On June 14, 1982, Argentine troops surrendered to British forces on the Malvinas Islands. Two months earlier, an overexcited Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, president of the Argentine Military Junta, had ordered the occupation of this territory under British sovereignty.
Juan Bautista Yofre, author of two books on the Malvinas War, “1982” y “The trap”, He remembers that time at the end of the military dictatorship: “The Process was neither going backwards nor forwards, inflation was very great, there was the issue of violations of human rights, there was dissatisfaction in society with a regime military that was already anachronistic.” Something that could be applied almost one hundred percent to the current situation in Venezuela, overcoming the historical differences and the staging with some differences in the type of dictatorship.
Galtieri and Juan Militar wanted to give a shot of nationalist adrenaline to the downtrodden Argentine people with the seizure of the Malvinas, but they surely did not count on the enemy they had in front of them. If the popularity of the Argentine dictatorship was low, times were not good for Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party either. At that time, the prime minister was breaking records of unpopularity due to the poor economic situation, unemployment and the social adjustments and cuts that she had promoted since she came to power. Galtieri sought to gain the favor of the Argentines and at first after the invasion on April 2, 1982 she achieved it. But without realizing it she gave Thatcher a hand by leading the British military response and gaining the support of her people. For the British, that was a military parade and Margaret Thatcher was applauded and cheered in a victory parade in London that left the Queen of England herself in the background.
Gofre says that “Thatcher went from being the worst prime minister in history to the best,” and this feat helped her to renew her mandate and sweep the 1983 elections. While Galtieri was forced to resign after the military defeat, certifying the beginning of the end of the military dictatorship.
Observing the vehemence with which another dictator, Nicolás Maduro, entertains the idea of annexing the Essequibo, I have remembered this matter of the Malvinas and I thought that, inspired by Thatcher’s story, he wanted to wrap himself in the Venezuelan flag to recover his declining popularity. But analyzing the facts more closely, the similarities with Galtieri are greater with Maduro, among other things because today an electoral process in Venezuela does not have any credibility as has been demonstrated in the referendum that has produced the modern version of the votes. and the fish: ballot boxes with low participation and 10 million votes that appear out of nowhere.
Without going into assessing what historical or political reasons that Maduro claims for the annexation, the forms equate him to Galtieri and the Argentine Military Junta. Also coinciding in time with the judicial persecution announced against his political rivals due to this matter.
The international community has given Maduro many opportunities to redeem himself. The last, the relaxation of sanctions by the US, a policy that the Venezuelan people support both inside and outside the country as the polls assure, but having said that, what we have to do now is explain to Maduro that it is time to respect the law and resolutions of international courts. And the multi-country organizations will let you know. Their claim is legitimate but the use of force cannot be an option. It is time for Maduro to realize that he is facing the mirror of Galtieri and not that of Thatcher as he would like. Will Essequibo be for the Venezuelan dictatorship what the Malvinas were for the Argentine dictatorship? We will see.
