Operation Algeciras
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Operation Algeciras was a failed plan conceived by the Argentinian military to sabotage a Royal Navy warship in Gibraltar during the Falklands War.
The operation was approved by Admiral Jorge Anaya and kept secret from most of his comrades. Two former members of the Peronist guerrilla Montoneros with underwater experience were convinced to join in spite of the earlier repression of the guerrilla by the military. The planners would deny any Argentinian official involvement. From Spanish territory during 1982, a 3-man force (the Montoneros and a liaison Argentine officer) monitored British naval traffic around Gibraltar, preparing to attack a target of opportunity when ordered, using frogmen and Italian limpet mines. However, the plan failed after British intelligence intercepted and decrypted communications between Buenos Aires and the Madrid embassy and informed the Spanish government, who arrested the team. The arrest was handled by the ministry of the Interior without involving CESID, the Spanish intelligence agency. The Chief of Government Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo flew the team and the policemen to Madrid in the plane that he chartered for the Andalusian election campaign. From there the Argentinians were flown back to their country.
In 2003, an Argentine-Spanish documentary movie, Operación Algeciras told the story of the covert operation.
[edit] External links
- Falklands war almost spread to Gibraltar The Guardian
- Operación Algeciras review (Spanish)
- Article on Operación Algeciras (English)
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