Thirty years ago on 2 April 1982, 130 Argentinian commandos landed under cover of darkness on the British Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, 1,100 miles from Buenos Aires. They seized the airfield, the marine barracks and, after a brief firefight, government house. This was followed by a full infantry landing in the harbour of Port Stanley.
By 8.30am, the islands were no longer British. Argentina's new junta, under General Leopoldo Galtieri, had truly marked the 150th anniversary of the island's occupation by Britain in 1832, while rescuing itself from opposition riots in Buenos Aires. It felt entitled to the islands, and thought the world, notably the United States, would agree with it, as it had India's similar seizure of Portuguese Goa in 1961.
To Margaret Thatcher, as she awoke that morning, the news was devastating. Two days of intelligence had suggested an Argentinian fleet was closing on the islands. A submarine had been sent, but it would take two weeks to arrive, and leaked news of its despatch merely speeded the invasion. She had telephoned her friend, President Ronald Reagan, to intercede. But Reagan found Galtieri drunk and intransigent.
After fewer than three years in office, Thatcher had achieved little beyond tax cuts for the rich and spending cuts for the poor. Cabinet colleagues were in open revolt and the new Social Democrats were experiencing the strongest third party surge in half a century.
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