Nicanor Costa Méndez

[1] Costa Méndez returned to the Foreign Ministry under a later dictator, Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri, at the end of 1981, and remained in the post during the April–June 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina.

[1] During meetings at the time of the United Nations Security Council and the Organization of American States, Costa Méndez depicted United States support for Britain in the Falklands War as a "betrayal to the rest of the Americas," and following Argentine surrender on June 14, Galtieri and his Foreign Minister were removed.

[1] Costa Méndez's duplicity in his capacity as both the nation's chief diplomat and the junta's leading civilian adviser was highlighted by a local, 1983 official board of inquiry.

The report documented that Costa Méndez had assured Galtieri that the United States would remain neutral in the event of war, despite an explicit message to the contrary from the American Secretary of State, Alexander Haig (by then, the British Royal Navy was advancing toward the islands).

[1] Costa Méndez was portrayed by Vernon Dobtcheff in the 2002 BBC production of Ian Curteis's controversial The Falklands Play.