43 years after the end of the South Atlantic Conflict

On 14 June 1982 the British task force defeated the Argentine armed forces and the South Atlantic Conflict ended. During the conflict hundreds of people lost their lives, over a thousand people were wounded and in the aftermath of the conflict, hundreds of former combatants took their own lives.

Although all war is in itself a tragedy, the chivalry and adherence to the laws and customs of war shown by British troops prevented the horrors and humiliations that often occur in armed conflict.

Defeat in the South Atlantic Conflict was a limit to the military dictatorship that had ruled Argentina since 24 March 1976 and had kidnapped, tortured and murdered tens of thousands of people. After the defeat, the dictatorship began to crumble and the Argentine people mobilised for the recovery of democracy. 

After years of dictatorship, Argentina regained democracy. Unlike previous democratic governments that were characterised by their fragility and overthrown by military coups, since 1983 Argentina has managed to consolidate a strong and stable democracy.