The story of how Peru’s support for Argentina was created in the Falklands War

On May 1, 1982, almost a month after Argentina invade the Falkland Islands to claim his sovereignty, the United Kingdom reluctantly accepted a peace accord managed by then Peruvian President Fernando Belaunde Terry to avoid open warfare.

That same day, the mediator telephoned the dictator Leopoldo Galtieri, who headed the military junta that governed the South American country, to present the plan and to extract his signature. “I also have my ‘Senate’ [en referencia a la junta militar] and I must consult the agreement “ was the answer he received from the dictator. That reaction killed any chance of making the peace.

“Galtieri’s response was fatal … If he accepted Belaunde’s proposal at that time, today Argentina would probably be in possession of the Malvinas”, remember the congressman Victor Andrés García Belaunde, who in 1982 was secretary of the Peruvian Presidency.

Mediation of Belaunde Terry It began on April 20, 1982, after a similar effort led by the United States failed.

Garcia Belaunde He says that at the end of that month the former Peruvian president agreed on a document that, among other points, orders the withdrawal of British and Argentine troops from the island. In addition, it was established that Malvinas are occupied by soldiers from four countries: two chosen by Buenos Aires and the other two by London.

These troops were to remain in place until talks are held to find a definitive solution to the dispute. It was also contemplated to take into account the wishes of the inhabitants of the islands.

All this is frustrated by Galtieri’s refusal, because the day after this the The United Kingdom torpedoes the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano and war breaks out.

“On the day of the sinking of the Belgrano, Belaunde called Galtieri, who confirmed that the cruise ship was down and that there was no room for further talks”, explains García Belaunde.

The triangulation of weapons

That same May 2, Galtieri asks Belaunde to receive his secretary, General Héctor Iglesias, Rear Admiral Roberto Nolla and the Argentine ambassador to Peru, Luis Sánchez Moreno.

These were presented to Belaunde the next day. They came to ask for weapons. “They were given what they could. They requested Mirage, Sukhói aircraft, submarines, ships, missiles, among other weapons”, García Belaunde narrates.

The Sukhói were not sent to them, since Peru was the only one that had them in the region, so it would be evident that it was helping Argentina.

Instead, the day after the emissaries visit Ten Mirage aircraft were sent, to which the Peruvian flags were erased to replace them with the Argentine ones.

They left Chiclayo for the La Joya military base in Arequipa. Then they continued to the Argentine province of Jujuy and from there to Tandil. The use of this route prevented them from being detected by Chilean radars, recalls García Belaunde.

The vessels requested by Argentina were not delivered, since they would necessarily pass through Chile and would be detected by the radars of that country.

“Surface-to-ground and surface-to-air missiles were also dispatched. In addition to fuel tanks for the Mirage, so that they have a greater flight autonomy in their forays into the Malvinas”, recalls García Belaunde.

The military cooperation between the Peru and Argentina it has a little known edge. The Argentine journalist Hernán Dobry, author of the book “The rabbis of Malvinas”, discovered that our country also signed blank purchase orders and final destination certificates so that Argentina will buy weapons from Israel in the name of Peru.

“Indeed, that was so. Argentina bought weapons from Israel on behalf of Peru, although I do not know in detail what was acquired “, confirmed García Belaunde to El Comercio.

“Peru did something that if we dive into the history of war conflicts in the world we will not find similarities… The Argentines did not even inform the Peruvians what they bought ”, Dobry specifies in dialogue with El Comercio.

The purchase orders and certificates are in the hands of Israel and are secret documents, according to the Argentine journalist.

Dobry established that sometimes purchases made by Argentines were picked up by planes from the Peruvian Air Force.

“A plane from Aerolineas Argentinas or the Argentine Air Force was not going to go because the triangulation would have been in evidence. What Israel wanted, and had specifically requested, is for it to triangulate on behalf of another country so as not to suffer political pressure from the United Kingdom “, explica Good.

The one who suggested that Peru be involved in the triangulation was the then Israeli prime minister Begim Management during a meeting with Argentine arms dealers Aaron Dovrat, from the Clal group; and Gat Gitron of Isrex, according to Dobry.

In addition to the ten Mirage 3E aircraft that Peru sent to Argentina, thanks to the blank purchase orders, this country also bought 23 Mirage 3C aircraft from Israel. These ships were painted with Peruvian insignia so that it is not thought that they were going to Argentina. The Argentine ships that took them to their country were also painted with Peruvian flags.

“They were planes from the 70s, that had fought in the Six Day War, they were very old. Israel did not want to sell them, but Argentina insisted a lot, although in the end they never used them in the war ”, Precisa Good.

Gas masks with Peruvian purchase orders

Argentine journalist Hernán Dobry maintains that, through Peru, Argentina also bought 2,000 gas masks from Israel. “The Argentines decided on this purchase because, after watching a BBC video about a British military training related to the use of chemical weapons, they feared that the United Kingdom would carry out a chemical attack in Las Malvinas”. At first Israel did not want to sell them because they thought that, rather, the Argentines intended to carry out an attack with chemical weapons.

What did Peru receive in exchange for its help? García Belaunde maintains that only a symbolic payment for the Mirage, because the help was disinterested. And he recalled that in 1833, when the United Kingdom invaded the Malvinas, Argentina resorted to our country to seek its titles of possession over the islands, which were in Lima because that country at some point was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

“Peru did not have any revenue, but later we paid it badly”, sentencia Good.

The Cenepa and the betrayal of Menem

Between January and February 1995, Peru and Ecuador fought an undeclared war that focused on the Cenepa river basin and that, after the end of the conflict, led to a story of betrayal involving Argentina.

Before, the cessation of hostilities came thanks to the efforts of Argentina, Chile, Brazil and the United States, guarantors of the Protocol of Peace, Friendship and Limits of Rio de Janeiro, of January 29, 1942 signed between Peru and Ecuador.

But months after the ceasefire, the newspaper “Clarín” denounced that Argentine President Carlos Menem signed three decrees, between 1991 and 1995, in which he authorized the sale of weapons to Venezuela and Panama, which was diverted to Ecuador and Croatia, countries that maintained warlike conflicts.

The guarantor of peace Argentina sold to Ecuador 75 tons of arms and ammunition valued at 33 million dollars.

The Argentine journalist Hernán Dobry recalls that, after the case broke out, the arms dealer Israel Lotersztain, from Isrex, a company that participated in the triangulation of arms between Argentina, Peru and Israel during the Falklands War, went to the Argentine General Staff to blame the military for their attitude.

He maintains that Lotersztain shouted to an officer the following: “You were in the war, you know very well what the Peruvians did, how are you going to sell weapons to their enemy? Their help is something you would have to thank them for throughout your life. “

“That’s how we paid them, we gave them a sign of ungratefulness”, sentencia Good.

Víctor Andrés García Belaunde believes that the matter was disappointing, but that an act of corruption cannot tarnish a long history of brotherhood.

* With the collaboration of Alejandro Mellincovsky

** This report was originally published by this newspaper in 2012

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