1959 … For reasons of security Mr Edwards was told to destroy all notes, he told Juan Pablo Garnham, a reporter for Chilean news magazine Que Pasa. Chile's support for Britain during the Falklands War has been revealed for the first time by the man who was dispatched, with only hours notice, to secure a South American ally. When we finally got the satellite pictures, we had pictures showing all the Argentine fleet in port.". How much do you all think the British were willing to sacrifice? Saturday, September 13th 2014 - 07:02 UTC Bachelet government seek to repeal dictator Pinochet's Amnesty Law. "And they seemed as happy about the victory as we were. Thatcher replied: "But it was not sailing away from the Falklands. The Cabinet records, which may confirm these details, are not due to be released under the 30-year secrecy rule until December. Getty Images bietet exklusive rights-ready und erstklassige lizenzfreie analoge, HD- und 4K-Videos in höchster Qualität. Dezember 2006 in Santiago de Chile) war ein chilenischer General und von 1973 bis 1990 Diktator Chiles. The ship was part of a small battle group, flanked by two Argentinian destroyers. Die enge Zusammenarbeit von Helmut Schmidt und Willy Brandt mit den … "It seemed to me that if anything went wrong, he could say 'It was Matthei's fault, I didn't know what he was doing.'". Some even called it a war crime. "Without it, we would have lost the war.". We would all have had to stand down, if we had presided over the death of hundreds of British sailors and had the chance to avert it. Pinochet’s relationship with Thatcher remains a sore point for the Conservative Party. The great majority of Chileans, even the political opponents of Senator Pinochet, feel wounded at the way we and the Spanish have treated them. The order was sent through Northwood, the Navy's command centre in west London, to the Conqueror. Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher is "greatly saddened" by the death of Augusto Pinochet, said a spokesman. Then up comes the Captain and says the Belgrano is going into shallower water and I can't follow it. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. Lord Parkinson said: "We discussed the Belgrano ad nauseam and what it was up to. "Lots of our Chilean colleagues were there," he recalled. Lord Parkinson denied this. Gould said that the ship had been "on a bearing of 280 and it was already west of the Falklands". The sinking took place 14 hours after the President of Peru, Fernando Belaúnde, proposed a peace plan which included regional states playing a role. April 2013 in London) war eine britische Staatsfrau und konservative Politikerin.. Während ihres Chemiestudiums am Somerville College entschied sich Thatcher 1945/1946, politisch tätig zu werden, und kandidierte erstmals 1950 für das Unterhaus. Protests about the action were led by Tam Dalyell, the former Labour MP, who claimed the sinking had been ordered for political reasons by Lady Thatcher to destroy the last hopes of a peace plan being pursued in Peru by Perez de Cuellar, the Peruvian Secretary General of the UN, and Al Haig, the US Secretary of State. It was in an area which was a danger to our ships and to our people on them." Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (* 13.Oktober 1925 als Margaret Hilda Roberts in Grantham, Lincolnshire; † 8. Something as big as a nuclear submarine in shallow water was easy to hit. Baroness Thatcher, who served Pinochet tea at her London home … It was unanimous that if we had let the Belgrano go and it had sunk a carrier, we would all have been finished. Außenpolitik und Falkland-Krieg:Auch in der Außenpolitik galt Thatcher als unbeugsam. Baroness Thatcher also pressed for his release after his arrest in … Chile's former military leader, who has died aged 91 in hospital, backed the UK during the Falklands conflict. "Without these – when you have a naval force with only a small air defence, as we had – we would have had to maintain extremely expensive fighter patrols all the time, ready to intercept any intrusions.". You couldn't allow that risk. The man who acted as the clandestine go-between for Chile and Britain during the Falklands War has spoken for the first time about helping the SAS, reporting to Thatcher – and avoiding Pinochet Speaking at … He called on Lady Thatcher to reflect more carefully before speaking out again. . I know - I was Prime Minister at the time. . But he insisted his memory was clear, and has written a book about the period, My Secret Falklands War, which is due to be published shortly. President Pinochet was this country's staunch, true friend in our time of need when Argentina seized the Falkland Islands. "What we didn't realise [was] the Argentinian destroyers took off immediately and they didn't search for survivors. It is not well known that the British continued to offer ceasefire terms until 1 June. Lady Thatcher said he should be set free because his regime had helped the UK during the 1982 Falklands War against Argentina and so saved many British lives as a result. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. After the sinking, Argentina rejected the plan but the UK indicated its acceptance on 5 May. The situation for Pinochet in the UK and the rejection of immunity for his arrest. Now a member of the War Cabinet has revealed how Argentine orders intercepted by Chile convinced the British that their enemies' prize cruiser had to be sunk, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Tag: Augusto Pinochet. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Sidney Edwards, now aged 80, was then a 47-year-old official in the RAF. In an exclusive interview for a forthcoming book on the history of Britain, Real Britannia, Lord Parkinson discloses that the War Cabinet took the decision after receiving secret intercepts from Chilean intelligence services revealing the orders from the Argentine junta to the warship's captain, Hector Bonzo. As Chileans commemorated the … But it is the first time that someone so intimately involved in the negotiations has told the full story. Wreford-Brown fired two non-guided torpedoes, which blew off the ship's bow. "The most important result was the early warnings of aerial attacks," he said. Margaret Thatcher und Augusto Pinochet – eng befreundet. ", Pictures taken by survivors of the warship listing to port, before sinking, with orange rafts floating nearby, became one of the lasting images of the war, prompting the Sun headline: "Gotcha!". This was interpreted by the British high command as signifying that movement towards her home port by the two ships may well have been acts of subterfuge. Die Thatcher-Familie und die Pinochet-Familie trafen sich alljährlich in London, laut “The New Yorker”. Mr Edwards never met General Augusto Pinochet, the Chilean dictator, who ruled the country at the time. The War Cabinet took the decision to sink the Belgrano on 2 May 1982, after being briefed at a meeting at Chequers with Mrs Thatcher and Sir Terence Lewin, Admiral of the Fleet. Lord Parkinson, one of Lady Thatcher's closest allies, said: "They [Chile] had intercepted the Argentinian command's instructions... We had been discussing what we would do if we found it [the Belgrano] because we knew the Belgrano was out to sink a carrier. 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