Argentina (ARG)South America, AmericasDecember 11, 1981
Event Summary
On December 11, 1981 the Argentine military junta dismissed President Roberto Viola and replaced him with the army commander General Leopoldo Galtieri, an internal reshuffle within the ruling dictatorship that brought to power the general who would launch the 1982 Falklands War. Argentina had been ruled since 1976 by a military junta responsible for the Dirty War against dissidents. Viola had become president in March 1981 but was seen as weak and had been on medical leave since late November.
On December 11, 1981 the three-man junta that had installed him removed him from office; after a brief caretaker interval under Rear Admiral Carlos Lacoste, General Galtieri, who retained command of the army, assumed the presidency on December 22. Viola was not physically harmed. Within months Galtieri ordered the invasion of the Falkland Islands, whose failure would bring down the dictatorship.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Roberto Viola, dismissed by the junta on December 11, 1981 and replaced by General Galtieri; he was not physically harmed.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Roberto Viola (president dismissed)
Leopoldo Galtieri (army commander who took power)
Sources
Lt. General Roberto Viola, who had been on sick leave from his job as President of Argentina since November 21, was dismissed on December 11 by the three-man military junta that had placed him in power, and the junta temporarily put Rear Admiral Carlos Lacoste as president for 10 days until junta leader General Leopoldo Galtieri assumed the office on December 22.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, December 1981open source ↗
Army General Leopoldo Galtieri took the oath of office as President of Argentina, replacing Roberto Viola who was removed from office on December 11 after serving 8 months.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, December 1981open source ↗
Shortly after taking power, Argentina's Chief of Naval Operations Juan Jose Lombardo was asked by junta leader Galtieri to draw up plans to recapture the Falkland Islands from the United Kingdom, and Lombardo's proposal was completed in five days.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, December 1981open source ↗
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri was a Major General and Commander in Chief of the Argentine Army after 1980, the position from which he moved to assume the presidency in December 1981.
Coding note and dataset examination: the dataset labels this an auto-coup, and the classification reflects that it was an internal reshuffle within the ruling military junta rather than an overthrow by outside forces; the record enriches it as coded while noting the mechanism was the junta dismissing its own appointed president and installing the army commander Galtieri. Fate coding: Viola was dismissed and not physically harmed, matching the dataset. Context recorded: Argentina had been under military dictatorship since 1976, with the Dirty War against dissidents ongoing; Viola had been in office only about eight months and had been on medical leave since late November 1981. Transition detail: a brief caretaker interval under Rear Admiral Carlos Lacoste preceded Galtieri's formal assumption of the presidency on December 22, 1981; both the December 11 dismissal (the dataset date) and the December 22 installation are recorded. Historical weight recorded: Galtieri ordered the April 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands, whose defeat by Britain discredited and brought down the junta, leading to Argentina's return to democracy in 1983, later context. Neutrality maintained on a contested subject.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Roberto Viola, dismissed by the junta on December 11, 1981 and replaced by General Galtieri; he was not physically harmed..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Argentina’s President is Removed: Junta Member will Replace Him,” December 12, 1981
“Man of Hour in Argentina: Leopoldo Galtieri,” by Edward Schumacher, April 6, 1982
Boston Globe
“Argentine Junta Replaces Viola: Army Commander is New President,” December 12, 1981
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →