Argentina planned to massacre hundreds of British and American citizens living in the country on the eve of the Falklands War, according to newly discovered CIA documents.
The declassified papers dated from April 1982 reveal Argentine dictator General Leopoldo Galtieri had advanced plans to ‘disappear’ 500 British subjects and more than 100 US Embassy staff, using an Argentine terrorist group as a cover.
The astonishing documents, unearthed by respected Falklands historian Ricky D. Phillips, shed new light on the war which claimed the lives of 255 British military personnel, 649 Argentinians and three Falkland Islanders.
The CIA documents are dated April 12, 1982 – 10 days after Argentina invaded the British islands in the South Atlantic. They help explain why Alexander Haig, then US Secretary of State, ‘stalled’ plans to openly support Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, thus giving British and US citizens time to flee Argentina.
Mr Phillips, who has written four best-selling books on the Falklands War, unearthed the documents while researching a new book. They were declassified in 2018 but have never been made public until now.
He said: ‘I was researching my new book and suddenly found this incredible CIA file that nobody knew about. It showed the Argentines formulated a military run plan to snatch and ‘disappear’ hundreds of people in one fell swoop and to blame it on an Argentine terrorist organization called Montoneros.
‘This would have been Argentina’s equivalent to Adolf Hitler’s Kristallnacht, where the Nazis rounded up thousands of Jews and sent them to concentration camps to be killed.’
The CIA report with the subject line ‘Contingency plans for violence against US and British citizens’, reads: ‘As of the early evening of 11 April 1982 the 601st Intelligence Battalion, the operational arm of the Argentine Army Intelligence Service was making contingency plans to “disappear” US citizens in Argentina if the US government adopts the British position in regard to the dispute in the Falkland Islands.
The declassified papers dated from April 1982 reveal Argentine dictator General Leopoldo Galtieri (pictured) had advanced plans to ‘disappear’ 500 British subjects
Pictured: British paratroopers carrying out emergency medical treatment on wounded comrades whilst under fire on Mount London during the Falklands campaign
‘In the terminology used by the 601st battalion “disappeared” does not mean “put in jail”. “Disappeared” probably means “killed”. (redacted name) did not provide any information on the identities or numbers of persons who would be “disappeared”.
‘However… it referred to intelligence and security personnel at the US embassy in Buenos Aires. Also on the early evening of 11 April, teams from the 601st battalion were moving into position to be ready to take immediate action to ‘disappear’ 500 British subjects in Argentina as soon as hostilities begin.’
Mr Phillips added: ‘There has always been speculation about why the Americans appeared to stall in their support of the British invasion. This document shows they were stalling to allow innocent Brits and Americans time to get out of Argentina.’
The Argentines invaded the Falklands on April 2, 1982. Mrs Thatcher dispatched a naval task force of more than 100 ships on April 5, and victory was declared on June 14, 1982, following Argentina’s surrender.
