Operation Soberanía
Encyclopedia
Operación Soberanía was the codename of a planned Argentine
military invasion of Chile
to be carried out on 22 December 1978 due to the Beagle conflict
dispute. The invasion was halted at the last minute and did not take place.
In 1971 Chile
and Argentina
agreed to binding arbitration to settle a boundary dispute (Beagle Channel Arbitration
). On 22 May 1977 Queen Elizabeth II
announced the judgment, which awarded the Picton, Nueva and Lennox
islands to Chile.
On 25 January 1978 Argentina rejected the decision and attempted to militarily coerce Chile into negotiating a division of the islands that would produce a maritime boundary
consistent with Argentine claims.
There was considerable international condemnation of the Chilean regime's human rights record, with the United States expressing particular concern after Orlando Letelier
's 1976 assassination in Washington D.C. The United States banned the export of weapons to Chile through the Kennedy Amendment, later International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976. 16 Northrop F-5's were delivered to Chile before the embargo took effect, but they arrived without any armament. In 1980 Chile was excluded from UNITAS
joint naval maneuvers because of human rights violations. Germany
, Austria
and the United Kingdom
the traditional supplier of the Chilean Armed Forces, did not supply weapons to Chile.
In 1978, the United States extended the Kennedy amendment to Argentina as well because of its human rights record, which lead to the Armed Forces purchases to shift to Europe: France
, Germany, and Austria exported weapons to Argentina even during the critical phase of the Beagle conflict, as Argentina had already rejected the international binding Arbitral Award. In December 1978, when the outbreak of war appeared unavoidable, the German shipbuilding and engineering works Blohm + Voss
and the Argentine Junta
agreed to the building of four destroyer
s. In November 1978 France delivered two corvette
s to Argentina, originally built for the apartheid Regime in South Africa
. The corvettes, Good Hope and Transvaal, could not be delivered because of anti-apartheid embargoes
. In Argentina they were renamed ARA Drummond
and ARA Guerrico
. United States President Ronald Reagan
(1981–1989) would later improve relations to Argentina due their military support in fighting Nicaragua's Contras
. (See Operation Charly
).
The United Kingdom delivered Type 42 destroyer
s to the Argentine junta. On 19 September 1977 the ARA Hércules
(built and completed in the UK) sailed to Argentina from the Vickers Shipbuilding yard in Barrow-in-Furness
; on 28 November 1981 the ARA Santísima Trinidad (built in Argentina, completed in the UK) sailed from Portsmouth
.
An overview of both countries' defence spending:
* Costs in millions of 1979 US dollars
.
The Argentines' numerical advantage was counterbalanced by the following factors:
The Ambassador of the United States in Argentina (1978) Raúl Castro
described the attitude of the Argentine military towards a possible war with the following:
Augusto Pinochet
foresaw a long and bloody war, a kind of partisan war:
Argentina solicited a Peruvian attack in Chile's north, but Peru rejected this demand and ordered only a partial mobilization.
No Argentine documents or statements concerning the planning of the war of aggression
against Chile have been released. But so many individual accounts exist among the Argentine ranks that the existence of a plan has not been disputed.
The Argentine Government planned to first occupy the islands around Cape Horn and then, in a second phase, either to stop or continue hostilities according to the Chilean reaction. Argentina had already drafted a declaration of war.
An Argentine complaint in the UN Security Council over Chile's military occupation of the disputed islands was to precede the attack.
Rubén Madrid Murúa in "La Estrategia Nacional y Militar que planificó Argentina, en el marco de una estrategia total, para enfrentar el conflicto con Chile el año 1978", ("Memorial del Ejército de Chile", Edición Nº 471, Santiago, Chile, 2003, S. 54-55), stated that the Argentine General Staff planned the operation under the name "Planeamiento Conjunto de Operaciones Previstas contra Chile".
The Argentines planned amphibious landings to seize the islands southwards of the Beagle Channel, along with massive land-based attacks:
The Second Army Corps under the command of Leopoldo Galtieri
would protect the north of Argentina from a potential Brazilian attack and its II Brigada de Caballería blindada would protect the Argentine region of Río Mayo in Chubut Province
from a possible Chilean attack.
The Argentine Armed Forces expected between 30,000 and 50,000 dead in the course of the war.
prepared political instructions to be followed in the southern zone after the disputed islands were under Argentinian sovereignty. They defined the new border, navigation rights for Chilean ships, instructions in case of confrontations with the Chilean Navy
, dealing with injured personnel, prisoners of war, etc.
There was no surprise factor, since the Chilean military kept movements of the Argentine fleet under surveillance and monitored the buildup of Argentine troops. Chilean troops were deployed along the border, ready to meet any invaders.
Chile planted mines in certain areas along its borders with Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. and dynamited some mountain pass
es Parts of route 9-CH
between Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales
were selected to serve as extra airstrips in the case of an invasion. A defensive position was built up the narrowest part of Brunswick Peninsula
in order to avoid or delay an Argentine capture of Punta Arenas. In the Puerto Natales area the Chilean army prepared for guerrilla warfare
if the defensive lines would be penetrated. In contrast to the defensive war planned by the Chilean Army in Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, the Chilean army had plans for an attack to invade the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego
, but the control of Tierra del Fuego Island was considered a secondary goal since its control was believed to depend on the outcome of the clash of the navies.
The combat-ready Chilean fleet sailed on 22 December 1978 from the fjords of Hoste Island to frustrate an Argentine landing. Rear Admiral Raúl López, Chief of the Chilean fleet, kept silent as to whether he would simply wait or initiate an attack on the enemy navy.
During the height of the Beagle crisis in 1978 weapon scientist Carlos Cardoen was contacted by Chilean Air Force
commander Fernando Matthei
and designed on his request a light bomb, that could be dropped from any airforce plane, in only 15 days. When asking Matthei what did he wanted the bomb for he reportedly answered: "to fuck up".
Apart from the book «La escuadra en acción» about the Chilean Navy in 1978, no other Chilean defensive plans have been released.
On D-day, a severe storm impeded Argentine operations in the disputed area. Meanwhile Pope John Paul II
, alarmed by the situation, decided to act personally and informed both governments that he was sending his personal envoy, Cardinal Antonio Samoré, to both capitals. Six hours before landing, the Argentine fleet turned back and Operation Soberanía was called off.
Whether the Argentine infantry
actually crossed the border into Chile or only waited at the border for the result of the naval combat cannot be established. Argentine sources insist that they crossed the border which would be inconsistent with the two-phase war plan.
Alejandro Luis Corbacho, in "Predicting the probability of war during brinkmanship crisis: The Beagle and the Malvinas conflicts" http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1016843 considers the reasons for cancelling the operation (p. 45):
On p. 46:
, from the beginning of Operation Soberania there were no critical misconceptions on Argentina's side about Chile's commitment to defend its territory: the entire Chilean Navy was in the disputed area, an unequivocal fact at Cape Horn. As stated by David R. Mares in "Violent Peace: Militarized Interstate Bargaining in Latin America":
Although it had called off the operation, the Argentine government never gave up on the use of military force to pressure Chile. After the invasion of the Falklands on 2 April 1982, the Argentine junta planned the military occupation of the disputed islands in the Beagle channel, as stated by Brigadier Basilio Lami Dozo
, chief of the Argentine Air Force during the Falklands war, in an interview with the Argentine magazine Perfil
:
Argentine Falklands War veteran Martín Balza
, Chief of Staff of the Argentine Army (1991–1999), caused a stir in 2003 when he declared his conviction that in 1978, Chile would have won the war had it broken out.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
military invasion of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
to be carried out on 22 December 1978 due to the Beagle conflict
Beagle conflict
The Beagle Conflict was a border dispute between Chile and Argentina over the possession of Picton, Lennox and Nueva islands and the scope of the maritime jurisdiction associated with those islands that brought the countries to the brink of war in 1978....
dispute. The invasion was halted at the last minute and did not take place.
In 1971 Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
agreed to binding arbitration to settle a boundary dispute (Beagle Channel Arbitration
Beagle Channel Arbitration
On 22 July 1971 Salvador Allende and Alejandro Lanusse, the Presidents of Chile and Argentina, signed an arbitration agreement . This agreement related to their dispute over the territorial and maritime boundaries between them, and in particular the title to the Picton, Nueva and Lennox islands...
). On 22 May 1977 Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
announced the judgment, which awarded the Picton, Nueva and Lennox
Beagle Channel cartography since 1881
The region of the Beagle Channel, explored by Robert FitzRoy eighteen-thirties, was one of the last ones to be colonized by Chile and Argentina. The cold weather, the long distances from other inhabited regions and the shortage of transport and subsistence kept it far from the governmental task.In...
islands to Chile.
On 25 January 1978 Argentina rejected the decision and attempted to militarily coerce Chile into negotiating a division of the islands that would produce a maritime boundary
Maritime boundary
Maritime boundary is a conceptual means of division of the water surface of the planet into maritime areas that are defined through surrounding physical geography or by human geography. As such it usually includes areas of exclusive national rights over the mineral and biological resources,...
consistent with Argentine claims.
Military imbalance
At the time of the crisis, the Argentine military was substantially larger than that of Chile; in addition, the Chilean regime was more politically isolated and had suffered deteriorating relations with its chief suppliers of arms. The Chilean military, however, had the advantage of defending difficult terrain, as well as being a more professional force. On the other hand decades of intervention by the Argentine armed forces in day-to-day politics had degraded their professional skills.There was considerable international condemnation of the Chilean regime's human rights record, with the United States expressing particular concern after Orlando Letelier
Orlando Letelier
Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar was a Chilean economist, Socialist politician and diplomat during the presidency of Socialist President Salvador Allende...
's 1976 assassination in Washington D.C. The United States banned the export of weapons to Chile through the Kennedy Amendment, later International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976. 16 Northrop F-5's were delivered to Chile before the embargo took effect, but they arrived without any armament. In 1980 Chile was excluded from UNITAS
UNITAS
UNITAS are sea exercises and in port training involving several countries in North, South and Central America, conducted by the USA since 1959 in support of the U.S. policy.-External links:* * - Globalsecurity.org...
joint naval maneuvers because of human rights violations. Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
the traditional supplier of the Chilean Armed Forces, did not supply weapons to Chile.
In 1978, the United States extended the Kennedy amendment to Argentina as well because of its human rights record, which lead to the Armed Forces purchases to shift to Europe: France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany, and Austria exported weapons to Argentina even during the critical phase of the Beagle conflict, as Argentina had already rejected the international binding Arbitral Award. In December 1978, when the outbreak of war appeared unavoidable, the German shipbuilding and engineering works Blohm + Voss
Blohm + Voss
Blohm + Voss , is a German shipbuilding and engineering works. It is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems; there were plans to sell 80% of Blohm + Voss to Abu Dhabi Mar Group, but talks collapsed in July 2011.-History:It was founded on April 5, 1877, by Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss as a...
and the Argentine Junta
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
agreed to the building of four destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s. In November 1978 France delivered two corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
s to Argentina, originally built for the apartheid Regime in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The corvettes, Good Hope and Transvaal, could not be delivered because of anti-apartheid embargoes
Foreign relations of apartheid South Africa
South Africa introduced apartheid in 1948, as a systematic extension of pre-existing racial discrimination in the country. As a result, the country became increasingly isolated internationally until apartheid was ended and racial equality introduced in 1993....
. In Argentina they were renamed ARA Drummond
ARA Drummond (P-31)
ARA Drummond is the lead ship of the Drummond class of three corvettes of the Argentine Navy. She is the second vessel to be named after Navy Sgt Francisco Drummond.-Service history:...
and ARA Guerrico
ARA Guerrico (P-32)
ARA Guerrico is a Drummond class corvette of the Argentine Navy. She is the first vessel to be named after Rear Admiral Martin Guerrico who fought in the 19th century War of the Triple Alliance....
. United States President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
(1981–1989) would later improve relations to Argentina due their military support in fighting Nicaragua's Contras
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
. (See Operation Charly
Operation Charly
Operation Charly , according to journalist María Seoane, was the alleged code-name of a right-wing covert operation to extend the illegal methods of repression used in the so-called "Dirty War" in Argentina to Central America...
).
The United Kingdom delivered Type 42 destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s to the Argentine junta. On 19 September 1977 the ARA Hércules
ARA Hércules
ARA Hércules is a Type 42 destroyer of the Argentine Navy or Armada de la República Argentina.She was transformed into a multi-purpose transport ship with Pennant Number B-52 and commissioned to the amphibious force in 1999.- History :...
(built and completed in the UK) sailed to Argentina from the Vickers Shipbuilding yard in Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
; on 28 November 1981 the ARA Santísima Trinidad (built in Argentina, completed in the UK) sailed from Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
.
An overview of both countries' defence spending:
| 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chile | ||||||
| defense spending* | 487 | 566 | 713 | 951 | 1,128 | 949 |
| percentage of the GNP GNP Gross National Product is the market value of all products and services produced in one year by labor and property supplied by the residents of a country... |
3.5 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 5.2 | |
| Argentina | ||||||
| defense spending* | 2,702 | 2,225 | 2,339 | 2,641 | 2,126 | 2,241 |
| percentage of the GNP GNP Gross National Product is the market value of all products and services produced in one year by labor and property supplied by the residents of a country... |
2.2 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.0 | |
* Costs in millions of 1979 US dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
.
The Argentines' numerical advantage was counterbalanced by the following factors:
- Chile spent a higher portion of its gross domestic productGross domestic productGross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....
on defenseDefense (military)Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy... - Defense is less risky than attack
- The politicization of the Argentine armed forcesArmed forcesThe armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
diminished their military readiness - The AndesAndesThe Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
mountain range is a difficult natural barrier and the geography of the Tierra del FuegoTierra del FuegoTierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape...
provided advantages to Chilean naval forces in the immediate operational theatre
The Ambassador of the United States in Argentina (1978) Raúl Castro
Raúl Héctor Castro
Raul Hector Castro is a Mexican-born American politician. He has served in both elected and non-elected public offices, including United States Ambassador and the 14th Governor of Arizona. He was the first Mexican American to be elected governor of Arizona...
described the attitude of the Argentine military towards a possible war with the following:
- "They supposed that they were going to invade Chile, Santiago especially. It seemed to them something very easy; Just a matter of crossing the border and that the Chileans were going to surrender right away. And I told them: No, no, you are mistaken. They have a better Navy than yours. They are well armed, and are very strong"
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
foresaw a long and bloody war, a kind of partisan war:
- "a guerrilla war, killing every day, shooting people, by both sides, and in the end, by a matter of fatigue, we would have reached peace"
Argentina solicited a Peruvian attack in Chile's north, but Peru rejected this demand and ordered only a partial mobilization.
Argentine plan
War of aggression
A war of aggression, sometimes also war of conquest, is a military conflict waged without the justification of self-defense usually for territorial gain and subjugation. The phrase is distinctly modern and diametrically opposed to the prior legal international standard of "might makes right", under...
against Chile have been released. But so many individual accounts exist among the Argentine ranks that the existence of a plan has not been disputed.
The Argentine Government planned to first occupy the islands around Cape Horn and then, in a second phase, either to stop or continue hostilities according to the Chilean reaction. Argentina had already drafted a declaration of war.
An Argentine complaint in the UN Security Council over Chile's military occupation of the disputed islands was to precede the attack.
Rubén Madrid Murúa in "La Estrategia Nacional y Militar que planificó Argentina, en el marco de una estrategia total, para enfrentar el conflicto con Chile el año 1978", ("Memorial del Ejército de Chile", Edición Nº 471, Santiago, Chile, 2003, S. 54-55), stated that the Argentine General Staff planned the operation under the name "Planeamiento Conjunto de Operaciones Previstas contra Chile".
The Argentines planned amphibious landings to seize the islands southwards of the Beagle Channel, along with massive land-based attacks:
- at 20:00 on 22 December 1978 a task force of the Argentine NavyArgentine NavyThe Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....
and the Argentine Marines ( Batallón N° 5 ) under the command of Humberto José Barbuzzi would seize the islands Horn, Freycinet, Hershell, Deceit and WollastonCape HornCape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
. - at 22:00 on 22 December 1978 the Argentine task force (with Batallones N° 3 und N° 4 of the Naval Infantry) would seize Picton, Nueva und LennoxBeagle Channel cartography since 1881The region of the Beagle Channel, explored by Robert FitzRoy eighteen-thirties, was one of the last ones to be colonized by Chile and Argentina. The cold weather, the long distances from other inhabited regions and the shortage of transport and subsistence kept it far from the governmental task.In...
islands and secure for the navy the east mouth of the Beagle Channel. - at 24:00 on 22 December 1978 the invasion of continental Chile would begin. The Fifth Army Corps under command of José Antonio VaqueroJosé VaqueroJosé Antonio Vaquero was de facto Federal Interventor of Córdoba, Argentina from March 24, 1976 to April 12, 1976.- See also :* Operation Soberanía...
would seize Punta Arenas and Puerto NatalesPuerto NatalesPuerto Natales is a city in Chilean Patagonia. Puerto Natales is the capital of both the commune of Natales and the province of Última Esperanza, , one of the four provinces that make up the Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region in the southernmost part of Chile...
, the largest two cities of the Chilean Magallanes Region. - at daylight 23 December 1978 the Argentine Argentine Air ForceArgentine Air ForceThe Argentine Air Force is the national aviation branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. , it had 14,606 military and 6,854 civilian staff.-History:...
would begin attacks against Chilean Air ForceChilean Air ForceThe Chilean Air Force is the air force of Chile, a branch of the Chilean military.-History:The first step towards the current FACh was taken by Teniente Coronel Pedro Pablo Dartnell, when he founded the Servicio de Aviación Militar de Chile on December 20, 1910, being trained as a pilot in France...
. - Later, Third Army Corps under the command of Luciano Benjamín Menéndez would start an offensive through the AndeanAndesThe Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
passes of "LibertadoresPaso LibertadoresThe Paso Internacional Los Libertadores, also called Cristo Redentor, is a mountain pass in the Andes between Argentina and Chile. It is the main transport route out of Chilean capital city Santiago into Mendoza city in Argentina and so carries quite heavy traffic.From the Argentine side the...
", "Maipo" and "PuyehueCardenal Antonio Samoré PassCardenal Antonio Samoré Pass it is one of the main mountain pass through the southern Andes along the border between Argentina and Chile.Together with Paso Libertadores, it is one of the easiest of the Argentina-Chile passes, and one of the few with asphalted roads in the region...
" (today Cardenal Samore Pass) to seize SantiagoSantiago, ChileSantiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
, ValparaísoValparaísoValparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
and the Los Lagos RegionLos Lagos RegionLos Lagos Region is one of Chile's 15 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains the country's second largest island, Chiloé, and the second largest lake, Llanquihue.Its capital is Puerto Montt;...
.
The Second Army Corps under the command of Leopoldo Galtieri
Leopoldo Galtieri
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli was an Argentine general and President of Argentina from December 22, 1981 to June 18, 1982, during the last military dictatorship . The death squad Intelligence Battalion 601 directly reported to him...
would protect the north of Argentina from a potential Brazilian attack and its II Brigada de Caballería blindada would protect the Argentine region of Río Mayo in Chubut Province
Chubut Province
Chubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd parallel south and the 46th parallel south , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean...
from a possible Chilean attack.
The Argentine Armed Forces expected between 30,000 and 50,000 dead in the course of the war.
Plans after the invasion
For the postwar phase of the operation, the Argentine NavyArgentine Navy
The Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....
prepared political instructions to be followed in the southern zone after the disputed islands were under Argentinian sovereignty. They defined the new border, navigation rights for Chilean ships, instructions in case of confrontations with the Chilean Navy
Chilean Navy
-Independence Wars of Chile and Peru :The Chilean Navy dates back to 1817. A year before, following the Battle of Chacabuco, General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea".This led to the...
, dealing with injured personnel, prisoners of war, etc.
Chilean preparedness
Chile planted mines in certain areas along its borders with Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. and dynamited some mountain pass
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
es Parts of route 9-CH
Route 9-CH
right|thumb|250px|View of the village of Morro Chico halfway between [[Puerto Natales]] and [[Punta Arenas]]. The road in picture is Route 9-CHThe Chilean highway Route 9 runs from the Brunswick Peninsula south of Punta Arenas north to Paso Baguales Oriental at the border with Argentina in Torres...
between Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales
Puerto Natales
Puerto Natales is a city in Chilean Patagonia. Puerto Natales is the capital of both the commune of Natales and the province of Última Esperanza, , one of the four provinces that make up the Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region in the southernmost part of Chile...
were selected to serve as extra airstrips in the case of an invasion. A defensive position was built up the narrowest part of Brunswick Peninsula
Brunswick Peninsula
Brunswick Peninsula is a large peninsula in Magallanes y la Antártica Region, Patagonia, Chile, at . It is wide at its base in the north, and almost in the south. It measures in length from the base to Cape Froward, the southernmost point of the American mainland. This yields an area of more...
in order to avoid or delay an Argentine capture of Punta Arenas. In the Puerto Natales area the Chilean army prepared for guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
if the defensive lines would be penetrated. In contrast to the defensive war planned by the Chilean Army in Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, the Chilean army had plans for an attack to invade the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape...
, but the control of Tierra del Fuego Island was considered a secondary goal since its control was believed to depend on the outcome of the clash of the navies.
The combat-ready Chilean fleet sailed on 22 December 1978 from the fjords of Hoste Island to frustrate an Argentine landing. Rear Admiral Raúl López, Chief of the Chilean fleet, kept silent as to whether he would simply wait or initiate an attack on the enemy navy.
During the height of the Beagle crisis in 1978 weapon scientist Carlos Cardoen was contacted by Chilean Air Force
Chilean Air Force
The Chilean Air Force is the air force of Chile, a branch of the Chilean military.-History:The first step towards the current FACh was taken by Teniente Coronel Pedro Pablo Dartnell, when he founded the Servicio de Aviación Militar de Chile on December 20, 1910, being trained as a pilot in France...
commander Fernando Matthei
Fernando Matthei
Fernando Matthei Aubel is a retired Chilean Air Force General that was part of the military junta that ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, after Gustavo Leigh was dismissed in 1978. Before he became a junta member, Matthei was Minister of Health of the military government...
and designed on his request a light bomb, that could be dropped from any airforce plane, in only 15 days. When asking Matthei what did he wanted the bomb for he reportedly answered: "to fuck up".
Apart from the book «La escuadra en acción» about the Chilean Navy in 1978, no other Chilean defensive plans have been released.
Operation aborted
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
, alarmed by the situation, decided to act personally and informed both governments that he was sending his personal envoy, Cardinal Antonio Samoré, to both capitals. Six hours before landing, the Argentine fleet turned back and Operation Soberanía was called off.
Whether the Argentine infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
actually crossed the border into Chile or only waited at the border for the result of the naval combat cannot be established. Argentine sources insist that they crossed the border which would be inconsistent with the two-phase war plan.
Alejandro Luis Corbacho, in "Predicting the probability of war during brinkmanship crisis: The Beagle and the Malvinas conflicts" http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1016843 considers the reasons for cancelling the operation (p. 45):
On p. 46:
Analysis
Unlike the prelude to the 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands
On 2 April 1982, Argentine forces mounted amphibious landings of the Falkland Islands . The invasion involved an initial defence force organised by the Falkland Islands' Governor Sir Rex Hunt giving command to Major Mike Norman of the Royal Marines, the landing of Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo...
, from the beginning of Operation Soberania there were no critical misconceptions on Argentina's side about Chile's commitment to defend its territory: the entire Chilean Navy was in the disputed area, an unequivocal fact at Cape Horn. As stated by David R. Mares in "Violent Peace: Militarized Interstate Bargaining in Latin America":
- These Chilean advantages do not imply that it could have won the war against Argentina, but that is not the relevant point. To deter their neighbors the Chileans do not have to demonstrate a capability to win. They need, instead, to make a credible case that a military adventure against Chile would not be cheap. In 1978, the Argentine Junta could not be very confident that war would produce a low-cost victory against Chile.
Although it had called off the operation, the Argentine government never gave up on the use of military force to pressure Chile. After the invasion of the Falklands on 2 April 1982, the Argentine junta planned the military occupation of the disputed islands in the Beagle channel, as stated by Brigadier Basilio Lami Dozo
Basilio Lami Dozo
Brigadier General Basilio Arturo Ignacio Lami Dozo was a member of the Argentine Air Force.He participated in the military dictatorship known as the National Reorganisation Process and, along with Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri and Jorge Isaac Anaya, was a member of the Third Military Junta that...
, chief of the Argentine Air Force during the Falklands war, in an interview with the Argentine magazine Perfil
Perfil
Perfil is an Argentine tabloid newspaper based in Buenos Aires.- History :The newspaper was first launched by Jorge Fontevecchia on 9 May 1998 as a daily newspaper, but poor sales forced its closure on 31 July of the same year....
:
- L.F. Galtieri: "[Chile] have to know that what we are doing now, because they will be the next in turn.
Argentine Falklands War veteran Martín Balza
Martín Balza
Lieutenant General Martín Antonio Balza is an Argentine military former Chief of Staff of the Argentine Army. He is currently Argentine ambassador to the Republic of Colombia....
, Chief of Staff of the Argentine Army (1991–1999), caused a stir in 2003 when he declared his conviction that in 1978, Chile would have won the war had it broken out.
External links
- Chilean Telecast of Televisión Nacional de Chile "Informe Especial", Theme El año que vivimos en peligro, (sometimes in YouTube), Spanish Language
- Chilean Telecast of Corporación de Televisión de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de ChileCanal 13 (Chile)Canal 13 , is the second oldest television station in Chile. It is owned by Luksic Group associated with the Papal Catholic University of Chile. Its inaugural transmission took place on August 21, 1959...
"annonimos", Theme: Beagle: La guerra que no fue, (in YouTube) in Spanish Language - Argentine Telecast of Argentine History Channel: Operativo Soberanía (in YouTube), Spanish Language
- Special edition of El Mercurio, Santiago de Chile, 2 September 2005, Spanish Language. There are Interviews with contemporary witness like Ernesto Videla, Jaime Del Valle, Helmut Brunner, Marcelo Delpech und Luciano Benjamín Menéndez. Spanish Language.
- Interview with the (later, in the nineties) Chief Commander of the Argentine Army Martín BalzaMartín BalzaLieutenant General Martín Antonio Balza is an Argentine military former Chief of Staff of the Argentine Army. He is currently Argentine ambassador to the Republic of Colombia....
in El Mercurio de Santiago de Chile, 2 September 2005, Spanish Language - Interview with Sergio Onofre JarpaSergio Onofre JarpaSergio Onofre Jarpa Reyes is a Chilean politician who served as a member of the cabinet during the government of Augusto Pinochet.-Biography:Coming from a rural background, he studied agriculture at the University of Chile...
, Chile's AmbassadorAmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
in Argentina 1978 to 1982 in La Tercera, Santiago, Chile, 17 March 2002, Spanish Language - Interview with Argentine General Luciano Benjamín Menéndez, Commandant of the III Army Corps in El Mercurio de Santiago de Chile, (from the Argentine Magazine "Somos"), Spanish Language
- Interview with Pio Laghi, Nuntius in Argentina, 1978, in Clarín, Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998. Spanish Language
- Interview with the Ambassador of the United States of America in Argentina, Raúl Héctor CastroRaúl Héctor CastroRaul Hector Castro is a Mexican-born American politician. He has served in both elected and non-elected public offices, including United States Ambassador and the 14th Governor of Arizona. He was the first Mexican American to be elected governor of Arizona...
, in Clarín Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998, Spanish Language - Interview with the former Chief of the "Secretaría General del Ejército" (a Think-Tank of the Argentine Army), General Reynaldo BignoneReynaldo BignoneReynaldo Benito Antonio Bignone is an Argentine general who served as dictatorial President of Argentina from July 1, 1982 to December 10, 1983. In 2010, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the kidnappings, torture, and murders of the Dirty War.-Early career:Reynaldo Benito...
, President of Argentina after the Falkland War, in Clarín, Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998, Spanish Language - Article Cartas desde el Abismo, Clarín, Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998, Spanish Language
- Article El belicismo de los dictadores Clarín, Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998, Spanish Language
- Article Beagle: historia secreta de la guerra que no fue La Nación, Buenos Aires, 12. August 1996, Spanish Language
- Article Historia de la santa mediación en Clarín, Buenos Aires, 20 December 1998, Spanish Language
- Chile-Argentina Relations, Spanish Language
- Toma de decisiones políticas y la influencia de los discursos oficialistas durante el Connflicto del Beagle: Chile - Argentina 1977-1979, Spanish Language
- Text of the Tratado de Paz y Amistad de 1984, Dirección de Fronteras y Límites de Chile, Spanish Language
- Text of the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1984, Copy to the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, English Language