finally capitulated the same day to the armed forces of the United Kingdom .
On July 27, 1982 after the end of the Falklands War, Menéndez was dismissed from all military offices.
Activities after the war
In October 1983, and thus in the last months of Reynaldo Bignone's presidency , Menéndez was arrested and disciplined for 60 days, according to his mother, Hilda Villarino de Menéndez. Hilda Villarino de Menéndez said that her son's arrest apparently had something to do with the publication of a book her son had written about his experiences during the time of the Falklands War.
In 2009, Menéndez stated that the figure of 30,000 people who disappeared in Argentina during the military dictatorship was not correct. In Menéndez's view, this is an “invented” number. He himself does not deny that such things have happened; However, he denies the number mentioned and the alleged extent. He also attacked the former general of the armed forces Martín Antonio Balza , who confirmed the figure of 30,000 Desaparecidos .
Works
- Malvinas: testimonio de su gobernador. Editorial Sudamericana, Buenos Aires 1983. ISBN 978-950-07-0170-9
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Daring Argentine general vows to fight to the last bullet in: Montreal Gazette of June 2, 1982
- ^ Murió Mario Benjamín Menéndez. In: La Nación . September 18, 2015, accessed April 2, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c “Galtieri didn't realize we were loosing the war” reveals former Malvinas governor in: Merco Press of March 30, 2009
- ↑ a b Falklands' wartime governor reported jailed for 60 days in: Miami Herald of October 8, 1983
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Menéndez, Mario |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Menéndez, Mario Benjamin (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Argentine officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 3, 1930 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Buenos Aires |
| DATE OF DEATH | 18th September 2015 |