Operación Soberanía was a planned Argentine military invasion of Chile due to the Beagle conflict. The invasion was initiated on 22 December 1978 but was halted after a few hours and Argentine forces retreated from the conflict zone without a fight. Whether the Argentine infantry actually crossed the border into Chile has not been established. Argentine sources insist that they crossed the border.
Mine field in Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego Chile, photograph from 2006.
Jorge Rafael Videla was an Argentine military officer and dictator who was the 47th President of Argentina and as well as the 1st President of the National Reorganisation Process from 1976 to 1981. His rule, which was during the time of Operation Condor, was among the most infamous in Latin America during the Cold War due to its high level of human rights abuses and severe economic mismanagement.
Official portrait, 1976
Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla at the opening of 1976's "Exposición Rural" in Palermo, Buenos Aires.
Videla met with US President Jimmy Carter at the White House on 9 September 1977.