Three infamous right-wing dictators left indelible marks on their respective nations: Francisco Franco (Spain), Augusto Pinochet (Chile), and Leopoldo Galtieri (Argentina). Franco's brutal regime, lasting from 1939 to 1975, suppressed dissent, enforced social conservatism, and committed widespread human rights abuses. Pinochet's military junta, which ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, was known for its use of torture, disappearances, and economic neoliberalism. Galtieri's brief dictatorship in Argentina, from 1981 to 1982, was marked by the disastrous invasion of the Falkland Islands, a move that ignited the Falklands War and led to his downfall. The legacies of these dictatorships continue to cast dark shadows over the histories of Spain, Chile, and Argentina.
